Very smart, safe with the football, doesn't make many bad decisions
Pinpoint accuracy with anything under 15 yards, has excellent "touch", and does a good job leading his receivers
Experience playing in a pro-style offense
Shows very good awareness in the pocket, steps up, and has mobility to avoid pressure
N.F.L ready, could start as a rookie
Great timing, gets the ball to receivers right out of cuts
Anticipates, and reads defenses very well, high football IQ
Does a good job moving through his progressions quickly
Cons
Immature, has much growing up to do, personality comes off as spoiled and arrogant
Questions about whether he can lead N.F.L players, and do all the things an N.F.L QB needs to do off the field
Does not have great arm strength, adequate but doesn't drive the ball down the field well and really has to gear up to put zip on the ball
Upside may have been reached in college, can't really get much better
Sometimes too safe, checks down quickly, and doesn't take many chances
Overall
There are a lot of things to love about Jimmy Clausen, and there are also many things that will turn him off to many people. Clausen is a very solid QB prospect with a very small chance of being a bust, he is the most NFL ready QB in this class, and could start as a rookie. Has a high football IQ, reads defenses well, anticipates routes, is safe with the football, and could quickly learn an N.F.L style playbook. There are major concerns though that Clausen is not capable of being a good locker room, and "team guy". He just seems to be immature and somewhat annoying. Don't downplay those things too much, he has a lot of Ryan Leaf in him, and whether he will be the culminating leader on the field, and in the locker room that a franchise QB needs to be is questionable. On the football side of things, he has an adequate arm, but by no means great, he has trouble fitting balls into tight windows, and throwing the ball down field on a line. Also he possibly has maximized his potential, very polished in Notre Dame's pro-style offense, and really doesn't have much room for improvement on the field. Overall I am not a big fan of Clausen because of his off-field antics, he does not have the personality of a guy I would invest 10's of millions of dollars in, and risk my job and the next 5 years of my franchise. He could go as high as #4 to Washington, or he could have a Brady Quinn type slide, possibly even into the second round.
