2023 NFL Draft: Interview with QB Michael Pratt, Tulane
The story of Michael Pratt has always centered around toughness. If you listen to just about any broadcast of a Tulane game since he’s been the starter for the Green Wave, the majority of the commentary revolves around his grittiness on the ground and willingness to put his body on the line to make the play.
That narrative still holds true for the 2022 season, but this year has been far more about Michael Pratt the passer. And that certainly held true as Pratt broke his career-high total for passing yards in a season for the second time in five games against ECU, completing 27-of-34 passes for 326 yards with two touchdowns in the 24-9 win over ECU.
It marked what could be considered Pratt’s best game as a deep passer and the first time Tulane had 350 or more passing yards in a single game against an FBS opponent since it did so against ECU in November of 2018.
“It all came down to execution of our game plan,” Pratt said of the team’s success in the downfield passing game. “We knew they were going to play a lot of Cover 4 and bail out of things. It took a lot of quick game and taking what was given (to me). That was a huge emphasis and that opened up the down the field stuff.”
Some of Pratt’s best plays of the game came on a well-placed and well-timed deep shot to Jha’quan Jackson for 46 yards toward the end of the first quarter and the 44-yard scoring pass to Deuce Watts in the third quarter. For a quarterback who has led his team in rushing or come close to in multiple games, one thing that stood out the most was his final stat line on the ground: -16 yards with one touchdown on nine carries.
Part of that came down to design and part of it was based on the opportunities that presented themselves based on the way the Pirates defense operated on Saturday.
“Just the looks we were getting,” Pratt said. “I know I can make those throws and I thought the play calling was good. Getting the opportunity to get some guys one-on-one down the field and being able to give them a ball that they can make a play on and they did a really good job of that.”
And some of it had to do with a lesson learned after Pratt was forced to miss the Houston game – a thrilling overtime win that would likely have served as the biggest for his already-rising draft stock if he had been able to play. Instead he was sidelined with an undisclosed injury he sustained during the previous week’s loss to Southern Miss.
Pratt says he spent that entire week knowing he wasn’t going to see the field in that contest, but did his best to play his role in helping the other quarterbacks prepare – something that ended up being important considering that Tulane was down to its third-string quarterback Kai Horton by the end of the game.
The ECU contest saw far more of Pratt managing up from the pocket and sliding or throwing the ball away more than some of the dives and hurdling defenders that he’s done so much of in the past.
“Definitely had to emphasize a little more discipline of ‘first down get down’ and not trying to do too much on the ground by taking what was there,” Pratt said. “Not taking any unnecessary hits and that was a point of focus going into this week especially.”
But what it did fully unveil was just how much Pratt has grown purely throwing the ball and how advanced he’s gotten from a mental perspective.
Pratt says offensive coordinator Jim Svoboda, in addition to what just comes with added starting experience, have played a role in that development.
“Coach (Jim Svoboda) has been awesome with the way he explains things,” Pratt said.
“I think one of the biggest things I can say about him as a quarterback is that he doesn’t try to over coach things. A lot of the time, you have specific reads and you get a lot of different looks. Some quarterback coaches aren’t very consistent in that area, but he does a really good job with that and that definitely helps with confidence.”
Against ECU, Pratt was sacked some five times but still had several good throws in the face of pressure, something he said he thought was the best thing he showed in the game. That aforementioned toughness in Pratt is still very much there, it just showed up in a different way this time around.
“They pressured us a lot,” Pratt said.
“I think that, personally, I made some pretty good throws with pressure in my face and that’s something you’ve got to be able to deal with as a quarterback and still make the play. I think our receivers did a good job of running their routes well and with the added chemistry, knowing more when those guys are going to break on their routes and being able to get the ball off on time and giving them a chance to make the play.”
Knowing when to stay in the pocket, when to bail and being able to stand tall and get the throw you want off is something that comes naturally within a quarterback as he gets more comfortable in his role.
Such has been the case for Pratt, who has always been further along in terms of mental processing than most other quarterbacks at his experience level since he played his first college game, but having the proper pieces around him has allowed that to come to light in a way that is more apparent.
“I think just through the years,” Pratt said. “That’s something that comes with confidence and knowing that you’ve got to stand in there and make a throw. You might get hit in the face, but to make the play, you’ve got to stand out there and deliver a good ball.”
Now at 5-1 in the season after having made school history on multiple counts in what could be one of the best years in history for Tulane football, it’s time to start considering this not just just an improved football team, but one of the best in the nation as the Green Wave stand outside the Top 25 rankings for the first time since 1998.
And it’s time to start taking Michael Pratt more seriously as a legitimate quarterback prospect in the 2023 or 2024 NFL Draft as he’s starting to garner more national attention in the midst of what could be a meteoric rise.
But Pratt isn’t focused on the long-term. This is about going 1-0 every week – something the team has done against the odds and on every occasion but one in 2022.
“We’ve had a lot of close games and we’ve got to take it week by week and continue to build on success. It’s really exciting and confidence is something that is important for the entire team. So we’re just trying to keep that rolling.”
