Lauren Poe, ESPN Stats & Information 9y

Bryce Petty: Gruden QB camp

Bryce Petty spent two seasons at the helm of one of the most efficient offenses in college football. The Baylor Bears finished the 2013 and 2014 seasons in the top two in offensive efficiency, according to ESPN’s rankings.

With Petty as the starting quarterback, Baylor had 49 touchdown drives of one minute or less -- 13 more than any other FBS team.

"Monday Night Football" analyst Jon Gruden will meet with Petty and four other quarterbacks during the sixth season of "Gruden's QB Camp," which debuts April 7 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

To prepare you for the show, we break down Petty's greatest strength, his main area of improvement in his final season and a cause for concern.

Greatest strength: Arm strength

Petty led the FBS last season with 20 touchdowns on passes thrown 20 or more yards downfield, including 13 thrown at least 30 yards downfield. Only four other FBS quarterbacks had more than 13 completions -- much less touchdown completions -- at least 30 yards downfield all season.

Since the 2011 season, Petty is the only Power 5 quarterback to have a career completion percentage of at least 60 percent while having an average throw distance of at least 10 yards downfield in multiple seasons (minimum 100 passes per season).

He leads Power 5 quarterbacks in touchdowns on throws at least 20 yards downfield since 2011 with 39, two more than Tajh Boyd.

Biggest improvement: Accuracy downfield

Unlike Marcus Mariota and Brett Hundley, other QB Camp stars and members of the 2015 NFL draft class, Petty has two years (instead of three) as a starting college quarterback.

In his first season as a starter, Petty completed 62 percent of his passes, and his average throw downfield was a Big 12-high 10.9 yards. Petty continued to impress in 2014, increasing his average air yards and his completion percentage.

He was one of three quarterbacks to average at least four passes of 30 or more yards downfield per game (along with Trevone Boykin and Daxx Garman), and Petty was the only one to complete more than 30 percent of them.

Petty missed (meaning he overthrew or underthrew) on 45 percent of his throws at least 30 yards downfield in 2013, but he reduced that number to 34 percent in 2014 -- and he completed a higher percentage of his deep attempts. Petty had 13 touchdowns and no interceptions on passes 30 or more yards downfield last season.

Cause for concern: System quarterback

Petty played 48 snaps (five of which resulted in him throwing a pass) from under center last season. The fewest passes from under center by an NFL quarterback in one season in the past five years (minimum 12 games played) is 24 (Nick Foles, 2013).

NFL quarterbacks drafted since 2010 average 374 snaps and 92 passes from under center in a season. It may not be a staple of Petty’s offense, but he'll likely need to show he can perform from under center to compete for a starting position in the NFL.

The Chargers (27) threw the fewest passes last season from under center, and the Eagles were next with 35.

Earlier profiles:

Brett Hundley, UCLA Bruins

Marcus Mariota, Oregon Ducks

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