QB class of 2014 in retrospect.

[thunderkyss]

From another thread...

It seems that more often than not, these read-option QBs are unable to comprehend the cerebral aspects of being an NFL QB. They have relied on their physical skills for so long that they never needed to develop the abilities required to understand the complexities of defensive schemes and apply them in real-time at the speed of the pro level.

Some are able to rise above and meet the challenge, but more often than not, it seems like they want to use their running ability before their brains. RGIII is obviously struggling to understand what is required to be a passing QB, and I wonder if he's another one of those over-hyped guys that eventually fade away.

Bingo.

If, when you get in trouble, your first instinct is to use your legs to get out of it instead of your arm you'll miss out on learning the subtleties of playing QB that are more often than not required to have success in the NFL. RG3 has little pocket presence skills. Didn't learn it with Shanihans, and now it's a foreign language to him when Gruden asks it of him.

MSR. Right on target as usual.

I've been saying this for years now. The mental aspect of playing QB is probably the most important part of it. And yet time after time, teams fall in love with these guys who are elite at all the things that don't matter but lack the one thing that matters most of all.

I don't care how fast you can run. I don't care how high you can jump. Hell, beyond a minimum baseline I don't care how far you can throw either. What I do care about is your ability to grab necessary information in a short amount of time and be able to correctly interpret what that information means and how you need to react to it.

So with this in mind I wanted to get your (& others) thoughts on most recent QB class. NFL.com had them graded as:

1. Blake Bortles
2. Teddy Bridgewater
3. Derek Carr
4. Johnny Manziel
5. Jimmy Garappolo
6. AJ McCarron
7. Thomas Logan
8. Zach Thomas
9. Zach Mettenberger
10. Tajh Boyd
11. Tom Savage
12. David Fales
13. Keith Wenning
14. Aaron Murray
15. Garrett Gilbert

In light of the one thing that matters most (& for this, let's agree that one thing is):

And yet time after time, teams fall in love with these guys who are elite at all the things that don't matter but lack the one thing that matters most of all.

What I do care about is your ability to grab necessary information in a short amount of time and be able to correctly interpret what that information means and how you need to react to it.

Did NFL.com get it right? How would you grade them on that one thing alone?

 

[beerlover]

Sample size from latest draft class is so small should be judged incomplete. Outside of top 3 - Carr, Bortles, Bridgewater only Mettenberger has meaningful reps. Mallet looked good as any in his one brief healthy start, guess we'll never know how significant his pectoral injury affected his second start but I'm willing to roll with him moving forward if he signs for what a late first rd. QB rookie contract gets, that puts him in lead next season with 2014 class

 

[Lucky]

Is 3/4th of a season enough to have retrospect? Have you seen enough to draw conclusions? I dont think it takes 3 or 4 years to form a solid opinion. But it takes longer than 11 games.

 

[bah007]

...Did NFL.com get it right? How would you grade them on that one thing alone?

It's too early to give them a grade on how they have performed in the NFL. Coming out of college I had the prospects ranked overall in the following way:

1. Blake Bortles – UCF
2. Teddy Bridgewater – Louisville
3. Johnny Manziel – Texas A&M
4. Zach Mettenberger – LSU
5. Jimmy Garoppolo – Eastern Illinois
6. Derek Carr – Fresno St
7. Tom Savage – Pittsburgh
8. Aaron Murray – Georgia
9. Keith Wenning – Ball St
10. Brett Smith – Wyoming
11. A.J. McCarron – Alabama
12. Logan Thomas – Virginia Tech
13. Tajh Boyd – Clemson
14. David Fales – San Jose St
15. Stephen Morris – Miami
16. Connor Shaw – South Carolina

If we were to break it down into just that one specific category then I guess it would be something like this:

1. Teddy Bridgewater – Louisville
2. Aaron Murray – Georgia
3. Keith Wenning – Ball St
4. Connor Shaw – South Carolina
5. Blake Bortles – UCF
6. Zach Mettenberger – LSU
7. Jimmy Garoppolo – Eastern Illinois
8. Derek Carr – Fresno St
9. Johnny Manziel – Texas A&M
10. Tom Savage – Pittsburgh
11. A.J. McCarron – Alabama
12. Logan Thomas – Virginia Tech
13. Tajh Boyd – Clemson
14. David Fales – San Jose St
15. Brett Smith – Wyoming
16. Stephen Morris – Miami

 

[thunderkyss]

It's too early to give them a grade on how they have performed in the NFL. Coming out of college I had the prospects ranked overall in the following way:

If we were to break it down into just that one specific category then I guess it would be something like this:

1. Te

This has nothing to do with what they've done in the NFL... some of those guys hadn't even played yet. This is about how they would have been graded using their ability to process information & make decisions in the heat of the moment.


Remember, the "most important thing".

Are we saying it's impossible to grade these kids at this level on their decision making ability, but it's ok to slap them for falling in love with RGIII?

Because from that other thread there was the "feeling" that Washington should have known better.

This isn't about which QB should have been drafted first. There are alot of other factors that have to be considered. Just based on their ability to process information....

Bridgewater #1..... that was his best trait, the thing that set him apart. Who's next?

 

[Playoffs]

1. David Carr
2. AJ McCarron
3. Thomas Logan
4. Zach Thomas

Pretty much sums it up for me.

 

[bah007]

This has nothing to do with what they've done in the NFL... some of those guys hadn't even played yet. This is about how they would have been graded using their ability to process information & make decisions in the heat of the moment.


Remember, the "most important thing".

