JP Losman Pre-draft articles

[crackur]

J. P. Losman, QB, Tulane

 

Compiled for AllSortsSports by Jonathon Zenk (website)

 

Draft Crazy

 

Positives: Losman is a quarterback who has been blessed with impressive physical talent: height, arm strength, scrambling ability. His release is quick, a vital quality for an NFL prospect at the quarterback position. He has demonstrated the ability to hang in the pocket while getting battered by the defense, specifically during the 2002 season when Tulane’s offensive line surrendered over 40 sacks. TD/INT ratio is good at 33-14 as a senior.

 

Negatives: Many have alleged that Losman has an attitude problem. He was not particularly impressive in any of Tulane’s nationally televised games during the 2003 season. Occasionally relies on his physical talent too much and ends up misreading coverages and throwing INT’s. Doesn’t always stick to basic quarterback fundamentals. Losman played in a primarily shotgun-based attack at Tulane, so he will need to adjust to more traditional quarterback under-center offenses. Must improve completion percentage, which was slightly under 60% in each of his past two seasons. Losman tended to struggle against the better defenses he faced in college.

 

Bottom Line: Comes from a good line of quarterback prospects including Shaun King and Patrick Ramsey. Losman truly has the natural ability to become a legitimate starting quarterback in the NFL. He’s a tough quarterback and has shown some leadership qualities, but some question his attitude and brashness. When he is drafted, Losman must stress on the techniques and reject his tendency to rely on pure arm strength. He needs to hit the film room and develop his ability to read NFL defenses. Overall, he’s a similar prospect to Kerry Collins, though not at the level of the top ten pick that Collins was. Draft projection: late round 1-round 2.

 

NFL Draft Showcase

 

None

 

On the Clock

 

Other than big Ben R-Berger, the quarterback with the most overall athletic ability just might be Tulane’s JP Losman. Big and agile, with good speed, Losman can make all the throws and has good accuracy to go along with the all-important ability to maintain that accuracy while on the move. Unfortunately, he doesn’t always play like his breakdowns and profiles say he should. He’s simply not as productive as he should be. Perhaps that’s merely a by-product of playing on a subpar team, but there seems to be something bigger afoot. Something more wrong. Losman might end up a coach-killer, a guy who can have big games, and tease a coach to the ultimate ruin of both careers. See Rob Johnson.

 

Rob's Scouting

 

What does he do best? Losman has a very quick release and has a very good arm. J.P. throws a catchable ball and is willing to stay in the pocket and take a hit for his team.

 

 

What is his biggest negative? J.P. needs to become more patient and learn to set his feet when he throws.

Evaluation of athletic potential: Very good athlete. Runs in the 4.6-4.7 range. Can make plays with his feet.

Does he make the big play? Yes, he has the touch necessary on his deep throws and can create with his feet.

 

 

Scouting Report: J.P. Losman has always had “happy feet” in the pocket when he drops back. It is very rare that J.P. will set his feet and step into a throw. As a result, the majority of his throws are from his back foot. When he does step into throws, he is very accurate and much improved. He lacks a pocket presence at this point, this likely comes a result of taking mostly 100% of shot-gun snaps at Tulane. Losman has however played behind a poor Offensive Line, which has caused him to rush things at time. J.P. also tends to jump when he throws short passes to avoid Defensive Lineman. Overall, J.P. needs to develop a clock in the pocket and gain a better feel of the rush. Losman has a very quick release that gets the ball out in a hurry. He shows very good arm strength as well as a quick release. He is able to make all the throws down field and can hits on out routes regularly. On short throws, Losman allows the backs and receivers to gain yards after the catch. J.P. shows very good touch on all short to intermediate throws. While he does show very good arm strength, he throws into double coverage on his deep throws constantly and lacks the necessary touch on his deep throws. On all throws, J.P. tends to be high on his throws which comes from throwing off his back foot. Overall, Losman has very good touch under 25 yards, but over that he needs to develop a better feel. J.P. is improving his field vision with experience. In 2002, he didn’t recognize the backside receivers, but is now making throws to all areas. His vision is improving, but is only average at this point. Also, Losman has tended to force a good amount of throws in his career. He needs to become smarter with the ball and use his feet more often. J.P. has good overall run ability. He has the speed and quickness to not only avoid a rush, but create down the field (much like a Jake Plummer). He is also accurate on the move. While he doesn’t square his shoulders all the times, he is able to make the throws rolling right and left with his arm strength. J.P. Losman is a courageous leader of the Tulane team, but at times will try to do it all himself.

