Chris Simms a Texan?

coma · Nov 13, 2001

I heard tonight that he was "considering" entering next years draft.

Do you guys think that would be a wise choice for the Texans 1st pick?

DREAMer · Nov 13, 2001

I'd like to see how he plays next year, but I don't think he'd be a horrible pick....

Ottomaton · Nov 13, 2001

Got the tools - height, arm, etc. I like him.
We really aught to be mad at those bastid Yankees for taking away Drew Henson

Smokey · Nov 14, 2001

No way. I'd rather have Major Applewhite.

Ottomaton · Nov 14, 2001

Here's Joel Bushbaum's Report on QB's from Pro Football Weekly. Just sort of read it with a whiny, slow, nasal tone of voice for full effect.

Joel Buchsbaum reports: Quarterbacks
Carr pushes to the front of the QB pack
By Joel Buchsbaum, Contributing editor
As published in print Oct. 29, 2001

Bulldogs QB

David Carr

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of articles previewing the top NFL prospects, by position, for the 2002 draft.

With Drew Henson and Joe Borchard signed to long-term, baseball-only contracts and Michael Vick entering the NFL early last year, it looked as though this would be a very down year for QB prospects. However, while the situation is still far from rosy, Fresno State’s David Carr has emerged and looks like a first-round pick and a possible top-of-the-round pick.

At 6-3, 225-235 pounds, Carr has the size the NFL looks for in a quarterback these days. Carr is a very tough and competitive young man who has the ability to elevate those around him.

He sets up well, has a quick delivery and has a quick, live, strong arm that lets him zip the ball down the field and throw the deep sideline routes. He also shows touch on his throws and does not throw a heavy, hard-to-hold-onto ball. He can thread the needle and responds well to pressure. His performance at the end of the Colorado State game was Elway-like.

On the downside, Carr is a semi-sidearm thrower with a lower release point than teams would like. Carr tends to be a little streaky and at times is not quite as accurate as teams would like. However, other times he will really thread the needle. As is the case with most strong-armed young quarterbacks, he’ll force some passes because he has too much confidence in his arm. Perhaps the biggest problem he has is that while he is not slow and can get outside the rush at times, he is not a very shifty, quick-footed, nimble or elusive runner who can buy time behind the line of scrimmage by scrambling around similar to an Elway or Tarkenton. But Carr can throw while sprinting out.

Coming into the NFL, Carr will be further along in his development than most drafted quarterbacks because he spent five years running a pro-style offense at Fresno State and received very good coaching. As a freshman and sophomore, Carr learned behind Billy Volek and then redshirted in 1999 so he would be able to start the next two years. In 2000, he looked like a bust after throwing four picks and seeming to panic in the opener, but he seemed to learn from that and has shown great improvement ever since.

If Carr continues to take the bull by the horns and improve and then does well in the Senior Bowl, he might even move into the Houston Texans’ thinking. However, if he struggles later in the year, he could drop out of the first round.

Illinois QB Kurt Kittner became a starter as a freshman and has started ever since. Playing in Ron Turner’s pro-style offense has made him a lot more NFL-ready than most college quarterbacks and will bump him up in the draft.

Kittner has good mechanics and a nice delivery and looks as though he is in charge of his team and has been well-trained on the finer points of the position. When he gets hot, he can throw the ball as well as anyone in the country. He generally is a very, very effective three-step drop passer who looks like he could run an NFL West Coast offense.

Kittner is decisive in his reads, is making better decisions with the ball and really stands in against the rush. He also has learned the throw the ball away when nothing is there. However, he is not quite as consistently accurate as teams would like, and he also has games when he just looks average. While Kittner has a solid arm, it is not a howitzer. At times he will underthrow the deep ball, and it is hard to tell if this is by design or because of a lack of great arm strength. He is not a sitting duck in the pocket by any means, but he is basically a dropback passer who is not going to hurt a defense with his running very often.

Oregon may have done Joey Harrington a great disservice by promoting him as a Heisman candidate. Harrington is a very good quarterback with a very good knack for bringing his team from behind at the end of close games. In fact, in his career, he led the Ducks to victory six times after they were trailing or tied in the fourth quarter. However, he is not a superbly gifted quarterback like Michael Vick or a miracle worker like Doug Flutie.