Are we saying it's impossible to grade these kids at this level on their decision making ability, but it's ok to slap them for falling in love with RGIII?

Because from that other thread there was the "feeling" that Washington should have known better.

This isn't about which QB should have been drafted first. There are alot of other factors that have to be considered. Just based on their ability to process information....

Bridgewater #1..... that was his best trait, the thing that set him apart. Who's next?

My internet went out in the middle of my response so it posted incomplete and made no sense. I've edited it.

I just made the NFL statement to qualify that these are my grades from before the draft and I haven't made any changes based on their short NFL careers. There hasn't been enough time to judge how they will fare as pros yet.

 

[steelbtexan]

Too Early, but here was mine

1. Bortles
2. Garappolo
3. Murray
4. Bridgewater
5. Manziel
6. Mettenberger
7. Carr, I'm biased, I cant stand anything that has come from Roger Carr's loins.
8. McCarron
9. Brett Smith
10. Savage

Happy Thanksgiving

 

[thunderkyss]

It's too early to give them a grade on how they have performed in the NFL. Coming out of college I had the prospects ranked overall in the following way:

1. Blake Bortles – UCF
2. Teddy Bridgewater – Louisville
3. Johnny Manziel – Texas A&M
4. Zach Mettenberger – LSU
5. Jimmy Garoppolo – Eastern Illinois
6. Derek Carr – Fresno St
7. Tom Savage – Pittsburgh
8. Aaron Murray – Georgia
9. Keith Wenning – Ball St
10. Brett Smith – Wyoming
11. A.J. McCarron – Alabama
12. Logan Thomas – Virginia Tech
13. Tajh Boyd – Clemson
14. David Fales – San Jose St
15. Stephen Morris – Miami
16. Connor Shaw – South Carolina

If we were to break it down into just that one specific category then I guess it would be something like this:

1. Teddy Bridgewater – Louisville
2. Aaron Murray – Georgia
3. Keith Wenning – Ball St
4. Connor Shaw – South Carolina
5. Blake Bortles – UCF
6. Zach Mettenberger – LSU
7. Jimmy Garoppolo – Eastern Illinois
8. Derek Carr – Fresno St
9. Johnny Manziel – Texas A&M
10. Tom Savage – Pittsburgh
11. A.J. McCarron – Alabama
12. Logan Thomas – Virginia Tech
13. Tajh Boyd – Clemson
14. David Fales – San Jose St
15. Brett Smith – Wyoming
16. Stephen Morris – Miami

Very interesting. I would imagine every NFL team had a similar list, or at least process. Judging each prospect on several different traits. What traits would have taken Bortles from 5 to 1, Manziel from 9 to 3, or drop Murray from 2 to 8.

This is not to pick on you, but you're the only one who's been able to take their NFL experience out of the equation so far. I'm not trying to say you were wrong, or I was right. I do believe, like you sated, that the teams have become too enamored with the things that matter less, & less so with the things that matter most.

 

[bah007]

Very interesting. I would imagine every NFL team had a similar list, or at least process. Judging each prospect on several different traits. What traits would have taken Bortles from 5 to 1, Manziel from 9 to 3, or drop Murray from 2 to 8.

This is not to pick on you, but you're the only one who's been able to take their NFL experience out of the equation so far. I'm not trying to say you were wrong, or I was right. I do believe, like you sated, that the teams have become too enamored with the things that matter less, & less so with the things that matter most.

While I do place the highest importance on this single ability, looking at it from only that perspective is a problem, because the physical traits do matter to an extent.

Despite loving their mental makeups, I had significant concerns about the arm talent of Murray, Wenning, and Shaw. So they drop down the list.

I do not grade Bortles far behind them in that major category, and he scores significantly higher in all the others. He was a very raw prospect, but with the proper time and coaching he can be molded into an excellent QB. So he moves up the list.

Manziel is in a different category. If I were running a team, I wouldn't select him in the first three rounds. Because I do not think he will ever make the transition to the pro game. But when you consider his physical abilities and grade him as a prospect, you have to admit to yourself that if he were somehow able to make the transition then he would be quite the player. So while I personally wouldn't draft him, I can see why a team would.

 

[badboy]

From another thread...



So with this in mind I wanted to get your (& others) thoughts on most recent QB class. NFL.com had them graded as:

1. Blake Bortles
2. Teddy Bridgewater
3. Derek Carr
4. Johnny Manziel
5. Jimmy Garappolo
6. AJ McCarron
7. Thomas Logan
8. Zach Thomas
9. Zach Mettenberger
10. Tajh Boyd
11. Tom Savage
12. David Fales
13. Keith Wenning
14. Aaron Murray
15. Garrett Gilbert

In light of the one thing that matters most (& for this, let's agree that one thing is):


Did NFL.com get it right? How would you grade them on that one thing alone?

Only looking at this one issue, I had the ranking as this:
McCarron, Manziel, Bortles and then Garoppolo.

 

[Texian]

The general consensus is that a rookie QB needs 20 starts in the NFL before you really have an idea and know what you have in that perspective rookie QB. That is another reason why they say you're really a rookie for a season and a half. So basically it will be this time next year before we really have a general idea about the 2014 class of QBs. It is about the right time to cast judgements on the 2013 QBs.

 

[mussop]

The general consensus is that a rookie QB needs 20 starts in the NFL before you really have an idea and know what you have in that perspective rookie QB. That is another reason why they say you're really a rookie for a season and a half. So basically it will be this time next year before we really have a general idea about the 2014 class of QBs. It is about the right time to cast judgements on the 2013 QBs.

Whats the consensus on OLB's?