John David Booty QB 6'2 218 USC 4.82

Booty came to USC with a lot of hype, graduating high school early to enroll and try to win a job when Carson Palmer left. Matt Leinart won the job, and Booty has had to sit patiently for his time to come. He played as a true freshmen, but redshirted a year due to an elbow injury. As a redshirt sophomore in 2005, he completed 64.3% of his passes for 327 yards and three touchdowns, along with two picks. Booty got his chance to shine in 2006, taking over the reigns of the Trojan offense. He had a great first year as a starter, throwing for 3,347 yards while completing 61.7% for 29 touchdowns and nine interceptions on his way to All Pac 10 1st team honors. Booty was hoping to lead USC back to a BCS title berth this year, but that didn’t happen. A broken finger on his throwing hand caused him to miss three games and hindered him in a few others but he still managed to throw for 2,106 yards and 20 touchdowns with nine INT’s, with a 62.7% completion rate.

Booty possesses all the physical talent to be a quality quarterback in the NFL. He has a very good arm, and is capable of making all the throws. He has the mobility to get out of the pocket and make the throw, or keep it and pick up some yardage. Norm Chow said he had the best combination of physical talent he’s ever had in a quarterback when he was at USC.

Booty has gotten a lot of hype and has put up very good numbers, but he has some work to do. He still has a tendency to lock onto receivers, which results in a lot of shaky decisions. His size is also only average. Booty may need to tweak his delivery a bit because he has had an issue having his passes tipped at the line of scrimmage. The biggest issue with Booty may be that he can be rattled in the pocket at times. He will panic at times, believing the rush is closer than it really is and rushes the play.

Booty has a lot of talent, but there are flaws in his game. The biggest issue with how he develops in the NFL will be trusting his offensive line and showing more poise in the pocket. He is worth a selection on Day Two to see how he develops, but anything higher might be too risky.