The Draw Play

Diego Pavia. The “We have Johnny Manziel at home” of Quarterbacks.

I was not aware of Pavia until a Patron requested me to draw him flaunting a hall of fame bust shortly after his Heisman meltdown. What a fun way to be introduced to a guy. If you don’t follow college ball either and aren’t a draft head: here’s a primer.

Pavia was the QB at Vanderbilt after successful runs at smaller schools prior. He had a great year by any metric, for a college QB. He won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm award, was All-SEC, and was a Heisman runner up.

He’s also a massive diva. Pavia’s attitude is what people accuse Shedeur of being. After losing the Heisman he went out partying, posted it all on social media, and told the voters and Indiana (where winner Fernando Mendoza played) to go fuck themselves. Classy guy. That is the tip of the iceberg. Pretty much every time he opened his mouth during the draft process you wanted to slap him. The man reaches cockiness levels few in history have achieved.

That kinda attitude only hurts during the draft process. While being wired that way might be a boon on the field, it makes you obnoxious in interviews and annoying to fans. You also have to be really damn good to get away with it. At least Baker Mayfield level good. This was one of the reasons Shedeur fell last year, and Sheduer looks downright humble compared to Pavia.

He’s also very short for a QB (5’10), which is not his fault but it does not help his case for a sport where being under 6 feet is a disadvantage at basically every position. Thanks to his stature and his attitude Pavia went from Heisman finalist to undrafted. This wasn’t unexpected either. Pretty crazy for a guy who played pretty well in college at a premium position to not get a sniff in a draft where Ty Simpson went 13th.

Lucky for Pavia the Ravens came calling shortly after the draft and signed him to a normal UDFA deal before he even worked out for them, showing that he at least was worth a sniff and a poke with a stick. He sits behind Lamar Jackson, Tyler Huntley, and something called a “Joe Fagano”, another UDFA signing. Presumably Short Stack Pavia and Joe Schmoe will compete for the 3rd string spot and the loser will be the practice squad QB.

A lot of people have pointed out that Pavia might be the perfect UFL QB. He’s got a good game for that league, and he has enough swagger to potentially bring in some attention. I agree, but the UFL is where players go when they’ve washed out of the NFL and are desperate for another chance and don’t know how to do anything else. That’s the main problem with it. It’s better to be the practice squad QB than a starter in the UFL. Pavia isn’t going to end up there unless he burns all his bridges first.

Pavia is genuinely entertaining and at this stage I want him to succeed because he’s fun to watch and also very funny when he opens his mouth. He doesn’t seem like a scumbag, just a douche. I’ll never say no to an entertaining asshole, they add the spice to every Sunday.