(STATS) – To think Richmond quarterback Kyle Lauletta was recovering from a torn ACL at this time last year, his ascension in NFL draft talk is incredible.
His recovery from the injury couldn’t have gone much better in his senior season when he was named the CAA Football offensive player of the year. But the last two months have been nothing short of spectacular.
Lauletta was voted the most valuable player at the Reese’s Senior Bowl in January, and he might have raised his draft stock more than any of the 20 FCS players who participated in the NFL scouting combine which concluded on Monday.
The 6-foot-2 5/8, 222-pound Lauletta threw well during the on-field drills, and he posted the quickest 20-yard shuttle (4.07 seconds) among the 19 quarterbacks. Also among the signal-callers, he was fourth in the 3-cone drill (6.95 seconds) and the broad jump (9 feet, 5 inches), and tied for fourth in the vertical jump (31 inches). His 40-yard dash in 4.81 tied for sixth best.
Over combine week, Lauletta drew comparisons by the media to San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, the 2013 Walter Payton Award winner who had similar size coming out of Eastern Illinois and was the MVP of the East-West Shrine Game.
“I definitely see some similarities,” Lauletta said. “He’s obviously an FCS guy. He has quick feet. He’s accurate. He’s an outstanding leader from the soundbites I’ve seen. As a quarterback, you have to be a great communicator, and Jimmy is a great communicator. It just seems like he has a mojo to him, a little bit of a swagger to him that is infectious. He’s a player I’d love to model my game around.”
NFL.com projects Lauletta to be drafted in the fifth round, but his spot might rise come the three-day event from April 26-28. At Richmond, he threw for over 3,000 yards in each of the last three seasons to set the school’s all-time records for passing yards (10,465), touchdown passes (73) and total offensive yards (10,651).
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