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Bills Select QB Jake Fromm With No. 167 Pick in NFL Draft

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The Buffalo Bills selected QB Jake Fromm with the 167th pick of the 2020 NFL Draft. Fromm was raised in Georgia and was a five-star recruit after a prolific career at Houston County High School in Warner Robins, GA. Fromm racked up 12,745 passing yards and 116 touchdowns over four seasons with the Bears. After first committing to Alabama, Fromm changed course and signed with Georgia.

Fromm began his freshman year as the backup to QB Jacob Eason, who was entering his sophomore season at Georgia. His role changed quickly, though, as Eason suffered a knee injury during the Bulldogs’ first game in 2017. Fromm took over as the starter and remained in that role for three years. He finished his first season with 2,625 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Fromm led the Bulldogs to the 2018 CFP National Championship game where Georgia lost 26-23 in overtime to Alabama.

Entrenched as the starter, Fromm posted 2,761 yards, 30 TD and six INT during his sophomore season. Fromm closed his career with 2,860 yards, 24 TD and five INT during his junior year. Fromm’s slow-footed style makes him a pure pocket passer, but his arm doesn’t have the zip required to match the top talent in the NFL. Fromm minimizes damaging interceptions by showing an ability to get the ball out quickly to avoid sacks when plays break down.

Fromm grades well in reading defenses with a willingness to stand tall while waiting for players to break free downfield. His pre-snap reads allow him to find the best option in coverage, creating a quick release after his drop back. Fromm has been a winner his whole career with a tendency to rise up in big games. Prior to the 2020 NFL Draft, Fromm’s value took a hit due to a string of five games with weak completion rates (44.8, 46.4, 47.8, 48.3, and 47.6) over his final six starts. Fromm has good size, at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, but is widely viewed as a "game manager" type of quarterback.

Here’s why Shawn Childs ranked Fromm as his No. 6 Quarterback

Fromm grades well in reading defense with a willingness to stand tall when needing a player to break free downfield. His pre-snap reads allow him to find the best option in coverage, creating a quick release after his drop back from the center. Heading into this year's draft, his value will take a hit due to a string of five straight games with weakness in his completion rate (44.8, 46.4, 47.8, 48.3, and 47.6) over his final six starts. On the positive side over this stretch, Fromm delivered five wins with 13 TDs and two INTs.

2019 stats (Junior; Georgia): 2,860 pass yards, 24 TD, 5 INT (14 games)

2018 stats (Sophomore; Georgia): 2,761 pass yards, 30 TD, 6 INT (14 games)

2017 stats (Freshman; Georgia): 2,615 pass yards, 24 TD, 7 INT (15 games)

Buffalo Bills stats to know

  • Josh Allen led the league in rushing TDs (9) for the quarterback position for the second straight year.
  • The Bills’ secondary allowed only seven passing touchdowns to wide receivers (second-lowest total in the NFL), helping them to a third-place ranking in yards per pass attempt (6.18).
  • Buffalo’ WRs caught 64.2 percent of their quarterback completions, which was the third-highest rate in the league.
  • The Bills’ defense allowed 17 points or fewer in ten of their 16 games.
  • John Brown posted his best season (72/1060/6 on 115 targets) of his career at age 29 while securing 37.5 percent of the Bills’ wide receiver catches.

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