Grantland: The curse of the QB middle class (Houston repeatedly mentioned)

Clearly, defense. Cushing is the most important player on the TEAM, aside from (cough, cough) Schwiggity Schaub. That's just the way it is in football, gotta have a quarterback.

HOWEVER, one cannot make excuses. Last year it was injuries, this year was injuries. Guess what? We will have injuries NEXT season TOO! Gotta deal with them...

Was I the only fan who noticed that Wade continued to throw middle linebackers out to cover Shane Vereen? You CANNOT cover a small, quick RB with a MLB!! Cannot do it, ESPECIALLY when they are flanked at receiver. Just flat-out unacceptable. Adjustments must be made.

 

Sure... but they also expose themselves to bigger hits on a more regular basis. The QB in the open field is a sitting duck, and there are zero rules protecting them there (whereas the pocket QB enjoys a new rule almost every year to protect them).

You can no longer "blow up" a QB in the pocket without fearing penalties/fines... that being said, pocket QB's cam still always get injured that way.

I just don't think anybody knows the long-term effect of the increased hits the running QB takes. Michael Vick looks "shellshocked" at times... like somebody who's taken one too many hits. He turns the ball over at the hint of contact.

I just see these elusive guys having longer/more productive careers as pass-first, run "only if neccessary" guys, rather than ones that are getting running plays designed for them as part of the offense.

 

Big Ben is mobile, sometimes i wonder what you guys are watching

 

I think we need to redefine mobile
becase. . . people thinks it means running 4.4 in the 40
but
What *I* mean is the ability to avoid the rush

Throw in some Pocket Presence and you not need to be able to run past the line

How about this. . . We need Schuab to have more 'Escapability' and then to look down field to throw. . . rather than to throw the ball away.

Rocket River

 

100% Agreed. That one play in the Patriots game was just...pathetic. Oddly enough, when I watched the Baltimore game earlier this season I seem to remember Schwiggity dancing around, avoiding defenders, making throws downfield (even overthrowing receivers at times, WTF was going on that day)...

For whatever reason the entire team, including Schaub, took a nosedive after that game. They were never the same...Never the complete team on both sides of the ball. It is depressing to think about how this team wasted all that potential.

 

I understand this year is different, but the past recent superbowl winners have been Manning, Eli Manning, Brady, Rodgers, and Big Ben. scramblers? not particularly, but they can evade sacks. Maybe this year is an aberration. I am sure people were saying the same thing when Vick and McNabb were killing it before.

 

Maybe it's fair to say that, only time will tell. But you have to remember it's not just a couple of guys these days. The league is filled with QB's who if they aren't scramblers they are very athletic and can avoid the rush well. RGIII, Kaepernick, Wilson, Rodgers, Luck, Locker, Tannehill, Vick, Ponder, Newton...

That's a fair percentage of teams with a starting QB of that mold, and the trend in college appears to be along the same line. The amount of "scrambling" QB's to pick from will only continue to increase.