Syracuse 2019 NFL Draft profile: Quarterback Eric Dungey

Certainly you’ve noticed the uptick in quality for the Syracuse Orange football program lately. Some of that’s measurable in terms of things like wins (obviously) and season ticket sales. Another way is in terms of players with a chance to get selected in the NFL Draft.

With that event coming up on Thursday, April 25, we wanted to profile Syracuse players that will warrant consideration this year. Yesterday, we talked about wide receiver Jamal Custis. Today, we move onto senior passer Eric Dungey.

Name: Eric Dungey

Position: Quarterback

Height: 6-foot-4

Weight: 226 lbs.

Hometown: Lake Oswego, Ore.

NFL Draft Projections: Undrafted

Senior Stats

• Passing: 2,868 yards, 60.9 percent completion, 18 TD, 9 INT
• Rushing: 754 yards, 15 TD

Career Stats

• Passing: 9,340 yards, 61 percent completion, 58 TD, 30 INT
• Rushing: 1,993 yards, 35 TD

Game to Watch: 2017 vs. Clemson (20-for-32, 278 passing yards, 3 TD, 61 rushing yards)

Pro Day/Scouting Combine Performance:

• 40-yard dash: 4.68 seconds
• 3-cone drill: 7.02 seconds
• Vertical leap: 31.5 inches

Pros

For lack of a better term, Dungey’s a “gamer” and has ample experience being the most talented player on the field that opponents need to gameplan around. He can make plays throwing the football, but he’s most dangerous when he has the ability to move outside the pocket. The ability to take a few hits and still pick up needed yards (and stay healthy) later in his career could be seen as a benefit for a team trying to run something resembling an up-tempo spread. He’s not scared of anything, which is a plus in most cases.

Cons

Anyone who’s loved the thrilling highs of watching Dungey play these last four years also knows the unfortunate lows that come with that aggressive style. With an offense largely tailored to giving him options, he was able to put up big stats at times by simply calling his own number. And obviously his injury history will stand out a bit. He’s not the most accurate downfield passer and didn’t necessarily use the middle of the field a ton while at SU. Running was always one of the first reads in his progressions — though that did improve over time.

Fun Fact: Eric’s cousin is motocross champion Ryan Dungey. So both members of the family are adrenaline junkies to some degree.

TNIAAM Draft Prediction: You can have some fun with Taysom Hill-on-the-Saints comparisons for days, but it doesn’t appear likely he’ll hear his name called simply for that sort of role. That may actually be a better situation for Dungey, however, as he’ll be able to go to a team that wants to put his talents to use in that sort of manner (or something else on the more interesting side) and that could help him actually stick on a roster.

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