Harrington is a big, smart, dropback passer who throws well when his release point is consistent and he is not forcing the ball. However, his mechanics are very erratic overall, and as a result, so is his accuracy. While he will really hum some passes when he is throwing the ball off his ear and has the ability to step into his throws and get his body into them, he also can be all over the place when he starts dropping down and does not have great arm strength.

While he gets top grades for his competitiveness and classroom smarts, and his coaches all rave about his learning ability and intangibles, there are times on the field when Harrington will make very dubious decisions with the ball (as in the Oregon State game in 2000). He also tends to lock on to his primary receiver and at times does not always stay poised when things start falling apart on him. When he gets pumped up, he tends to get wild high. Harrington is not a pinpoint passer and will often make his receiver work for the ball instead of letting him run through it. As is the case with Carr and Kittner, Harrington can do himself a lot of good if he goes to the Senior Bowl, responds well to the NFL coaching he gets during the week and plays well in the game.

Stanford QB Randy Fasani has great size and very good athletic ability, but the former high school All-Am-erican still gets mixed reviews for his play at quarterback. Because Stanford had so many super-gifted quarterbacks before Chad Hutchinson and Joe Borchard opted for baseball, Fasani spent much of his early career playing on special teams and filling in at tight end and inside linebacker before claiming the starting QB job the past two years, after Todd Husak graduated and Borchard signed a huge baseball-only contract with the White Sox (Hutchinson signed a baseball-only deal with the Cardinals earlier).

Fasani has an NFL arm and throws pretty well on the run but is far from a pinpoint passer from the pocket. He tends to hold the ball low and has some stiffness in his throwing motion. He tends to blow hot and cold as a passer, but he can run with the ball. Perhaps the biggest knock on Fasani is with his intangibles. The general feeling is that he tries to do too much himself and wants too much to revolve around him, which leads to some poor decisions.

Fasani still has not really emerged as a true team leader on or off the field. While he can throw the ball well, he does not come close to having the passing potential of Hutchinson and Borchard. Another big problem for Fasani has been injuries, which cost him three full games and parts of two others in 2000. Now he is out with a right knee injury suffered in the Oregon game, which is expected to force him to miss a month of action and possibly the rest of the season. The injury came at a time when he appeared to be turning the corner. Before getting hurt, Fasani had a 12-2 TD-interception ratio for the year and was playing very well in the game against Oregon.

Tulane QB Patrick Ramsey is an up player in a down program who could spend part of the year watching his team train superbly talented underclassman J.P. Losman, who was supposed to be the second coming of Troy Aikman when he signed with UCLA a couple of years ago.

Ramsey is not as mobile as teams would like and has a poor 40-time. However, he is quicker than his time and has a quick trigger to go with a strong and generally accurate arm. He has excellent intangibles, does the extras, watches the film and shows great courage standing in against the rush. He is very similar to former Louisville QB Chris Redman, but Ramsey is not quite as accurate and may have a little more zip on his fastball.

After backing up Shaun King as a redshirt freshman, Ramsey took over a team on which almost everyone — including the head coach — left along with King. As a result, Ramsey has never had much of a supporting cast around him. However, he has always hung tough and given his team a chance to win in many of its games against better opponents.

LSU QB Rohan Davey has the size, arm and leadership qualities but has not been able to stay healthy long enough to establish himself. At times, Davey looks big-time, and most people feel he, not Josh Booty, would have started this year had Booty returned, based on Davey’s leadership ability. Davey can be erratic throwing and tends to hold on to the ball too long, and his lack of experience shows in his play.

David Garrard of East Carolina has to watch his weight since he tends to balloon to over 250 pounds — too heavy for a 6-1½ quarterback even with a wide frame. At 240 pounds, Garrard is very hard to knock down and still has decent mobility. But at 260, he has trouble moving and avoiding the rush. His arm is strong but not always accurate, and he can unload quickly. The big knock on him in the past has been that he does not handle late-game pressure really well and rarely plays his best with the game on the line. However, that may be because he tries to do too much himself.

