The Detroit Lions continue to meet with prospects around the country at various pro days. One is Blake Frohnapfel, a quarterback from Massachusetts.
Massachusetts quarterback Blake Frohnapfel met with Detroit Lions quarterbacks coach and scout in advance of today's Pro Day
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) March 24, 2016
Frohnapfel certainly looks the part at 6’6” and 238 pounds, and he played well enough to merit a Shrine Game invite. I saw the Marshall transfer in person down in St. Pete, and the Lions also met with him during that week in January.
Doing a lengthy scouting report on Frohnapfel isn’t really worthwhile, so we’ll keep this one pretty brief…
I do not see any viable NFL future for Blake Frohnapfel.
I hate to throw such a wet blanket statement, but there just isn’t an NFL-level skill set. He had a few strong games as a junior, and his twin brother stuck on the San Diego Chargers practice squad last year as a rookie tight end. Blake is generally the smartest guy in the room, graduating from Marshall in three years and pursuing his MBA with honors while at UMass.
With the First Pick
Beyond that, there isn’t any one thing Frohnapfel can hang his hat on as a prospect. Some guys have big arms, but in watching them compete next to each other his is not near as strong as Michigan’s Jake Rudock, and Rudock is not noted for his arm strength either.
Some guys have mobility and athletic prowess. Frohnapfel has decent agility within the pocket but is not a threat to run. His footwork looks lumbering and he doesn’t reset himself to throw quickly.
Some guys get by on pinpoint accuracy and excellent decision making to compensate for the lack of a big arm or great mobility. Kellen Moore did this very well at Boise State. Frohnapfel did neither; his completion percentage was 56% in 2015, up from 55% in 2014. However, his yards per attempt were among the nation’s lowest (97th out of 100 qualifiers) at just 6.2. Also, he threw at least one interception in every game but one. That includes every MAC game. Unlike Moore, Frohnapfel didn’t win much in college either, going 3-9 in both seasons at UMass.
Perhaps the Lions scouts were asking him about wideout Tajae Sharpe, a middle-round prospect who often made Frohnapfel look better.
Even with the extra interest, I don’t see any way Detroit–or any NFL team–drafts Frohnapfel. He could wind up in camp as an undrafted free agent.