theranter Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 After reading great stuff about Central Michigan star QB Dan Lefevour on the stadium wall, I decided to check him out playing in the GMAC bowl last night versus Troy. Let's get the minuses out of the way...he looks way too young to lead a NFL club and he's a little smaller than his listed size of 6'3" 238lb, He also never plays under center, but these are just nitpicks. The only real problem is that he lacks the cannon Bills' fans think a QB at the Ralph must possess. After watching Edwards and Fitzpatrick all season you gotta think they may be right. However, Lefevour by no means has a weak arm, it certainly wouldn't be a problem for a dome team and he has so many positives...most of you know about his ridiculous stats but they bear repeating; nearly 13000 yds, and 102 TD's, to give him a 143 career QB rating. Add to that 3000 rushing yds. an another 47 TD's and you have the holder for the Mid American Conference records for career completions, attempts, passing yards, passing touchdowns, total touchdowns, and total offensive yards. LeFevour is the only player in NCAA history with over 12,000 passing yards and 2,500 rushing yards and currently sits 2nd all time in total offensive yards. He also holds the FBS record for total touchdowns with 150. (whew!) Watching yesterday, he displayed a nice release, excellent pocket presence, excellent field awareness, excellent mobility and is a fine athelete. Throws well on the run (even backwards), has excellent touch and threw with some mustard at times. He is clearly intelligent, directs traffic, had excellent throw aways, and audibled correctly several times. He managed the game very well, and led his team to his 8th career 4th quarter comeback victory 44-41. His baby-face seemed to disappear with the game on he line, his facial expression looked like e knew he would win(similar to Brady or Manning, or Tebow or Jordan for that matter.) During the game, which was excellent by the way, he made 5 or 6 huge NFL type plays, my personel favorite was a 2nd and 15 play with 4 minutes left, backed-up on his own ten. Out the the shotgun, the play call was clearly a standard pass out of the pocket. With noone open, he leaned to run to his left, but that hole quickly closed. Not panicking he found an opening to his right and took it. Running with his head up, he began directing traffic. At the last second, with his feet one foot behind the line of scrimage and one yard from out of bounds he let go of a beautiful pass dropping the ball neatly over the shoulder of his receiver, leading him for a 22 Yrd. gain. The announcers kept referring to other great plays but that was my favorite because he was in such a dire situation at the time. How does he differ from Tebow? He looks more like an elusive QB than a running QB. Seems a little taller and lankier (he could get to 238lbs.) and he doesn't have that hitch in his release. Most importantly, he was born, raised and played in the North! Ofcourse, Tebow is a phenomonon and I would be happy with either of them. I think, there is little doubt that the senior bowl practices and game (how well can they throw the deep out) will greatly determine what round each of them is taken. As much as I agree with Bills' fans that believe we need a monster DT and a monster LB, the NFL is all about the QB. Barrng injuries, we have an O-line, with Bell, Levitre, Hangartner, Wood and Butler, being pushed by Simmons, McKinney, Incognito, Meridith and Chambers being pushed by Scott, Ramsey, Gaddis, Hennessey, Watkins and Marvin for a total of 16 O-line men. Barring injuries, they should be able to coach-up 8 of these prospects to protect a QB. They definitely (IMO) put OL to a secondary need in this draft. We have to secure a serious QB prospect in this draft to compete with Brohm and if done correctly, another player with clear NFL starting potential. NOTE: Ray Bentley was having a post-game chat (off-air) with him after the game. GO BILLS!
bfw1234 Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 he reminded me of Chase Daniels (Mizzou) also put up numbers in a spread offense
bills_fan_in_raleigh Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 He would be fine with a 3 - 5 th round pick assuming we have drafted the LBs, OTs and DTs this team needs
Beastly Dareus Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 He has a good arm strength, good accuracy, good vision. Hes a leader. Good throwing mechanics. Hes my favorite QB in this draft especially after Jake Locker decided to return to college. I think when he will soar up draft boards at the combine and he will end up being the best QB in this draft class. Bradford= Injury prone. He has a bad shoulder in his throwing arm. Other than that hes fine but I think hes a reach in the top 10 Tebow= Bad accuracy over 20 yards. System QB, Bad throwing mechanics. Clausen= I think he will be good McCoy= Surrounded with talent in college, average arm strength and not so great accuracy over 20 yards.
Virgil Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 Not playing under center is not nit-picking, that's a pretty big deal. The spread will cover up many imperfections in a college qb. I noticed the same thing last night. This is why i'm not a big Tebow, McCoy fan. Just say no.
playman Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 He would be fine with a 3 - 5 th round pick assuming we have drafted the LBs, OTs and DTs this team needs xactly. otoh, i remember the talk about the ravens reaching for flacco. turned out to be ok. but i agree there are more pressing needs. and him or pike will be there rd 3-5. i guess.....
Gugny Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 He would be fine with a 3 - 5 th round pick assuming we have drafted the LBs, OTs and DTs this team needs Agreed. He played for Central Michigan, not USC. He's definitely a leader and has some tools, but nothing to overlook top D-1 talent for. How tall is he, anyway?
