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To: Tallguy
There seems to be 3 types of QB’s in the NFL now: 1. the pocket QB who has a just enough mobility, quick release or brute strength (pick 2) to make it work; 2. the highly mobile QB who will take off & run if his 1st or 2nd receiving option is covered; and 3. the Wildcat QB who is there to run first, pass 2nd.

In the NFL, a good quarterback isn't determined by what their physical abilities are, it is their ability to mentally pick up the game at the extreme speed that the game is today. And a lot of great college QBs are unable to make that adjustment in the pros. It doesn't matter if they have a bullet of an arm. It's something you either have or you don't.

39 posted on 10/12/2009 2:51:16 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: dfwgator
In the NFL, a good quarterback isn't determined by what their physical abilities are, it is their ability to mentally pick up the game at the extreme speed that the game is today.

I always enjoy it when NFL teams have to decide between a QB that wins ugly, and one that "has all the tools" or a "cannon for an arm". ( I seem to remember Bobby Douglass throwing a ball 70 yards in the air with a broken wrist-- but he couldn't throw a ball with touch if his life depended on it. I much preferred Virgil Carter. So much for old Bears trivia...) The ones that come to mind are: Doug Flutie or Rob Johnson, Trent Dilfer or Elvis Grbac, Rex Grossman or Kyle Orton? hh
50 posted on 10/12/2009 2:59:30 PM PDT by hoosier hick (Note to RINOs: We need a choice, not an echo....Barry Goldwater)
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To: dfwgator
In the NFL, a good quarterback isn't determined by what their physical abilities are, it is their ability to mentally pick up the game at the extreme speed that the game is today. And a lot of great college QBs are unable to make that adjustment in the pros. It doesn't matter if they have a bullet of an arm. It's something you either have or you don't.

Oh no question! The odd thing is that the NFL quantifies everything in player evals but can't seem to get a handle on measuring the speed with which a QB can make decisions. Everybody talks about 'vision' and the 'ability to see the field', but then laments their rookie QB's inability to 'adjust to the speed of the game'.

Then every once in a while an unheralded QB becomes the greatest of his era because he can do just that (Unitas & Brady leap to mind). If somebody could figure out how to consistently identify those guys they could write their own ticket as a GM, Chief Scout or Players Agent.

It would be nice to have the luxury of years gone by to develop a QB slowly. Curt Warner had the advantage of arriving in the league after playing in Europe. Maybe the new UFL will help the next Warner find a way to showcase his 'intangibles'.

55 posted on 10/12/2009 3:14:20 PM PDT by Tallguy ("The sh- t's chess, it ain't checkers!" -- Alonzo (Denzel Washington) in "Training Day")
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