There are a number of smaller college quarterbacks and lesser-known players who have enough traits to intrigue the pros, and one or two could really emerge as first-day picks who go before most of the big-name quarterbacks in the draft.

Cal-Davis has been producing NFL quarterbacks since Ken O’Brien, and while most are not top picks, they generally are worth looking at. J.T. O’Sullivan may be the most gifted quarterback since O’Brien, but like many Cal-Davis quarterbacks, he is very hard to get a read on because the offense maximizes ability and the caliber of competition is a step slower than the NFL. While O’Sullivan looks very mobile and athletic on this level and throws the ball well, the question is, will he be able to escape with his speed on the next level and scramble effectively as he does on this level. His scrambling often sets up his throwing. The other question is, he is a wind-up thrower at times, and will that give pro defensive backs too much time to break on the ball and rushers too much time to put pressure on him.

Nevada’s David Neill had a great freshman year and has been starting for almost four years, but he has never really built off his first year from a statistical standpoint. But it should be noted he is playing a much tougher schedule. Neill has first-round talent from an arm strength-mobility standpoint, but he must answer pressing concerns about his leadership ability, character and if he’s really willing to pay the price to become a great quarterback.

Seth Burford of Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo has nice size and good athletic ability. He is very smart and shows good touch on his throws. However, he is more fast than quick, does not avoid the rush that well and lacks a quick, compact throwing motion. He has had to adjust to an option type of offense this year, which won’t help his NFL development.

Valdosta State’s Dusty Bonner was very productive in his one year as a starter at Kentucky, and the past two years he has had awesome numbers at Valdosta State. However, he lacks a big arm, is not very mobile and benefits from a dink-and-dunk offense.

After transferring from SMU to Sam Houston State, Josh McCown seems to be coming of age. McCown has excellent size and an overhand throwing motion. However, he does have a little hitch in his delivery, and he started throwing too many passes off his back foot after being hit so much at SMU. However, now he is doing a better job of stepping into his throws and is not holding on to the ball as long.

While Clemson’s Woodrow Dantzler, Northwestern’s Zak Kustok and Georgia Tech’s George Godsey are Heisman hopefuls, the general feeling is that Dantzler is a running back playing quarterback, and Kustok and Godfrey may lack the arm strength and ability to be more than just Jason Garrett-type backup quarterbacks on the next level, despite their great intangibles. The same holds true for Texas QB Major Applewhite. North Carolina’s Ronald Curry is mobile and athletic and has a very strong arm, but he has not come close to living up to his high school billing and had a poor start to his senior year. Alabama-Birmingham’s Jeff Aaron is another quarterback with a live arm but dubious production. Like Curry, he tends to be all over the place with the ball. Indiana’s Antwaan Randle El is too short to be an NFL quarterback and too slow to be an NFL receiver, but he could turn out to be another Doug Flutie if a team leaves him at quarterback. He has uncanny instincts, is a great competitor, has tremendous run skills, and at times, like in the Wisconsin game, he throws the ball really well. He’s sort of a wild card and you have to have a plan for him, but in the right situation, he could surprise a lot of people.

Did you know?
Curry, not Michael Vick, was the top QB prospect in the country four years ago.
Borchard got the highest signing bonus ever given to a college baseball player at the time.
The Yankees gave Henson a $17 million package to drop college football and become a full-time baseball player.
Click to expand...

I could live with Harrington in the third round.

RunninRaven · Nov 14, 2001

Originally posted by Smokey
No way. I'd rather have Major Applewhite.
Click to expand...

Major is THE MAN!!!

Band Geek Mobster · Nov 14, 2001

Major Applewhite = Joe Montana

Maybe not the most gifted athlete, but a true leader.

Chris Simms = Ryan Leaf

Has all of the tools, but lacks heart.

Kim · Nov 14, 2001

I think y'all are ragin' on the guy a little to much. I mean, I do hope the Ags knock the shiznit out of him, but unfortunately, I think Simms is damn good and will have a good game. How can one judge his heart?