Beastly Dareus Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 Agreed. He played for Central Michigan, not USC. He's definitely a leader and has some tools, but nothing to overlook top D-1 talent for. How tall is he, anyway? Hes about 6'3" 230 pound
Gugny Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 Hes about 6'3" 230 pound Thanks, man. I'm surprised he's that big. Hey, you never know!
Coach Klein Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 He would be fine with a 3 - 5 th round pick assuming we have drafted the LBs, OTs and DTs this team needs DT??? I think we need a DE more than DT. If you think Stroud and Williams aren't a good enough combo up the middle then your standards are unbelievably high. Stroud is a three time pro bowler and Williams was an alternate this year. Maybin showed he cannot do anything even against a second string Colts offense and Schobel may be retiring. If anything on the DL I think DE is the most pressing need.
blzrul Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 He's definitely got good skills and leadership ability. He clearly inspires confidence in his teammates. But he's small and definitely would take some work to develop into an NFL-caliber player. That is not the Bills' strong point. Obviously. I would say that if the Bills could sign a veteran QB with a few good years left in him, who could help win games as well as help develop him, LeFevour might be worth risking a draft pick on. By the time he's ready to start, maybe he'll be shaving too.
Cripes Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 About Bradford: enough of the "injury prone" talk. He's had one shoulder injury that plenty of QB's have come back from (he should have had the surgery in September before aggravating it vs. Texas). In his two previous seasons, he survived beatings against some tough D's (Texas, Florida, TCU and W Va.), and he made it through this hit against OSU. The ONLY time he had to come out early was against TTech in '07, when he was dinged with a mild concussion trying to recover his RB's fumble in the first quarter. You might dismiss some of his numbers vs. Big 12 tombstone secondaries, but he's not a Glass Joe.
CarolinaBill Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 Levefour is not small, I think 6-3 qualifies as not small, also, remember, he was a rb coming out of HS, only played QB for the last 4 yrs which says to me with what he has produced, there's LOTS of upside with this kid.
Adam Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 Not playing under center is not nit-picking, that's a pretty big deal. The spread will cover up many imperfections in a college qb. I noticed the same thing last night. This is why i'm not a big Tebow, McCoy fan. Just say no. In a few years, the spread offense will cover up flaws with NFL quarterbacks. Just like following the trend of going with 2 RB's instead of a feature back, the spread will filter its way into the NFL. Offenses and defenses aren't as good as they were 10 years ago either. I think this guy will be a great NFL QB if given time to adjust. I would draft him and keep Fitzpatrick or bring in a veteran to start for a couple years.
mob16151 Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 Levi Brown looked like a much better NFL QB prospect last night then LeFevour IMO.
Cash Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 About Bradford: enough of the "injury prone" talk. He's had one shoulder injury that plenty of QB's have come back from (he should have had the surgery in September before aggravating it vs. Texas). In his two previous seasons, he survived beatings against some tough D's (Texas, Florida, TCU and W Va.), and he made it through this hit against OSU. The ONLY time he had to come out early was against TTech in '07, when he was dinged with a mild concussion trying to recover his RB's fumble in the first quarter. You might dismiss some of his numbers vs. Big 12 tombstone secondaries, but he's not a Glass Joe. What worries people is that Bradford hurt his throwing shoulder, then re-injured it right after he came back. Now it's been operated on, and until anyone sees him throw, there will continue to be legitimate red flags. If he throws really well before the draft, all will be forgiven. As it is, I'd guess that he goes to either Washington or Cleveland. Didn't know about the concussion, but that's another concern. More likely to suffer repeat concussions.
bfw1234 Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 Brohm is the answer - Brohm was a pro set college qb. He will develop into big time qb for us. Levevour's numbers are remniscent of Colt Brennan, Chase Daniels, etc. The spread offense is a big deal. heard Phil Simms say as much yesterday - the footwork, timing, etc Just read Malcolm Gladwell's take on the spread offense and how it does not predict NFL success in his recent book entitled "what the dog saw" for those of you not familar with the transition from a spread college game to a pro -set offense in the NFL, I recommend the read.
theranter Posted January 7, 2010 Author Posted January 7, 2010 Levi Brown looked like a much better NFL QB prospect last night then LeFevour IMO. I wanted to include Brown's excellent play in my post and forgot. However, I thought Brown played for the better team and lost. I think Lefevour made plays on his own and has "it." Thanks for pointing Brown's play out, man, it was a fantastic game and I would like it if we got Brown as well.
Chas Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 I have watched LeFevour for 4 years (I live 15 miles from CMU - but moving to Rochester NY next week). Your assesment is excellent, I think maybe the Bills should offer you a scouting position
PromoTheRobot Posted January 7, 2010 Posted January 7, 2010 The MAC has put several QBs into the NFL, Ben Rothlesberger being the most well known. LeFevour was better than Big Ben in his 4 years at CMU. PTR
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