chjoak said:
I graduated from Texas A&M and have watch (in person or on TV) every college game Reggie has ever played. I think I can provide a decent assessment as I like to play devil's advocate and tend to zone in on the weaknesses of players.
As mentioned above Reggie has been timed at 4.28 at last years TAMU pro day. That is one of the factors of his pre-season media hype along with the 2004 season performance. He can sprint that fast but he does not reach those speeds when playing. I would judge his open field top playing speed around a 4.4 or 4.45. Still very fast for a QB.
Reggie has a very strong and accurate arm. In that aspect I think he is better than Vince Young but right now Vince sees the field much better and makes better decisions. Reggie reads defences fairly well but tends to try and force plays. His biggest weakness overall is his field vision and decision making. He does not cycle through all options. He usually only looks at 2 receivers before making a decision which sometimes leads to throws into double coverage.
Reggie's biggest issue this past year was lack of true WR talent (no one could keep their hands on the ball) and his inability to throw soft touch passes. Reggie has touch. I have seen him throw the perfect little floaters to the open receiver but for some reason this year it tried to tatoo everyone he threw at and the receivers could not catch a ball to save their lives.
Reggie has all the physical tools to be great and has shown an excellent work ethic and desire to become a better QB and leader over the last few years. I personnally think Reggie would be an excellent (3rd or 4th round) QB project. With a good QB oriented coach (Kubiak) he could develop into a very solid NFL starter. He just needs someone to help him figure out how to put everything together and maintain consistancy.
I'm usually not one to point towards completion percentage as an indicator of accuracy. But in a small way it is a measurable:
McNeal in '05 - 53.2%...not much talent at WR
McNeal in '04 - 58.1%...with Terrence Murphy (Green Bay Packer) at WR
McNeal in '03 - 51.1%...with Murphy and Jamaar Taylor (New York Giant) at WR
McNeal in '02 - 53.3%...with Murphy, Taylor and Bethel Johnson (New Englad Patriot) at WR
I'll cut him some slack for '05 because the Aggies had a rash of injuries at the WR position. But when that completion percentage is about what he averaged the other 3 years when he was throwing to 3 future NFL WRs, then one might tend to believe it wasn't just a lack of talent at WR.
I've seen him play enough. I do think he's got better arm strength than Young. But he is not a more accurate passer. His better throwing mechanics make people tend to believe this but it's false. I've see way too many throws hit 5 yards in front of or over his intended target to think otherwise. If you disagree, fine...we'll agree to disagree.
As for leadership, the Ags saw what a difference that can make when McGee started against Texas. I honestly feel that if Reggie started/played in that game, Texas would've mopped the floor with the Aggies. It's one of the immeasurables that doesn't show up on Combine stats sheets. I think McGee has it. I do not think Reggie does.
As for his 4.28...I think there's a real posibility that it's legit. I don't think it matters much but I have no reason to doubt what was timed at A&M's pro day.
I do think he'll be drafted as a QB. But if he stays in the league, it'll be because he switched positions.