NFL Draft Profile: Clayton Tune, Quarterback, Houston Cougars
Clayton Tune
Houston Cougars
#3
Pos: QB
Ht: 6025
Wt: 220
Hand: 0938
Arm: 3138
Wing: 7538
40: 4.64
DOB: 3/23/1999
Hometown: Carrollton, TX
High School: Hebron
Eligibility: 2023
One Liner:
Tune is a veteran college quarterback who plays with great touch and has a clean release, but he lacks the arm talent to hit every throw and his pocket awareness is shaky.
Evaluation:
Tune is a gutsy quarterback who is well respected for his leadership at Houston. This is his third season serving as a captain for the Cougars. He played through a torn hamstring in 2021, leading Houston to a 12-2 record. Tune puts touch on his throws at all three levels and often gives his pass catchers opportunities for yards after the catch. He has enough mobility to extend plays and can punish defenses with his legs if left alone in space. Tune is comfortable and accurate throwing on the run and has a quick release. He avoids becoming flat-footed in the pocket but isn’t up on his toes either. Tune improved his process of working through progressions over the past few years, but he still has a bad habit of staring down his preferred target. The Texas native has good speed but not enough to threaten NFL defenses on designed runs. Tune’s base becomes too wide in the pocket, and his footwork is inconsistent. He drops his head in the pocket too soon and looks to scramble even when he has more time. This tendency to bail early impacts Tune’s pocket presence and leads to him scrambling into pressure. While he launched a 50-yard pass against UTSA (2022) that drew a defensive pass interference call, Tune doesn’t have ideal arm strength and velocity. He struggles to unlock the deep third of the field and doesn’t regularly fire throws into small windows along the sideline. Tune’s ball placement is inconsistent as he appears to throw to general spaces rather than pinpoint targets. At his age, teams will wonder if there’s any meat left on the bone for the fifth-year senior.
Grade:
UDFA
Background:
Tune was a three-star recruit from Hebron High School in Carrollton, Texas in the class of 2018. He was the No. 827 recruit according to 247Sports and No. 800 for On3.com. Tune was an unranked three-star recruit for Rivals. He was an unranked three-star recruit for ESPN with a 78 grade out of 100. Tune graduated from high school with 6,686 passing yards and 66 passing touchdowns and 1,074 rushing yards and 20 rushing touchdowns. As a high school senior, he completed 181 of 270 pass attempts for 2,416 yards and 23 touchdowns while rushing for 368 yards and nine scores. Tune produced 2,445 passing yards and 22 touchdowns with 512 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns as a junior. He totaled 1,825 passing yards and 21 touchdowns with 194 rushing yards and three touchdowns as a sophomore. Tune originally committed to Kansas before switching to Houston.
