Sometimes a question from the NFL Draft Mailbag is so good and noteworthy that it is turned into a full article. This is an example as I take a closer look at Marqise Lee and how his draft stock could be hurt this year by poor quarterback play. Praised by many as the top receiver in the 2014 class, Lee’s season has got off to a dreadful start thanks to the man throwing him the football. But is it damaging his draft stock or is it easy to see past it and he remains the top ten talent everyone saw him as.
Last season, Marqise Lee had a season to remember and one that helped him finish fourth in the Heisman voting. With Matt Barkley throwing him passes his numbers were phenomenal and talk of him being a top-10 pick in the 2014 NFL Draft really began to heat up. He was worthy of it grabbing 118 receptions for 1,721 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns. He also returned 30 kickoffs for 856 yards and a touchdown, as his game-breaking speed was put on display every Saturday. An incredible year for Lee and he had the chance to return in 2013 to make improvements and further enhance his draft stock.
Unfortunately, through the first four games of the season we haven’t seen the same receiver who everyone loved. In the Trojans season opener against Hawaii Lee made a few plays, but was far from spectacular. While eight receptions for 104 yards is nothing to be down about, it’s not a great stat line when you are playing a horrible defense. Things only got worse the following week against Washington State. The Trojans lost the game 10-7 and while Lee caught seven passes, he was only able to finish with 27 receiving yards on the day.
Lee finally found the end zone for the first time all year in Week 3 against Boston College, and it was vintage Lee. He caught a short pass on the right side then sprinted down the sidelines for an 80-yard touchdown. But it would account for one of just two receptions in the game as he dealt with an injury and missed some time. This past week Lee had another pedestrian game, hauling in six receptions for 72 yards and no touchdowns. Last season Lee had had 40 receptions for 457 yards and six touchdowns through four games. Now a year later he has seen a steep drop-off with 23 receptions for 293 yards and a touchdown.
The numbers look bad for Lee to start the season but he doesn’t deserve the blame for what has happened this season. Without Robert Woods who is now playing for the Buffalo Bills, Lee has constantly seen double-teams every weekend and dealt with defensive coordinators trying to game plan against him. While great players like Lee find ways to still beat the double-team and make plays, it’s hard to do that when your team doesn’t have a quality quarterback or coach. The Trojans couldn’t decide on a quarterback until the third week of the season, and neither option were very productive.
Cody Kessler ultimately won the starting job before USC’s game against Boston College. Leading up to the game, Kessler had completed 18 of 32 passes for 136 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He really won the job by default over Max Wittek who was only able to complete eight of 18 passes for 90 yards and an interception. Both quarterbacks were unimpressive but Kessler showed enough to Lane Kiffin to earn the full-time starting job. Since being named the starting quarterback, Kessler has performed adequately but not consistently enough to really uplift the Trojans offense. He showed positive signs against Boston College completing 15 of 17 passes for 237 passing yards and two touchdowns, including the 80-yarder to Lee. But then Lee got hurt and USC started to run the ball as they routed Boston College 35-7.
With Lee healthy, Kessler had a chance to take a bigger step forward against Utah State but mediocrity showed up again. He failed to even pass for 175 yards, while completing just 13 of his 27 attempts. Fortunately, he didn’t turn the ball over but completing less than 50 percent of your passes against Utah State is unacceptable. Kessler suffered a hand injury which Kiffin blames for the poor accuracy, but he also said the injury wasn’t serious. We expected the quarterback play to decline when Barkley left, but I don’t think anyone could have expected it to be this bad.
Lee would have been a top-10 draft pick last season if he were eligible and likely would have been drafted ahead of Tavon Austin who the Rams traded up for at the eight overall pick. He has started to slip down prospect rankings behind Clemson wide receiver Sammy Watkins, but many still consider Lee an early draft pick. But when you look at the quarterback play that has been going on at USC paired with Kiffin’s horrendous play calling, Lee’s draft stock is taking a hit.
He can overcome the double-teams and if Kessler would start working with Lee down the field, this offense could really get a jump-start. Lee excels at stretching the field and if Kessler can just get it to him deep a few times a game, which would create big plays. But unfortunately Kiffin’s conservative and abhorrent play calling has doomed the Trojans offense. All the little things scouts wanted to see this season will be harder to find because of how this offense is run. I still believe Lee ends up as a top-15 selection but if changes are not made to the offense, his draft stock may take a hit into the middle of the first round.