1 game scouting report QB Leak (Florida)

[Ochmed Jones]

I got on the field for the Florida/Tenn. game and the first thing I noticed about Leak is that is is short. He's only about 6'1" maybe 6'2".
The second thing I noticed is that he commands respect, which all of the Florida players gave him without any hesitation that I could see.
The only time I saw mumbling and grumbling among the players was when Urban put Tebow in the game.
As for Leak's game, it's a bit harder to judge because of that funky offense. What I can see is arm strength, he has a fairly decent arm, and he has a lot of confidence in that arm, maybe too much.
Accuracy is decent, not great.

Problems I saw were in reading defenses. I'm not sure he understands defenses as well as he should. He tends to lock on to certain receivers on certain routes and I don't think I saw him get to the #3 option on the read progression chart but maybe once or twice.
Courage. No doubt he's a much better QB when he has time and room. (Easy to say that about most every QB.) However under pressure he breaks down very quickly and because he's not mastered reading defenses, the result is usually dumb plays. He needs to be more of a man under pressure.
He shows very little interest in running the ball, which is odd considering that offense.

Bottom line: He needs a year or two in a system to learn to read defenses and work on his accuracy a bit. And provided batted balls don't become a huge problem, he could be a serviceable NFL backup for a few years.

 

[Clonamery]

I got on the field for the Florida/Tenn. game and the first thing I noticed about Leak is that is is short. He's only about 6'1" maybe 6'2".
The second thing I noticed is that he commands respect, which all of the Florida players gave him without any hesitation that I could see.
The only time I saw mumbling and grumbling among the players was when Urban put Tebow in the game.
As for Leak's game, it's a bit harder to judge because of that funky offense. What I can see is arm strength, he has a fairly decent arm, and he has a lot of confidence in that arm, maybe too much.
Accuracy is decent, not great.

Problems I saw were in reading defenses. I'm not sure he understands defenses as well as he should. He tends to lock on to certain receivers on certain routes and I don't think I saw him get to the #3 option on the read progression chart but maybe once or twice.
Courage. No doubt he's a much better QB when he has time and room. (Easy to say that about most every QB.) However under pressure he breaks down very quickly and because he's not mastered reading defenses, the result is usually dumb plays. He needs to be more of a man under pressure.
He shows very little interest in running the ball, which is odd considering that offense.

Bottom line: He needs a year or two in a system to learn to read defenses and work on his accuracy a bit. And provided batted balls don't become a huge problem, he could be a serviceable NFL backup for a few years.

I expected (based on your observations) that there would have been some improvement on his skills from what I have seen on the TV especially with Urban Meyer as his coach into his second season. Maybe that is an unrealistic goal for both of them.

How do you see Leak's skills compared to QB Alex Smith (SF)?

 

[Ochmed Jones]

That's an interesting question. I did not get to see Smith play live from the field, but I did get to see a couple of games on TV.
Smith from what I remember was much better at running the option, because he was a more willing ball carrier.
He's also appears much taller than Leak and is more accurate a thrower.
I'm not sure if Smith had a commanding presence in and out of the huddle like Leak does.
I really see Leak as a good fit for an offense like Baltimore's. Because of Boller, they limited the reading, audibles and other variables as much as possible and that could help Leak a lot.

 

[Clonamery]

That's an interesting question. I did not get to see Smith play live from the field, but I did get to see a couple of games on TV.
Smith from what I remember was much better at running the option, because he was a more willing ball carrier.
He's also appears much taller than Leak and is more accurate a thrower.
I'm not sure if Smith had a commanding presence in and out of the huddle like Leak does.
I really see Leak as a good fit for an offense like Baltimore's. Because of Boller, they limited the reading, audibles and other variables as much as possible and that could help Leak a lot.

Yes, I could see that (Baltimore). McNair would be a great mentor for the kid, too.

He was smart to stay at Florida for his senior year. It will pay off for him I believe.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

The Pats' SEC farm club went down to Auburn, Leak was unimpressive enough for me.

Anyone know if Andre Caldwell has a big brother on the Pats roster?

 

[VrabelMayeWin]

Anyone know if Andre Caldwell has a big brother on the Pats roster?

Yep, they're brothers. Andre seems to have a weird eye thing too, maybe not as dramatic. And, yeah, Leak blows IMO.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

Leak can't read defenses. It really hurts his ability to find the correct window to throw through.