Funny story: The week after the Colorado-Texas game, Chris was on the phone talking to his dad. He says "these fans suck, they're just like New York." I didn't understand why he said this until my buddy explained to me that y'all longhorns were screamin "Maaajoooorr, Maaaajooooor." I don't think he hates UT fans, but I do know he gets upset that y'all treat him so harsh. The football team is freakin 5th or something in the nation...what's so bad about that?

Ottomaton · Nov 14, 2001

Originally posted by Band Geek Mobster
Major Applewhite = Joe Montana

Maybe not the most gifted athlete, but a true leader.

Chris Simms = Ryan Leaf

Has all of the tools, but lacks heart.
Click to expand...

No way Simms is half the weak-ass lazy punk that Leaf is. Not that I agree that he isn't the smartest QB, but if he was a lazy disrespectful punk like Leaf his pops d'of kicked his ass. Several times. Phill Simms was a bad-ass and he was an involved parent.

Leaf, to quote a sportswriter who will go unnamed, is "...a punk, a jerk and a loser."

Can you imagine this comming out of Leaf's mouth: (from Simms):

He had 177 completions. That's not a lot for a No. 1 draft pick," said Simms, who solidified his hold on the starting spot with a relatively error-free spring. "If you look at Peyton (Manning), how all those (college) games when he threw the ball 40 times a game helped. Look at the immediate success he had. I know (staying) will improve my status, make me a better player and a more mature man.
Click to expand...

I thought not.

Ottomaton · Nov 14, 2001

Here's another article which I yoinked off of Houstonprofootball.com.

Feeling Fine In Texas

Chris Simms is finding the Lone Star State to his liking

By JIM VERTUNO
Associated Press

AUSTIN — So far, the most difficult adjustment for Chris Simms, the New Jersey high school star quarterback turned Texas freshman, has been the language.

Like many Yankees, Simms has no concept of that mainstay of Southern dialects — fixin’.

“I say I’m going to the movies. They say they’re fixin’ to go to the movies,” Simms said, laughing. “I just do not understand what that word means. What are you fixin’ to do?”

Simms, the son of former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms, got to play for the first time last week in Texas’ 69-17 romp over Stanford.

After throwing for 27 yards and a touchdown in mop-up duty, he could play again when Texas (1-1) faces Rutgers (0-1) Saturday in Piscataway, N.J., just 40 miles from his home in Ramapo.

Under Texas rules, freshmen can’t talk to the media until they have played in a game. Finally allowed to speak, Simms’ rolled off stories about how an Easterner with NFL pedigree and a rocket of a left arm had adjusted to life in the Lone Star State.

For the record, he loves barbecue, his teammates tease him about his clothes and he digs watching his old man sweat it out in the stands in the Texas heat.

His most embarrassing moment was his first on campus. After spending the night at the posh Four Seasons hotel, he was ready to move on campus when freshmen were due.

Having no car in town, he asked the hotel for help. It sent the hotel limousine service, a garish white van with leather seats and a wet bar. The van, and the two women attendants dressed in black suits and ties, left Simms feeling a bit sheepish.

“I told my mom I’m not riding in that. I knew I was never going to live it down,” Simms said.

Longhorns players took one look at that on the evening news and dubbed Simms “Limo.”

“As soon as the varsity got here, they had seen it on TV, they were like, `What are you doing?’ he said.

Simms loves the Italian food back home but is enamored of Texas barbecue.

“I can’t recall one barbecue joint (in New Jersey),” Simms said. “I love barbecue. They make fun of me because I go out to dinner a lot and I eat barbecue almost every night.”

Crawfish are another story.

“They’ve got like tentacles ... I’ll never eat the stuff.”

His New Jersey accent and clothes — lots of blacks and grays and jeans slung low on his hips — sometimes prompts jokes from teammates who have never been east of the Mississippi.

“A lot of my friends call me the Italian Stallion,” said Simms, who with a shock of blond hair and blue eyes looks about as Italian as Boomer Esiason.

“They’re used to more happier colors here.”

