From now until the 2025 NFL Draft, we will scout and create profiles for as many prospects as possible, examining their strengths, weaknesses, and what they can bring to an NFL franchise. These players could be potential top 10 picks, down to Day 3 selections and priority undrafted free agents. Today, a scouting report on Central Missouri QB Zach Zebrowski.
#12 ZACH ZEBROWSKI/QB CENTRAL MISSOURI – 6020, 208 POUNDS. (RS SENIOR)
Measurements
| Player | Ht/Wt | Hand Size | Arm Length | Wingspan |
| Zach Zebrowski | 6020/208 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 40-Yard Dash | 10-Yard Dash | Short Shuttle | 3-Cone | |
| N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| Broad Jump | Vertical | Bench Press | ||
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
THE GOOD
– Super-productive, small-school passer with great accuracy
– Patient in the pocket and puts speed on short and intermediate throws
– Spreads the ball around and uses all his targets
– Stands in the pocket and takes a big hit in order to get the ball away
– Elusive enough to escape the rush when the pocket gets hot
– Steps up in the pocket to avoid defenders
– Knows where his receivers are on the field
– Puts touch on the ball when necessary, sets up screen passes, and makes difficult throws
– Really nice touch on fade routes and back-shoulder throws
THE BAD:
– Doesn’t go through his reads and progressions fully consistently enough
– Has a three-quarters release on his throws that doesn’t allow him to always drive his passes
– Not a ton of velocity on his ball
– Will struggle at times to get enough air under the ball on deep passes
– Stares down targets, leading center field safeties to the throw
– Footwork and ball placement fall apart when he starts rushing throws
– Looks for departure plan from pocket as soon as he feels pressure
– Blitzes really give him problems in decision-making
– Level of competition didn’t challenge his deficiencies enough
BIO
– Date of birth: 6/8/2001 (23 years of age)
– Born in Decatur, IL and played at East Ridge HS in Woodbury, MN
– Started 25 games for Central Missouri University and appeared in 7 games at Southern Illinois University as a backup
– Career: 9,938 yards passing, 1,165 yards rushing, 114 total TD’s, 17 INT’s, 68% comp., 394 YPG.
– 2024-25 season: 4,724 yards passing (599 yards rushing), 50 total TD’s, 12 INT’s, 67% comp., 393.7 YPG.
– 2023 and 2024 Harlon Hill Trophy Award winner, AP 1st-Team All-American, and 1st Team All-Conference award winner
– 2023 Set NCAA-II records for single-season passing TDs (61), total yards (5,690), points responsible for (380), and TDs responsible for (63)
– 2023 transferred to Central Missouri University
– 2019-22 played in 7 games in 3 seasons total for Southern Illinois University
– 2019 redshirt season
– Not recruited out of high school
– 1st-Team All-Conference as a senior (2018)
– First-Conference basketball player and set East Ridge HS’s single-season record for assists
– Zebrowski’s dad (Jim) is the co-OC and QB coach for the University of Kansas
– Mom (Heather) was a three-time all-conference volleyball player for Southern Illinois
TAPE BREAKDOWN
Zach Zebrowski is a highly-touted quarterback, and being a two-time Harlon Hill Award winner is his bag of evidence for why he could make an NFL roster. He has the physical tools to play, baseline accuracy, and aggression to attack downfield. He needs time to refine mechanical and conceptual details such as his drop-and-release footwork, reading leverage of man coverage, and making mature decisions with situational football. His ideal developmental play would be intermittent playing time to learn from mistakes and re-calibrate his boundaries as a decision-maker.
Zebrowski’s game has some technical aspects he can clean up, starting with his three-step drop footwork. With slower versions of his three-step drop, he takes an extra step before the three-step drop pattern that can be eliminated. There’s no wasted movement when executing a three-step drop at a higher speed. He has lapses of accuracy where it appears his front toe isn’t aligned with the target. He could cultivate better weight transfer during his releases, which may be another reason he doesn’t drive the ball with a lot of velocity. There may be a tendency to retreat from edge pressure rather than climb a pocket with room to climb. When he does have to scramble, though, he does a nice job of keeping his eyes downfield to locate his targets. He’s not overly quick but has good spatial awareness to retreat to safety.
Here he is as No. 12 for Central Missouri doing so:
He is better at accounting for the leverage of zone defenders and throwing receivers open than when targeting the advantageous leverage of a defender playing man-to-man. He doesn’t work off-script or at either end of the field with maturity. He leans too much on what’s possible rather than defaulting to what’s the most probable outcome. In other words, he takes unnecessary risks rather than managing the game.
Zebrowski carries the ball low and loose from his frame as a runner. He must ensure it is secured to his body when in the open field. Regarding play fakes, he provides a full extension into the belly of the back when executing a read. His exchange and emphasis of the exchange with the extension and timing of his play fakes on boots is believable. He will drop his pads, bend his knees, and give an added punch with the extension. He will use the pump fake to freeze pursuit when breaking the pocket. He uses one hand and has partial motion with moderate freedom to the movement. He also has a one-handed, full-motion pump fake that will hold defenses. He’ll also use a two-handed pump when opening to one side during his drop.
He is an accurate passer, especially to the short and intermediate portions of the field. He can split the holeshot of Cover 2 at a distance on a pinpoint. He can do more to place the ball where his vertical receiver can make the catch protected from the oncoming safety—even if the actual placement is accurate. I love his ability to throw touch back-shoulder routes, and he shows a nice ability to vary his passing speeds depending on where the receiver is.
As a decision-maker, he will hold the shallow zone defenders with a look to the flat before working over the top to the receiver and hit a sail route concept nicely.
He’ll do this during his drop and at the top of his drop, opening his frame to the shallow route. Zebrowski will go from sideline to sideline or seam to seam and then check to the middle of the field. He’ll layer throws between zone linebackers with the placement to throw the receiver open.
He struggles and must do a better job of reading the leverage of a man defender playing inside of an out-breaking route and in a position to cut off the ball. He repeatedly had targets nearly cut off from trail leverage in the short and intermediate ranges of the field. I will say that Zebrowski does an admirable job of not being a one-read quarterback. He will go through progressions, and he doesn’t fixate his eyes on one part of the field.
CONCLUSION
This quarterback showcased his talents when he was finally given the spotlight at Central Missouri University. He has average size, athletic traits, arm strength, and velocity that he won’t be able to change, but his poise in the pocket, accuracy, and decision-making can lead to him becoming a solid backup. His intangibles and ability to read the field have shown to be quite good the past two years. He’ll need a lot of time to sit and become acclimated to the speed of the NFL. I see traits and abilities akin to Devlin (Duck) Hodges and Kaleb Eleby when they were coming out of smaller schools. He could carve out a similar path to making it on an NFL roster as a backup quarterback.
Projection: UDFA
Depot Draft Grade: 6.0 – End of Roster/Practice Squad (Priority Free Agent)
Games Watched: at Pittsburg State (2024), vs Texas Permian Basin (2024), at Missouri Southern (2023), vs Harding (2023)
