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Southwest Florida has produced plenty of NFL-caliber players, filling the area’s football dossier with Super Bowl champions, All-Pros, and Pro Football Hall-of-Famers.
All that success has come without much help from under center as Collier and Lee Counties have never had a quarterback drafted. Only Island Coast graduate Kurt Benkert, who has spent time on practice squads with Atlanta, Green Bay, and San Francisco since signing as an undrafted free agent with the Falcons in 2018, has taken a regular-season NFL snap when he knelt down twice to close a Packers win against Chicago in December 2021.
Cape Coral native Kory Curtis is the next quarterback up trying to end the region’s drought. Although taking a winding road with stops at three colleges, the 2017 Island Coast grad may be in a position to hear his name called Saturday during the NFL Draft’s later rounds or have his phone ring after with undrafted free agent offers.
His agent at Young Money Sports told Curtis eight to nine teams have given him draftable grades.
“I don’t mind either way, I just know if I get a chance I can impress the people there,” Curtis said.
Curtis has remained in Eerie, Penn., working with his coaches and wide receivers at Divison II Gannon University, where he spent the last two years of his college career and where he will complete a master’s program in Healthcare Administration this week.
It’s also where he put up some big numbers on the field. He started all 22 games and threw for 5,134 yards, and 47 touchdowns with 11 interceptions, including for 2,879 yards, a school-record 27 TDs, and four interceptions in 2022.
“Kory has really developed his accuracy over the past two seasons,” Gannon head coach Erik Raeburn said. “In 2021 his completion percentage was right around 51% and in 2022 it rose to 65%. It was a byproduct of his work on his fundamentals and his film study to gain a greater command of our system.”
Being seen by NFL teams
Curtis was invited to the 2022 FBS Bowl, an all-star event held in Daytona Beach in December, where he completed 8-of-13 passes for 136 yards for the American team, and the College Gridiron Showcase, an all-star event for small college players in January. After both Curtis talked to Pittsburgh Steelers scout Mike Butler, who wanted to see more, but Curtis could not find a college pro day to show his skills to scouts.
Butler made a few calls and got Curtis an invite to the Duquesne Pro Day in late March. He threw to Indiana University of Pennsylvania Duane Brown and Duquesne WR Dwayne Menders Jr., two receivers he had not met before, but he said they clicked right away.
After the overall workout, he had individual workouts with the Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Pittsburgh Steelers.
“They know I could throw and I have a good arm. They wanted to see me move, throw on the run, move in the pocket, see how I’d developed since the season. Hopefully, they like what they saw.”
The teams did give Curtis notes on what they’d like him to work on.
“My stride, that’s definitely what I’ve worked on the most. Staying more closed and concise,” Curtis said.
There were also some good notes as well. Teams said the 6-foot-4, 235-pound signal-caller, who will never be mistaken for a gazelle, was more athletic in person than they thought. Curtis is also working on his athleticism and wants to get down to 230 pounds.
“One of the things they loved the most is I’m a cerebral player,” Curtis said. “I called most plays at the line. I can call an offense at the line. They liked that and they like I can extend the pocket.”
Curtis is also 24 so he’s leaving college as an older athlete but he thinks that gives him an advantage and admits he’s far more mature now than before he got to Gannon.
“Guys who come out early don’t have the same maturity as someone who’s played 2-3-4 years. Look at the older QBs drafted and how they play. Look at Trevor Larence, he stayed in college and came into the league, and played right away.
“You can process a little better and a little faster and you can get a little more respect being an older guy.”
Ohio State, Bryant and Gannon build a QB
Curtis had scholarship offers in high school but he decided to bet on himself and accepted a preferred walk-on offer from Ohio State.
He spent two years with the Buckeyes and never took a snap in a game, but said he learned sitting in quarterback meetings and training with stars like Dwayne Haskins, Joe Burrow and JT Barrett. And then there was the chance to learn from OSU head coach Ryan Day.
“Coach Day, he got my cerebral part of football up,” Curtis said. “Coming out of high school, I didn’t know anything. I thought I did but I didn’t. When you’re in QB room with Dwayne, Joe, and JT, if they’re listening to Coach Day, I better listen to Coach Day.”
Then there was the competition at practice as Curtis threw against a Buckeyes defense loaded with four- and five-star recruits and future NFL stars like Chase Young as the scout team quarterback.
“Throwing against them in practice was probably tougher than most teams we’d see in a game,” Curtis said.
But Curtis wanted to see game action so he transferred to Bryant University, an FCS school in Rhode Island. As a redshirt sophomore in his first collegiate start, Curtis set a school single-game record with 394 passing yards against Brown in a 35-30 loss. He finished the season throwing for 1,700 yards with seven touchdowns and six interceptions.
He played in two games in 2020, only throwing for 153 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. The Bulldogs ran a more run-pass option, running QB style of offense which did not fit Curtis’ strengths although he does credit Bryant for helping him become more accurate.
Luckily, Curtis had friends who knew Gannon’s Raeburn.
“I came on a visit and it clicked,” Curtis said. “They throw the ball downfield, an air-raid offense, they make checks at the line and allowed me to be me.”
Raeburn added, “Kory’s greatest strengths are his leadership and arm strength. He cares about everyone in the program and does an excellent job of building relationships. His arm strength allows us the ability to attack the entire field. There is no throw he cannot make.”
The Knights’ offense resembled what Curtis learned at Ohio State and even the verbiage is similar, which helped smooth his transition.
“I got confidence from playing. I had some trust and the confidence from my coaches was huge,” Curtis said. “I made mistakes and I learned and it helped me grow.”
He also fell in love. Curtis met his fiance’ Andrea Watson, who is the centerfielder for the Gannon softball team. He proposed to her on the field before his Senior Day game in the fall.
“She had no idea it was gonna happen,” Curtis said. “I decided it was my senior day on the field where I’m most comfortable and I wanted to share my last moment on a college football field with her.”
And on Saturday, while his football future unfolds, Curtis will be at Gannon watching Watson and her teammates play their final games of the regular season in a doubleheader against Mercyhurst.
“After her games, we’ll go get some dinner and maybe watch the draft and then go home and wait to see what happens,” Curtis said.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: NFL Draft: Cape Coral native Kory Curtis looking for an opportunity
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