Thoughts and Observations Built like a WR. He's built more like AJ Green (6'4", 207 lbs) than Aaron Rodgers (6'2", 225 lbs). He has a lean build and also a thin frame. Alex Smith is 6'4", 217 lbs. Would like to see him eventually put on about 15-20 lbs and be about 220 lbs. Lots of Shotgun/Pistol, but also lots of dropbacks from under center. Perhaps about 50-50 taking under center and from shotgun/pistol. Footwork, throwing mechanics seem better and more solid when taking the ball from under center rather than when he takes the snap in the backfield. When in shotgun (or pistol), he is more static and his footwork seems slower, more deliberate, and sometimes not quite in-tune with his body. Has WR-feet. His feet are very quick and precise. His dropback from under center is very fast. From taking the ball to setting his back foot on his final step (either 5th step or 7th) is very quick. This allows him to set up just a moment quicker and to see/scan the field a little bit sooner than others. Great Footwork, movement in the pocket, and body control. Although scrambling outside the pocket is more exciting and may lead to bigger "highlight" plays, more impressive is his movement skills within the pocket. Again, WR-like feet. They are quick and precise; similar traits to good route running. His quick feet allow him to move laterally and re-set. Instead of shuffling/sliding to one side, he can cross over and re-set his feet into a throwing position. This is because he has great quickness in his first few steps and his body control is so good that he can make this crossover step and re-set quickly enough to be able to make throws. Without quick feet, this movement can lead to throwing from poor positions. Excellent Pocket Presence. His sense of pocket pressure and when there is none, his "feel" for where the pocket's bubble is, his courage to stay in the pocket and face rushers as well as to trust his blockers. He understands when he needs to break contain (like Russell Wilson or Aaron Rodgers does) and when he can bring himself to safety by shifting up in the pocket or sliding to one side (like Tom Brady does). Sometimes younger QBs will get jumpy (and bring their eyes down) if there are rushers just near him even if they are being blocked (Blaine Gabbert); Bridgewater seems very calm in the pocket. Sometimes will throw (needlessly) flat-footed or against his body. When there is a little line pressure in front of him, he will often truncate his follow-through, making the throw "all arm". Interesting, for intemediate throws, his mechanics are still sound enough so that the ball is accurate. Often when a QB does not follow through properly, the ball will sail high, leading to dangerous throws. This does not happen with Bridgewater. However, on downfield throws, the result is that he short-arms the throw and can leave the ball hanging in the air or several yards short of the receiver. Very dangerous. In these situations, he needs to "stand tall" and finish his throw even if he has to take the hit. Example, Week 7 Rutgers game "In Pocket"-cutup around 3:00 (3rd Quarter 12:25 game clock). Counter example : Same game, same cutup. 6:14 (4th Q, 13:10 game clock). Bridgewater stands tall, steps in and makes a strong throw. Then takes a big hit and slam to the ground. Strong arm, not "sexy" arm. His arm seems strong enough, especially when he sets his feet and steps into his throws; but his arm won't turn heads like (say) Jamarcus Russell. Seems to have strength enough to make all the throws, but would pay close attention to passing drills to verify, particularly deep out and deep seam routes. Anticipation and arm strength should be fine for tight windows in the intermediate area. Throws a very catchable ball, but not always a very tight spiral. Puts on and takes off velocity as needed so that receivers are able to catch the ball. In tighter windows or more urgent situations, the ball gets to the receiver quickly. On RB in the flat, there is less pace on the ball so that the RB can bring it in. May have trouble in poor weather conditions. May not have the arm strength to drive the ball thru wind/rain and spiral may get wobbly in poor weather. Would be concerned about this if I were in an outdoor stadium with cold weather (Cleveland) or windy conditions (Oakland). Nice quick release. Has great understanding of defenses, is very decisive, and has excellent anticipation. He's also adept at manipulating safeties with his eyes. Combine these attributes and he gets the ball out quickly and on time to his receivers. He's willing to check down as necessary. Would be great fit for a timing offense. Excellent short and intermediate range accuracy. Clean throws that are easy to track and lead receivers. Is accurate not only in general area, but within the receiver's short area, meaning he throws to spots on the receiver's body. Examples are throwing in front of receivers to keep them running, throwing away from a defender in zone, throwing to lead a RB in the flat, throwing to the backshoulder near the pylon. Puts the ball in a very catchable place (not too high, not too low). He makes his receivers look better since they rarely have to adjust to a misthrown ball. Many times, a WR can be charged with a drop when a ball is thrown behind them or to the unexpected shoulder; these can be very difficult plays especially if the WR is running full-out. Bridgewater very rarely puts the ball in the wrong place. In the intermediate middle, he typically throws the ball around the receiver's #s to his waist-level. It's a relatively low trajectory meaning he needs to find throwing lanes. Consistency and accuracy means that the receiver knows where the ball will be and can track it easier. Also, a ball below the shoulders is unlikely to be batted into the air. This is probably a contributing factor to why his INT rate is so low. He has not had problems with batted balls. Possibly because of long arms. Keep an eye out for arm length. Since he has a WR-like body, his arms and legs look very long. Longer arms allow for higher release point, so his 6'2"/6'3" height may be effectively 6'5" (for throwing purposes) if his arms are very long. Deep throw accuracy can be spotty. Sometimes absolutely gorgeous and perfectly in stride. Other times off-target. Most of his deep throw completions are when the receiver breaks wide open. Can he make the deep throw against (correctly defended) Cover-2? Progresses from receiver to receiver Rarely confused by defenses. Often makes the correct read and throw. Seems very intelligent and studious. Noticeable improvement from 2012 to 2013. 