MMQB: Matt Corral 'Was Confident Bordering on Cocky' During NFL Combine Interviews

Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral certainly made an impression at the NFL Scouting Combine. 

Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported that a number of teams mentioned Corral's "swagger" following his interviews:

"The 23-year-old redshirt junior was confident bordering on cocky in his interviews, and knew Lane Kiffin's offense (which is simplistic, by NFL standards) inside and out. Guys I talked to said you could see leadership traits and maybe a little bit of the youth (there are some questions relating back to maturity as a college kid there) that they'd heard about before talking to him."

Corral had a strong 2021 season, throwing for 3,349 yards, 20 touchdowns and five interceptions in 13 games while completing 67.9 percent of his passes. It followed an excellent 2020 season during which he threw for 3,337 yards, 29 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 10 games while completing 70.9 percent of his throws. 

Corral cleaned up on his turnovers in 2021, even if some of his yardage and touchdown production took a hit.  

"I love him on tape; I’d take him over Malik [Willis]," an NFC executive told Breer. "He's really tough, he's really athletic, you can move the pocket with him and he can make plays when things break down around him. His arm's really good, right up there with Malik. His pro day will be awesome."

Where Corral will come off the board remains to be seen. Over the next month, teams will have to decipher which quarterback is the top option in the class between him, Willis, Kenny Pickett, Sam Howell and Desmond Ridder. 

The B/R NFL Scouting Department has Corral ranked as the No. 72 prospect in this year's draft class, calling him a " fun player whose competitive play will fire up teammates and create yards out of thin air" but ultimately "an intriguing backup for NFL teams with his athleticism and accuracy to start his career. He could develop into something more if he lands on the right team."

B/R has Desmond Ridder as the top-graded quarterback, coming in at No. 16 among all prospects.

NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah has Corral ranked as his No. 34 prospect in this year's draft, noting that the young quarterback "has an intriguing skill set, but the size (6'2" and 205 pounds) combined with his play style is a concern."

Jeremiah had Pickett as his top overall quarterback, though he listed him No. 28 overall among all prospects. This year's quarterback class isn't highly regarded. 

And ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. ranked Corral as his No. 3 quarterback prospect and didn't list him among his top 25 players available in this year's draft. 

He did project him to be the No. 32 overall pick in this year's draft to the Detroit Lions, however, calling him a "dual-threat quarterback who can beat teams with his legs, but he ran an RPO-centric offense at Ole Miss, and he's going to need to learn how to adapt in the NFL. He can spin the football, though."