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Scouting the QB - Do anyone of them really change?


Virgil

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Every year, I feel like it's the same debates being had about the QB's that come out. Can they change their footwork (3 or 5 step drop), their release point or throwing motion, their arm strength, the system they played in......

 

My question is, has any quarterback ever gone into a draft with these questions, actually made these changes and then been successful in the NFL? More often than not, QB's don't pan out and they usually end up being who we thought they were. To me, besides arm strength and the learning of the game over time, either the QB gets it or they don't and either it translates or it doesn't. Has there ever been a guy who made those changes and then took off?

 

Also, I think about Russell Wilson and how people say that all he did was win in college. Do they ever track stats that way for a Qb? Not just wins and losses, but what a qb's rating would be if his receivers didn't drop the pass or run the right route. Or, with wins and losses, the other team never had to punt so the QB lost through no fault of his own.

 

These may seem like stupid questions, but I just feel like it's the same thing every year and nothing ever changes. Either the QB has it or they don't and no amount of changes to their mechanics is ever going to stick. It would be like trying to change they way you walk. You can think about it all you want, but eventually habits will just take over.

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AFC scout: “He’s a system quarterback. 3-, 5-, 7-step guy. Can’t create on his own. Panics under pressure. Gets flustered easy. I don’t think there’s a quarterback in the draft worthy of a first-round pick. I’m dead serious. None of them are worth it.”

AFC scout: “I don’t like him. He’s a clone of Harrington and Boller. They all throw the same way. What have those guys done? Nothing. If you take him in the second round, fine. Heady guy. They do a marvelous job of coaching quarterbacks there. I don’t think he’s as good as the top quarterbacks coming out last year.”

These comments were in reference to: AARON RODGERS

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Rodgers is the answer to this question. If Aaron Rodgers had played year 1 in Green Bay he would have been a bust. His pre-season outings and the few live bullets he did take in proper games demonstrated an uprepared Quarterback having footwork and release issues. Mike McCarthy was patient and drilled him for 3 years. Took his game apart and rebuilt it. From the same draft but to a lesser extent Alex Smith took 5 years to "get it". He was another whose game went under something of a transformation, albeit he learnt by being allowed to fail in real games time and time and time again.

 

The reason so many Quarterbacks fail and people say "ahh those are the failings we knew he had" is because most teams draft one because they don't have one and therefore the pressure for them to start is such that you cannot sit them for 3 years whilst you do intensive work like Green Bay did and teams don't have the patience to allow their guy to fail before moving on as the 49ers (more by luck than judgment did).

 

One other thing on the chances for a QB to be worked with and developed I really think the current restrictive CBA prevents a lot of that. I am not against the CBA in general but I kind of feel there should should be a slight relaxing of the rules for Quarterbacks. They value of proper development has been lost I am afraid.

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Rodgers is the answer to this question. If Aaron Rodgers had played year 1 in Green Bay he would have been a bust. His pre-season outings and the few live bullets he did take in proper games demonstrated an uprepared Quarterback having footwork and release issues. Mike McCarthy was patient and drilled him for 3 years. Took his game apart and rebuilt it. From the same draft but to a lesser extent Alex Smith took 5 years to "get it". He was another whose game went under something of a transformation, albeit he learnt by being allowed to fail in real games time and time and time again.

 

The reason so many Quarterbacks fail and people say "ahh those are the failings we knew he had" is because most teams draft one because they don't have one and therefore the pressure for them to start is such that you cannot sit them for 3 years whilst you do intensive work like Green Bay did and teams don't have the patience to allow their guy to fail before moving on as the 49ers (more by luck than judgment did).

 

One other thing on the chances for a QB to be worked with and developed I really think the current restrictive CBA prevents a lot of that. I am not against the CBA in general but I kind of feel there should should be a slight relaxing of the rules for Quarterbacks. They value of proper development has been lost I am afraid.

 

I was having similar thoughts about the CBA. As I recall, McCarthy ran rather noted QB camps in the off season. Drilled extensively on fundamental technique, reads etc.

 

If I understand the CBA correctly, that's prohibited today, to the detriment of developing young QB

Every year, I feel like it's the same debates being had about the QB's that come out. Can they change their footwork (3 or 5 step drop), their release point or throwing motion, their arm strength, the system they played in......

 

My question is, has any quarterback ever gone into a draft with these questions, actually made these changes and then been successful in the NFL? More often than not, QB's don't pan out and they usually end up being who we thought they were. To me, besides arm strength and the learning of the game over time, either the QB gets it or they don't and either it translates or it doesn't. Has there ever been a guy who made those changes and then took off?

 

Also, I think about Russell Wilson and how people say that all he did was win in college. Do they ever track stats that way for a Qb? Not just wins and losses, but what a qb's rating would be if his receivers didn't drop the pass or run the right route. Or, with wins and losses, the other team never had to punt so the QB lost through no fault of his own.

 

These may seem like stupid questions, but I just feel like it's the same thing every year and nothing ever changes. Either the QB has it or they don't and no amount of changes to their mechanics is ever going to stick. It would be like trying to change they way you walk. You can think about it all you want, but eventually habits will just take over.

 

A number of legendary QB had now notorious pre-draft scouting reports. Here are two on Montana and Brady:

 

http://forum.go-bengals.com/index.php?/topic/59485-pre-draft-scouting-tidbits-on-brady-and-montana/

 

It must also be remembered that pre-draft media is notoriously wrong about QB they hype, including Russell, Leaf, Clausen, Gabbert etc.

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... It must also be remembered that pre-draft media is notoriously wrong about QB they hype, including Russell, Leaf, Clausen, Gabbert etc.

It must also be remembered that pre-draft media is deliberately fed by NFL teams. It is often a disinformation campaign that any PR or spy agency would envy.

 

GO BILLS!!!

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