watching video on mariota, when he isnt running the read option or immediately taking off to gain big yards. he seems very protected in his bubble of a pocket. as far as arm strength, i dont see what separates him from bridgewater especially with bridgewater making a bulk of his throws under duress. mariota doesnt seem to be the fastest guy but when he gets out in the open he has a long stride which separates himself from trailers. he runs way too much for my liking. teddy b is my guy, bump this thread in 3 years when teddy busts..
You do know that the AAC is still an AQ conference, right? And that the Big East was an AQ conference before that? You can argue about the level of competition, but it's still an AQ conference. A big reason why more QBs tend to come out of the better conferences is because they were really good in high school and were highly recruited by the big programs. The best kids usually go to BCS schools and the most talented HS kids usually end up being the most talented college athletes and better pro prospects. I think Peyton Manning would still have panned out had he decided to go to Middle Tennessee St. instead of UT. We all know Bridgewater initially signed with Miami. But he was also offered scholarships by Florida, LSU, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, and Tennessee amongst others. He was rated the #5 QB coming out of HS. So it's not like he was one these guys who wasn't recruited by big programs and had to make a name for themselves at smaller ones. That in comparison to Case who only had one offer from UH coming out of high school.
It's just based on recent history. Not that the success rate weighed against draft position for non-AQ QB's is lower, but that they typically show why they weren't picked in the 1st. Flacco & Roethlisberger were both first round(18th & 11th). They were 6'5" brick houses with a cannon arm, so they were exceptional in a number of ways. The others you named wouldn't be top 10 picks even in hinsight, and I certainly wouldn't consider passing on Clowney/Barr for any of them. The non-AQ QBs drafted in the top 10 that come to mind were all disappointments (Carr, Leftwich, Smith).
Don't care for Mariota. He's got wide open guys to throw to most of the games he plays and then when they face a good defense they play very mediocre football. Not impressed.
I say this again I DO NOT WANT BRIDGEWATER! He was mediocre against mediocre competition this year. If he competed in the SEC he would put up a fraction of what JFF did. When it's all said and done I'm confident Bridgewater will be rated a mid 1st round pick.
This doesn't have to do with the talent surrounding the two? Bridgewater is a better pro prospect than Johnny Football. That doesn't mean he'll be as good in the NFL, but he's a better prospect. He's a more traditional quarterback. The main concern, from what I hear with Manziel, is that his improvisation will not keep him upright in the NFL. Even then, his prayers won't always be answered in the NFL.
I'd definitely want him more. Speaking of Mariota, I just watched some highlights. Not impressed...I love the guy and have enjoyed watching Oregon games, but his pocket is awesome and his guys are wide open....I might be able to make some of those throws. Very much, do not want, anymore. Teddy is way more advanced at this point. Mariota will be a work in progress for a few years, at least.
This is just the stupid kind of thinking that McNair might use and screw us out of chance to get the best QB and IMO the best player in the draft, Teddy B. Mariota is not a bad prospect. But clearly his stats benefit from running that high octane offense up there. Mariota''s an entertaining enough player and part of one of the most successful offensive programs in the country but that offense is gimmicky at best, allowing him to never go under center and continually throw to open recievers. It's high octane and too much for most college programs to adjust to. Oregons spread offense and Mariota eats most west coast teams up for lunch but when faced with stronger competition he fails. Mariota has shown that he can't handle a big, physical teams with the power to dominate on the line. Yet that's what he will have to face in the pros every week. Oregon's gimmicky offense doesn't work in the pros. Plus Mariota isn't as athletic as RGIII and even RGIII failed when asked to run a more pocket oriented taditional offense. Mariota failed when it was time to step up. In the biggest game of his career he choked. Just watch the video. Bridgewater steps up the bigger the game. Hell Bridgewater steps up the bigger the play. Bridgewater completes 60% of his 3rd down passes. Who does that? All this stupid stuff about his hands and his size is just that stupid. It only matters if it matters. Bridgewater says he is 6'3" Stephen A says he is 6'2.5" but what difference does it make if he is throwing and completing every pass he is asked too. What difference does he hand size make if he has only lost two fumbles going back to his senior year in High school. Mariota is clearly more fumble prone. What difference does his size make if he takes almost half of his snaps under center (unlike Mariota who takes none) and has the best pocket presence of any college QB I have ever seen and gets hit and gets tougher after the hit. Bridgewater is the most cerebral QB in college but it doesn't stop there he is also one of the most talented and has intangibles that can not fully be measured. Plus forget about all the measurements, he is strong, he is elusive and has an amazingly strong arm. People think because every pass isn't a bullet he doesn't have arm strength. Did you ever think that might be by design. I watched throw a perfect spiral on the run under duress 65 yards downfield into the end zone. Watch the Stanford vs Oregon game. Almost all of the mistakes Mariota made in that game Bridgewater wouldn't have made. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/wUkqgVKITUE?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> I'll even pick another game besides that Florida game that Bridgewater by some on here claimed he looked bad. It may not have been his best game but clearly he stepped up when it mattered. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/NB5xvBbLszk?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> .
