July 3, 2026, 8:55 p.m. CT<\/p>\n
While the NFL seems to be leaning toward the more mobile quarterbacks, there still seems to be a home for pocket passers. However, there are a few starters left who don’t often leave the pocket. Pocket passers are becoming a dime-a-dozen in college, but NC State’s CJ Bailey is more old-school, with a prototypical build who stays in the pocket but has sneaky upside in short-yardage carries. What does his summer scouting report look like? Let’s talk about it.<\/p>\n
Height: 6’6″Weight: 210 lbsRecruiting rank: Three-star recruit, no. 24 QB nationally in 2024Hometown: Hollywood, FloridaGames watched: Wake Forest, Duke, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Miami, FSUStrengths:NFL coaches will drool over his frame, especially if he adds 10-15 lbsDoes a great job working through progressionsFootwork is a plus. His ability to climb the pocket is among the best in the classDrives the ball down the field with ease, dropping deep passes in the bucketSix rushing touchdowns were a surprise last seasonPlayed arguably his best game against #8 Georgia Tech, throwing for 340 yards and two touchdownsWeaknesses:Must work on the short-area accuracyTends to be overly aggressive when down, as shown by his three interceptions against Notre DameBrings very little in terms of play creation. Very limited playmakerHe *can* extend plays when needed, but he does not look to do it oftenCould use those 10-15 added lbs this seasonExpert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n CJ Bailey has a ton of potential. His massive frame will have NFL teams interested, and his ability to read a defense post-snap is great. However, the accuracy must improve, and he should trust his legs a little more. As things stand, Bailey gets a fourth-round grade and would be a very intriguing camp quarterback to have compete for a QB2 spot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"July 3, 2026, 8:55 p.m. CT While the NFL seems to be leaning toward the more mobile quarterbacks,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":936085,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[95878,7,6,119448,97234,97235,95882,96027,99107,95896,95888,95906,95883,95881],"class_list":["post-936084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-accessfree","tag-football","tag-nfl","tag-sourcevikings-wire","tag-sstssportsnflvikings","tag-sstsnvikings","tag-tagamerican-football","tag-tagcollege-sports","tag-tagflorida-state-university","tag-tagnational-sports","tag-tagnfl","tag-tagoverall-positive","tag-tagsports-news","tag-typestory"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116859525134924352","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=936084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/936085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=936084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=936084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=936084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}