Sources: Patriots hosting Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett.

[Kontradiction]

Sources: Ryan Mallett latest QB prospect to visit New England Patriots - ESPN Boston

Last week the New England Patriots made headlines by hosting a two-day visit with Washington quarterback Jake Locker. This week another top quarterback prospect -- Arkansas' Ryan Mallett -- has caught the eye of the Patriots.

According to multiple league sources, New England is hosting Mallett for a two-day visit this week on Monday and Tuesday. The sources said Mallett completed a two-day visit with the Tennessee Titans on Sunday and Monday before traveling to the visit with the Patriots.

Recent flirtations with Locker and Mallett may suggest New England is exploring the possibility of finding an eventual successor in this draft to reigning NFL Most Valuable Player Tom Brady, who will turn 34 in August. Brady is signed through the 2014 season and will be 37 at the end of his contract.

I'm higher on Mallett than I am on Locker, but he still needs a lot of work. His footwork seemed to be off in what little I saw of Arkansas last season, as did his decision making. Still, he has a big arm and otherwise very good mechanics. This is a guy who, like Aaron Rodgers, can really benefit sitting on the bench for a couple of seasons under the tutelage of a guy like Brady.

 

[sbpatfan]

The thing that concerns me the most about Mallett is him being a complete douche. He was hated at Michigan before he even decided to transfer.

 

[Snake Eyes]

Sources: Ryan Mallett latest QB prospect to visit New England Patriots - ESPN Boston

I'm higher on Mallett than I am on Locker, but he still needs a lot of work. His footwork seemed to be off in what little I saw of Arkansas last season, as did his decision making. Still, he has a big arm and otherwise very good mechanics. This is a guy who, like Aaron Rodgers, can really benefit sitting on the bench for a couple of seasons under the tutelage of a guy like Brady.

Mallett is a D-bag and Locker seems like a leader who I would trust my franchise with, character can't be coached.

Anyway, I think Locker's issues can be corrected relatively simply and he could take over for TFB when he rides off into the sunset, if Locker fell to the 3rd I'd be over him like a fat kid on ice cream.

 

[mcsully]

I'd be floored if we took a QB with an early pick.. Don't you all think we're doing our evaluation from the stand point to be better prepared later down the line when we need to draft a QB? We host the QB now, rate them on our board and in 3 years figure out if our philosphy matched up with the players production

Basically dry run..

 

[VJCPatriot]

Mallett is a D-bag and Locker seems like a leader who I would trust my franchise with, character can't be coached.

Anyway, I think Locker's issues can be corrected relatively simply and he could take over for TFB when he rides off into the sunset, if Locker fell to the 3rd I'd be over him like a fat kid on ice cream.

Mallet has character issues but he has prototypical size and arm strength.
Locker couldn't hit the broad side of a barn and makes poor decisions under pressure.

There are some things you can't teach. Innate accuracy is probably one of them. I expect Tebow to struggle with his accuracy until he perfects a new delivery style. Tebow's character sadly has little to do with his skill level. That's why so called 'd-bags' like Ben Roethlisberger can have so much success at the NFL level.

In any case, Mallet is a round 2 prospect. And the Pats are doing due diligince because they have 2 second rounders and they need to consider exactly what they're passing up on when trade talks heat up for pick #33.

Locker won't likely even make it out of the top 12 even though he has a rather high bust potential.

 

[tricktak]

I'm honestly higher on Mallett more than Newton. Mallett can make all the NFL throws. To me, he looks like more of a Joe Flacco type than a Ryan Leaf type and Flacco has transitioned vey well to the NFL. Mallett would fair greatly being on a team like the Patriots, with all the leadership they have and sitting and learning behind one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time for a few years before he finally and hopefully gets his chance to shine. This would be one of those picks by New England that would shock many people, I am higher on Locker than Mallett but I think Locker goes fairly early in the draft and Mallett has the legitimate potential to fall. The fact that they've worked out so many quarterbacks this year, leads me to believe they will take one earlier than many people would think, they've worked out all these quarterbacks for them all to be just a smoke screen? I don't buy that.

 

[Snake Eyes]

Mallet has character issues but he has prototypical size and arm strength.
Locker couldn't hit the broad side of a barn and makes poor decisions under pressure.

There are some things you can't teach. Innate accuracy is probably one of them. I expect Tebow to struggle with his accuracy until he perfects a new delivery style. Tebow's character sadly has little to do with his skill level. That's why so called 'd-bags' like Ben Roethlisberger can have so much success at the NFL level.