 

 

General: J.P. is a tough kid and shows true leadership on the football field. He has the speed to make plays with his feet and not just avoid a rush on occasion. He is a strong player and will take a hit. Losman is well liked by his coaches and teammates and has never been in notable trouble. Losman has shows good smarts at the LOS throughout his career. He has consistently put up big numbers in Tulane’s spread offense. Losman has been banged up over his career, but has played through pain except a sprained MCL in 2001. He is a California native who transferred from UCLA before his freshman year. Shows good ball handling.

 

The Huddle Report

 

Strengths: This kid is one hell of an athlete. He is 6’ 3’ 210 lbs and runs in the 4.50-4.60 range. He also has a pretty good arm to go along with this talent. If he wanted to, he could play a number of different positions on the pro level. He has so much ability it is a little scary. He is a pretty intelligent kid. His major is in Classical Studies. Hmmm, very interesting.

 

 

Needs to Improve: He does everything right now on athletic talent alone. That won’t do it at the next level. He consistently holds on to the ball too long in the passing game. He is inconsistent and sloppy in his mechanics. I do not sense that he is a leader that wants the people around him to be more successful then he is. He does not understand the meaning of team play.

 

 

Bottom Line: This kid has ‘coach killer’ written all over him. You would think with all this talent and brains that this kid would be the next coming of Joe Montana with the brains of Albert Einstein. You would think that he would be rated number one in this draft. You would think that with all the promotion being done by the announcers every time he is on TV that he would be a franchise QB. He isn’t. Why, you ask? He has so much talent it has eroded his ability to learn and grow in the most important aspect he will need in the pros—his mind. His EGO has made him a mental midget. Now I know that someone is going to come to his defense and say how wonderful he is and what a great leader he is and look at his stats and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. They will attack me and ask,”How can you say this? You don’t know him.” I see what I see. My opinion is based strictly on his play on the field. His actions on the field speak louder than any information that I have on this kid. The first time I saw this kid play, it was obvious to me that he plays the game with his ego. That would be great if he bothered to include his heart. All the great QB’s have a big ego, but they also play the game with heart. They want to win. I do not think that JP gives a damn about winning, just his stats. How long will it take him to change and will he ever change? I don’t think he will. He likes the competition and the recognition, but doesn’t have respect for the game. Will a coach ever be able to get through to him? How many coaches will he go through? He will always have good stats because of his athletic talent. He will always sucker a coach into believing he can turn JP around. As far as I’m concerned there are too many good developmental QB‘s in this draft to bother with this kid. He is not worth all the problems that I think he will cause. He will have some early success on the field in the NFL, and then he will break your heart. Not mine. On my list, he is rated as the third best QB in the draft but his name is written in red. Green means draft him, yellow means draft with concerns (injury, etc.) and red means STOP—do not Draft.

 

The NFL Forum

 

Strengths: Arm strength is excellent, and his accuracy is good, it is just inconsistent as he displayed in Senior Bowl practices. Also moves very well for a pocket passer.

 

Concerns: Mechanics will hurt him. Isn’t polished like a Philip Rivers or an Eli Manning, can make too many mistakes and is inconsistent at times.

 

 

Overall: Attitude is a big concern. His ego is enormous, he won’t mesh well with veteran teammates. But, he has first round talent, he just rubs a lot of people the wrong way. Will probably end up in the 2nd round, but if he gets an attitude adjustment he will be a steal.

[Risin]

that's ok, we're used to an RJ type QB. Drew is an RJ clone, only difference is he's immobile and durable. Other then that, they both stunk in their Bills career.