The trip home will mean another chance for his dad to watch him play. ABC cut away to Phil Simms watching from the stands during the Stanford game, looking very hot in the 94-degree weather.

“It’s fun watching him sit in the stands and suffer in the heat having to watch me,” Simms said. “I had to do it for him the for first 13 years of my life.”

Simms was 3 of 7 passing in the fourth quarter when the game was all but over. After the touchdown, he spread his arms and ran around as if he were flying.

“I was like a kid in a candy store the first time,” he said. “I couldn’t get the smile off my face.”

The debut wasn’t perfect. His first two passes were batted down at the line.

“I’m 6-foot-5 and couldn’t get it over the line. I couldn’t believe that,” Simms said.

Simms’ toughest challenge may be living up to the expectations. Even with the return of quarterback Major Applewhite, the 1998 Big 12 freshman of the year, some fans speculated he could contend for the starting role.

Although coach Mack Brown has never indicated that’s even a possibility, Applewhite has seemed to respond to Simms’ presence. He’s thrown for 669 yards and four touchdowns in two games.

Applewhite, one of the first to congratulate Simms on his touchdown pass, says the two have worked well together.

“It doesn’t bother me,” Applewhite said. “The backup QB is probably the most popular guy on the team.

“I don’t feel a push from Chris. I need to help him or whoever it might be become a good backup,” Applewhite said.

Simms wants no part of a quarterback controversy but can thank himself for fueling one.

He initially committed to Tennessee, where he could have fought to replace senior Tee Martin next year. He then chose Texas, where Applewhite is only a sophomore.

“I think everyone knows Major is the starter,” Simms said. “I haven’t done anything yet.”
Click to expand...

Say what you will about his talent, but Pappa Simms raised a good kid.

Band Geek Mobster · Nov 14, 2001

Okay, Ryan Leaf might be a little harsh.

How about...Rick Mirer?

BrianKagy · Nov 14, 2001

Chris Simms a Texan?
Click to expand...

No, he's from New Jersey. DUH.

coma · Nov 14, 2001

Originally posted by BrianKagy

No, he's from New Jersey. DUH.
Click to expand...

omg. You haven't heard?

Houston has a new football team called the Texans.

Check it out.

Houston Texans

They start next year. It's been all over the local and national news, I'm surprised you haven't heard.

The Cat · Nov 14, 2001

Originally posted by Band Geek Mobster
Okay, Ryan Leaf might be a little harsh.

How about...Rick Mirer?
Click to expand...

Rick Mirer never had half the physical tools Chris Simms had. And what has Chris Simms done to show you that he doesn't have heart?

BTW, Chris Mortensen and Mel Kiper said last weekend that if Simms came out, he was a near lock to be taken by the Texans with the #1 overall pick.

BrianKagy · Nov 14, 2001

Coma-- what's "football"...?

Smokey · Nov 14, 2001

Texas is royally screwed if Simms comes out.

We have one of the toughest schedules in the country next year, and we will have to start either a redshirt freshman or sophomore.

Wait...this schedule is similar to the one in '98 and we had a redshirt freshman at QB.

Smokey · Nov 14, 2001

Originally posted by BrianKagy
Coma-- what's "football"...?
Click to expand...

I was waiting for your response...lol

Rocketman95 · Nov 14, 2001

I'd love to have Mock in there for 3 years.

gr8-1 · Nov 14, 2001

Originally posted by Smokey
Tex
Wait...this schedule is similar to the one in '98 and we had a redshirt freshman at QB.
Click to expand...

What did we go that year, 9-3 or 9-5?? Is that the same year KSU embarassed us? This team is much better at picking up the blitz, so I would assume a fleet footed and strong armed Mock could lead this team to a 10-1 or maybe better season next year. Texas will actually be MORE talented next year. Also Nordgren is supposed to be impressive and UT is in on Vincent Young from Houston Madison.

I hope Simms doesn't leave. He leads the big 12 in pass efficiency and has UT's single season td record. But, the cupboard certainly won't be bare.

Band Geek Mobster · Nov 14, 2001

Well I'm sure Mortenson and Kiper thought Rick Mirer was a top pick too...

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