Ravens’ Tyler Huntley gives Diego Pavia a career blueprint originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
No matter where Diego Pavia ended up in the NFL after going undrafted, he would’ve had a similar mandate: Take a step back, watch and learn.
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With the Baltimore Ravens, he’s got a good possible mentor, if he chooses to listen.
Tyler Huntley is the Ravens’ backup, and he has started games in the NFL.
He, like Pavia, was undrafted. Huntley was a solid college player at Utah, but not enough to get picked.
He impressed the Ravens enough to stick around early in his NFL career, and after bouncing around, he’s back with Baltimore.
These aren’t the same player, because Huntley is 6-foot-1 and not the maybe 5-foot-10 that Pavia is. But they’re both mobile, athletic guys who haven’t always had a ton of believers in their arm.
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Huntley has gone from undrafted to a reliable quarterback that multiple teams have called upon to start in recent years. At this point, that’s what Pavia should hope to become.
Undrafted QBs don’t become superstars, but they can become useful.
Pavia’s detractors will say he doesn’t have it in him to be humble and learn from a guy like Huntley.
But the reality is this: Pavia doesn’t have a choice.
He wasn’t even given the undrafted free agent contract that the Ravens gave to UConn’s Joe Fagnano. He’s simply got a rookie minicamp invite.
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Pavia is going to have to prove himself every step of the way, which will require his usual moxie and swagger.
But to make a long-lasting NFL career out of this, he’s also going to have to learn and grow.
Lamar Jackson was a first-round pick, and while plenty of people doubted his QB ability, he’s always had lightyears more total talent than Huntley or Pavia do.
Pavia has to look for Huntley to see what his career could look like, and then he’s got to put his head down and make it happen.
