NCAA National Championship Semis Gameday Thread

[AzorianPats]

Marcus will need good coaching and an offense tailored to his skill set.

What he has in his favor, though, is above average arm strength, a good feel for finding WR while on the move and insane foot quickness. He can get to the edge like no QB I've seen since Vick. But the main thing he has going for him is most running QB, for whatever reason, don't seem able or willing to work on their game. RG III, Vick, Kaepernick, etc, they never seem to improve their passing game. Marcus is a totally different personality and will work to improve his passing (both physical and mental) which is why I think he can become a passing QB who can run not a running QB who tries to pass.

FTR, I'm rooting for Mariota, seems like a good kid, down to earth, but I'm just calling it like I see it. Keep him in the pocket, and make him beat you with his arm.

 

[rochrist]

That pick was so awful it was morbidly hilarious. Bad decision, bad throw, godawful situational awareness. One of my favorite college scenarios is when you have these incredible WRs on a team with a QB who basically sucks, or at least isn't half as good as he's thought to be.

Look at Zack Mettenberger last year. Everyone assumed he must be pretty good, but in hindsight its hard to look bad when you're handing off to Jeremy Hill and throwing to Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry. The fact that he didn't look like the best QB in the country surrounded by those guys is kinda damning when you think about it.

Similarly, I wonder how bad a QB can be and still look good most of the time just because he's throwing to Amari Cooper. Pretty bad, if tonight was any indication. As much as we **** on bad NFL QBs, it's rare to see a genuinely bad QB last too long in the pros. Watching college gives you a whole new appreciation for bad quarterbacking.

Part of the problem with QBs coming into the NFL now are the goofy offenses colleges are running these days.

 

[rochrist]

A bit dumb? Winston is as dumb as a rock.

That's an insult to rocks everywhere!

 

[BradyFTW!]

Part of the problem with QBs coming into the NFL now are the goofy offenses colleges are running these days.

In general, QBs are more pro-ready now than they ever have been in the past. And a lot of that is because these goofy offenses are filtering up. College coaches tend to be way less risk-averse than NFL coaches, and the result is that a bunch of different innovations get their shot, and the ones that work do filter up.

10 years ago, mobile QBs were more or less a gimmick, and now probably half of the starting QBs under age 30 in the NFL have the requisite athleticism and knowledge to run read option plays as needed. While the NFL's philosophical evolution has been driven by rule changes, the schematic ways in which teams go about making these changes have mostly filtered up from the college ranks. Look at all the work that Belichick has done with Urban Meyer for an example.

The real reason why quarterbacking is so all-over-the-map in college is because there just aren't that many good quarterbacks in the world. Look at it this way: there are exactly 64 starting + second string professional QB jobs in the world. Anyone who's a starter or a backup QB should, in theory, be one of the 64 best in the world at what he does. And yet Brandon Weeden and Blaine Gabbert are still among this group. That's how few genuinely good quarterbacks there are on the planet Earth, and that's when you're selecting out of the entire population over the age of 21 or so.

In college, there are more jobs to win, a much narrower range of potential QBs to select from (age restrictions), and they have years less of quarterbacking experience and coaching. So... yeah, as little depth as there is in the pro ranks, it's exponentially worse in college. There are maybe 10 quarterbacks in all of the college ranks right now that will have any kind of a meaningful pro career. Not even necessarily a good career, in the sense that an NFL fan would define one. The rest just aren't good enough and/or haven't had/won't get the right coaching.

It's not a problem with the offenses - it's just a lack of available talent. It means that even the best programs in the country are frequently stuck with QBs who basically suck.

 

[woolster22]

A bit dumb? Winston is as dumb as a rock.

That's insulting to rocks. They at least have moral character.

 

[obgod3]

I don't think Winston fits well into the NFL right now. He benefits from that ultra fast offense, plus defenses that are not overly quick, he got some of that fast defense yesterday and it messed him up. But back to the offense pace. No one in the NFL runs that fast of an offense, even Philly doesn't, or doesn't all the time, Winston benefits from the fact that he often can find college defenses in bad positions, he throws great when guys are wide open which is part of that fast offense. He isn't going to see a lot of super wide open guys in the NFL, not consistently. It's hard to evaluate him because of this, will he be accurate, can he read complex defenses, can he run an NFL offense? I think it is unlikely. Plus I don't buy into his innocence in all the BS that he was cleared of, I bet he is more guilty than innocent. That is going to be a huge issue when he decides to play in the NFL, bet he goes MLB instead.

 

[Oswlek]

I don't think Winston fits well into the NFL right now. He benefits from that ultra fast offense, plus defenses that are not overly quick, he got some of that fast defense yesterday and it messed him up. But back to the offense pace. No one in the NFL runs that fast of an offense, even Philly doesn't, or doesn't all the time, Winston benefits from the fact that he often can find college defenses in bad positions, he throws great when guys are wide open which is part of that fast offense. He isn't going to see a lot of super wide open guys in the NFL, not consistently. It's hard to evaluate him because of this, will he be accurate, can he read complex defenses, can he run an NFL offense? I think it is unlikely. Plus I don't buy into his innocence in all the BS that he was cleared of, I bet he is more guilty than innocent. That is going to be a huge issue when he decides to play in the NFL, bet he goes MLB instead.

While reading, I would have sworn you were talking about Mariotta until getting to the guilty/innocent. FS doesn't run that up tempo of an offense, it is arguably the most NFL-esque in the entire NCAA. Other than the rocks in his head, Winston is as clear cut a top 5 QB prospect as they come. Even with the rocks, he reads defenses better than most college passers entering the NFL.

 

[Sfpat]

Winston at least has taken some snaps from under center and at least has some feel for dropping back, footwork, etc. I don't think Marriota has ever taken a snap from under center.

 

[BelichickFan]

Winston at least has taken some snaps from under center and at least has some feel for dropping back, footwork, etc. I don't think Marriota has ever taken a snap from under center.

Not in games but Helfrich has had him taking snaps from under Center in practice/scrimmages since spring practice to help prepare him for the NFL.

 

[obgod3]

While reading, I would have sworn you were talking about Mariotta until getting to the guilty/innocent. FS doesn't run that up tempo of an offense, it is arguably the most NFL-esque in the entire NCAA. Other than the rocks in his head, Winston is as clear cut a top 5 QB prospect as they come. Even with the rocks, he reads defenses better than most college passers entering the NFL.

Well I didn't invent that statement, all the guys covering NCAA football this morning on ESPN said exactly what I quoted. And during the game they were timing the FS offensive plays and there were all in the 18 second range range from play stop to the next snap, so it sure seems up tempo to me. Winston will fail in the NFL, just like most of the others, plus he is going to have to clean himself up a lot to get a good selection number, too much damage done this year in the nfl and teams are going to very careful about selecting a guy with a questionable past.

 

[Oswlek]

And during the game they were timing the FS offensive plays and there were all in the 18 second range range from play stop to the next snap

I recall exactly that conversation, but they were talking about Oregon.