2012 had some accuracy problems, mostly overthrows. Those were generally corrected. Excellent play-action fake. Many QBs "follow thru" on their play action fakes, but Bridgewater commits to it; he attacks the fake and it is very deceiving. Very accurate on rollouts. Typically right handers have trouble rolling to their left; Bridgewater looks very comfortable and is very accurate going that way, probably b/c of his body control which allows him to get his shoulders turned to prep the throw. Ran alot of naked bootlegs/"Waggles" (a la Kubiak's Texans) which were very effective because of Bridgewater's mobility and his excellent fakes. Scrambles to throw instead of scrambling to run. Understands when he needs to break the pocket and has such quick first couple of steps that he can free himself of jeopardy quickly. Then he looks downfield for the big throw. He can make deep throws on the run. His approach to scrambling is like Aaron Rodgers. He will scramble-run, but grudgingly. In 2013, only 63 rushes for 78 yards, a 1.2 avg. Despite being a Dual-Threat QB out of high school, is primarily a throwing QB. In the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl against Miami, he used the Read-Option (or Ride-Keeper, if you will). This is the first time I've seen designed runs with him (or at least the only time it has been notable).
Brandt has come out publicly endorsing Manziel so it's easy to see where his agenda lies - he wants Jerruh to move up and take JF. Now, If you look at the relative hand sizes they break down to this: Bridgewater - 9 - 2/8" Manziel - 9 - 7/8" Bortles - 9 - 3/8" So it now boils down to 5/8" in handsize between Bridgewater & Manziel. This appears to be trivial to me - what's more important is what BoB & Co will see from their film study on Manziel & Bridgewater. His current charm offensive aside, Manziel is not as polished on film running a pro-style offense as is Bridgewater and that is what concerns me the most. While many here compare him to Russell Wilson, Wilson is much more controlled with his scrambling and running an offense than is Manziel who constantly bails out on plays even when his primary & secondary receivers are open. I am just not sure that his spectacular playing style can succeed in the pros. That's why he would be such a perfect fit for the Cows because they aren't about winning football games but rather putting on a good show, selling $150 jerseys, being in the spotlight and filling up the "Boss Hog Bowl" in Arlington.
this is so stupid.. He should be called out on that.. Really 1 QB will be fine, but the other one wont and used 2 gloves in College,.,, he should be embarrased
Same height, btw, which makes it all the more remarkably stupid. (As does Brandt's misspelling of his name - it's Garoppolo. Seriously, big grain of salt time.)
Didn't he really just say the hands were smaller than he thought. Never said he wouldn't be fine or anything really negative. Y'all seem pretty sensitive.
Polian on ESPN just said Teddy's hand size is more concerning than Manziel's height. Also questioned if 214 is his 'real weight'.
How are they questioning his real weight? Isn't it out in the open for all to see? Or is he saying that he completely loaded up on heavy food yesterday and when he gets back to his playing weight he'll be a lot less. I think most guys are trying to get to an ideal weight for combine, whether it is losing weight or gaining.
Sensitive? I think it is pretty easy to see the negative Connotation that was associated with Teddy's hand size. Brandt didn't have to mention, oh I thought they were bigger, compared to its just fine for Gorrapalo(no clue how to spell that).
The other guy sitting next to him said that Florida Gators defensive staff said Bridgewater was the best decision maker they played in the last SEVERAL years
That's fair IMO, but we'll see how he performs the rest of the way at that weight and we'll see if he's at the same weight by his pro day, if he is then we know that it really is his "real weight"
He basically said, "Teddy's hands were smaller than I thought they'd be at 9 1/4, not to mention he had to wear 2 gloves at Louisville when he threw". The said, "Garappolo's hands are 9 1/4 right above average, he should be able to do just fine". That doesn't begin to question someone's agenda on the player prospects? Of course it wouldn't you guys have agendas for yourselves. Why else would you come comment on this thread. I guarantee if he (Teddy) came in at 6' 1 1/4" and 205 people would be sh!tting all over how he's way too small and lanky to play the position, even though Manziel came in at 5' 11 3/4" and 207 which should really become alarming considering how much he runs around. But again people will ignore and say he is the next coming of Russell Wilson (which is also untrue). People are salty is the point because they can't continue their Teddy bashing with the numbers coming back positive, this is including Gil Brandt.
That's not right above the average, that's right above the minimum threshold, anything less would be almost a disqualifier and would push him back to the 5th round or later. Odds are, that's what he was talking about.