That's just one aspect you are looking at when it comes to the quarterbacks I mentioned above. All these guys were horrible at reading defenses and instead relied on athleticism (with the exception of Leaf) to make plays.
Every video I see on Teddy impresses me more, whether it be game film or highlights. That pocket awareness, though. I hope he lands here.
Why does Winston get all the love with the proliferation of talent ob his team and also playing in a "weak" conference? Cerebral abilities translate farther than physical attributes IMO. Either you can read a defense, adjust blocking assignments and audible or you can't. Bridgewater is the guy without question.
What makes you think Winston, or any other top flight QB, cannot read a defense? And, a lot of the stuff in regards to reading a defense has to do with spending time in the film room or just gaining experience. If you are intelligent, you can learn to read a defense, make adjustments, etc... Its not a "you either can or cant" situation at all. Therefore, if you have an intelligent QB that you think can learn to read defenses the way he should read them, and the QB has superior physical skills compared to the competition, then you take the QB that is physically more capable.
I think I'm still in the Clowney + 2nd round QB camp. 1. Clowney + our 2nd rounder for Kirk Cousins 2. Arian, Cushing, Daniels are healthy again 3. Free agent signings at RT and CB = boom we're back in contention
Except for when you get guys that have superior physical skills and tend to OVER-RELY on them to often. And it doesn't mean that their not intelligent by any means, it's just that the natural instinct for those type of guys is to elude and run, instead of elude and find the open man ala Russell Wilson. Most of these guys turn into Colin Kaepernicks, Mike Vicks, Vince Youngs, and Tim Tebows of the world. Also playing in a pro-style offense rather than spread allows quarterbacks an easier transition to the position in the majors. The quicker you develop the basics of the NFL, I feel, the quicker you can absorb the intricate details of surveying the D, audibling, and shifting your line to put your offense in prime position to succeed. That's why I'd still take Teddy over Marcus, if both were to declare.
As an NFL prospect, I'm mixed on Mariota. I've watched nearly every game he's played at Oregon. When the pressure is on he can be shaky and miss routine throws. His accuracy this year was much worse than last year, which was puzzling. The offense they run is nothing like the NFL, but he's a very smart guy and could easily adapt. His arm strength is fine. My gut tells me he should play one more year in college. Definite edge to Bridgewater IMO.
If it was a film room thing, doesn't Teddy get credit for wanting to put in the work already? I'm just saying in general, because I don't know if Mariotta is asked to read defenses and change plays the way Bridgewater does. Nor do I know if a player/QB more often becomes a student of the game once they're or a pro or if they showed that aptitude as a prospect.
Numbers in college can be incredibly misleading. How many yards do you think Bridgewater would've had in a tougher conference? Do you know that Aaron Rodgers never even cracked 3,000 yards in any season at Cal? Seriously, Case Keenum had 2 different years where he threw for more yards than Rodgers did in his career. Does it matter?