In any case, Mallet is a round 2 prospect. And the Pats are doing due diligince because they have 2 second rounders and they need to consider exactly what they're passing up on when trade talks heat up for pick #33.

Locker won't likely even make it out of the top 12 even though he has a rather high bust potential.

What good does prototypical size & arm strength do if he’s unmotivated/distracted, getting suspended by the league for drugs and in general just being an idiot? Ryan Leaf had those prototypicals as well, but I’ll take Doug Flutie any day of the week over him.

Locker has very good accuracy on the run, which means he’s capable of being accurate, it’s just doing it from the pocket which is an issue, and I think I can correct that and deal with his lack of comfort in the pocket, which is really the core of his issues. The big difference is that Locker will actually bust his behind to correct his issues where Mallet actually said that he considers coaches to be “outsiders”. Mallett will be better quicker, but he’ll also severely limit his success.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Locker has very good accuracy on the run, which means he’s capable of being accurate, it’s just doing it from the pocket which is an issue, and I think I can correct that and deal with his lack of comfort in the pocket, which is really the core of his issues. The big difference is that Locker will actually bust his behind to correct his issues where Mallet actually said that he considers coaches to be “outsiders”. Mallett will be better quicker, but he’ll also severely limit his success.

Really? Are you going to be his QB coach then? How do you intend to correct these issues?

 

[Snake Eyes]

Really? Are you going to be his QB coach then? How do you intend to correct these issues?

I'll do it if they hire me. It comes down to pre-throw anxiety, when his mind is more occupied, like when he's on the run, he does just fine. You need to give him drills which make him more occupied when in the pocket, mostly footwork drills, which also lead into making small movements within the pocket to avoid contact (like Marino/Brady). That, and you teach him how to take hits and he'll be fine.

 

[BradyManny]

The thing that concerns me the most about Mallett is him being a complete douche. He was hated at Michigan before he even decided to transfer.

I agree - this guy is drawing too many Ryan Leaf comparisons for me right now. I can't remember the last time we drafted a guy with any character concerns and had it work out. We want guys who put football ahead of all else now, and not sure Mallet does.

 

[upstater1]

Some of us should be hired as NFL scouts. If you go back to the QB threads, several of us have been saying for quite awhile that Mallet would rise to the top of the draft, and I expect him to get picked ahead of Gabbert.

When you watch Mallet play, he shows a lot of confidence, can make all the throws, and he just slings it back there like Dan Marino. He has a much more natural throwing motion than Manning or Brady. That being said, his makeup might be more Jeff George (I'm not expecting a Leaf type blowout). But regardless, I'd take him over Gabbert and the like.

I'm always stunned when some QBs drop. I can honestly say this after watching Favre, Marino, Brees and Rodgers playing in college. I have no freakin' idea why these guys dropped when it was so, so, so obvious that they were QB studs. You could easily see it. I don't know what QB scouts are looking for. These 4 guys had it in college.

Admittedly, I've said this about one other guy who didn't make it in the NFL (Brohm) but I have never called a guy a potential bust and seen him succeed.

 

[Dufflebagz]

Hey Ryan!

 

[yopats]

I see Bill pulling the Rope-A-Dope here..

A. He gets good data and info on the kid
B. He is going to try to force Miami into taking him at 14 and thus pushing Ingram into a possible scenario of falling to us at #28

 

[everlong]

When I've watched Mallett I have thought of Bledsoe every time. That's obviously good and bad. I can hear Butch from the Cape saying, he's tall he has a big arm......He does and he can make all the throws including the bad ones that drove me nuts with Drew. I think he'll make it in this league but I question if he'll always be like a Bledsoe or Palmer who kill their teams in the clutch trying to do too much with that big arm.

 

[Lamanai]

Relax, folks. The reason NE is looking into these guys (Mallett, Locker) is not as a successor to TFB. It has to do with knowing who might be at the helm of our division rivals over the next 3-5 years.

 

[Kontradiction]

I'd be floored if we took a QB with an early pick.. Don't you all think we're doing our evaluation from the stand point to be better prepared later down the line when we need to draft a QB? We host the QB now, rate them on our board and in 3 years figure out if our philosphy matched up with the players production

Basically dry run..

This is a very good point.

 

[TriplecHamp]