Here's a nice article about Carr & what other teams are saying about him. I can't wait to see this kid on the field. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/fb/nfl/1306041 Sky's the limit NFL brass sees little that can stop Carr By JOHN McCLAIN Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle The coaches, general managers and personnel directors around the NFL will not have a shot at drafting Fresno State quarterback David Carr, but that's not stopping them from sizing him up less than a month before the draft. Carr is expected to become the first overall pick and wealthiest rookie in NFL history. Those asked about him at last week's NFL meetings in Orlando, Fla., had glowing reviews of the player the Texans are expected to take April 20 with the first pick in franchise history. "He's got great ability," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. "He's an unbelievable athlete for that position. I'm impressed with his ability to make a play when nothing's there. He's going to be a difference-maker." New Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden spent the last four years at Oakland and watched some of Fresno State's Saturday night games on television. "I had a chance to see a lot of his games," Gruden said. "One thing I watched was how he threw the ball in the red zone. He can make any throw from any spot on the field. "Carr's got a great field presence that's contagious. He does a good job of bringing his team from behind and making the players around him better." A fifth-year senior, Carr was measured and weighed at 6-3 and 223 pounds at the Indianapolis scouting combine. Although he didn't run at the combine, scouts have timed him in the high 4.6s and low 4.7s in the 40-yard dash. "Carr's a great physical specimen," Titans general manager Floyd Reese said. "Everybody knows he's got the cannon arm, but he's a better athlete than some people are giving him credit for. He's a legitimate franchise quarterback." When analyzing Carr's strengths, Seattle vice president of football operations Ted Thompson compared him to an NFL quarterback who was the top pick in the 1998 draft. "Yes, he's got the great arm everyone wants, but he's also got great character," Thompson said. "He's got all the attributes you look for in a quarterback. He could end up being another Peyton Manning." Carr is expected to start at a rookie -- perhaps in September but maybe in November. "If Carr plays on a team that has a great defense, I think he can have a good rookie year," 49ers coach Steve Mariucci said. "If he has to play from behind all the time, it's going to be harder for him to have success right off the bat." Last season, Carr led Fresno State to an 11-2 regular-season record, including victories over Colorado, Oregon State and Wisconsin. In those three victories, he completed 64 of 108 for 778 yards and seven touchdowns. He had one interception. In a 44-35 Silicon Valley Classic loss to Michigan State, he threw for 531 yards and four touchdowns. For the season, Carr was 344-of-533 for 4,839 yards, 46 touchdowns and nine interceptions. "I love the kid," Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said. "His demeanor -- his make-up -- is what you want in a quarterback. "He's accurate and mobile. He's makes a lot of plays with his feet because he has a feel for the rush and he can throw accurately on the run. He finds the open lanes and gets the ball through those lanes." The only knock against Carr is that he doesn't have the classic over-the-top delivery, but that doesn't bother the Texans or officials at other teams. "I don't get caught up in the way a quarterback releases the ball as long as he has a quick release, and Carr does," Angelo said. "The only people I hear talking about it are you guys (media). I wouldn't mess with his release at all." Neither would Gruden. "At this stage, I wouldn't try to change his dynamics," Gruden said. "One of the beauties of the position is that the quarterback can throw from a lot of different angles, and Carr can do that." Neither would Mariucci. "You don't dwell on his delivery," Mariucci said. "If you look at some of the better quarterbacks in history, there weren't many that had perfect releases. What I want to know is, Does he get the ball to the receiver? Green Bay vice president of football operations Mark Hatley pointed out that Brett Favre throws the ball from every conceivable angle. "Not only does he have a great arm and quick release, but Carr puts the ball where it's supposed to go," Hatley said. "If he has to throw sidearm to get the ball around a pass rusher, he can do it. If he has to throw over the top, he can do that, too." Or, as new Carolina coach John Fox said, "The idea's for the quarterback to get the ball to his receiver when he's supposed to get it there, and Carr can do that. The way I see it is, If it ain't broke, don't fix it. In the era of free agency and the salary cap, top-rated quarterbacks who are fifth-year seniors are a vanishing breed. The scouts like Carr's experience at the college level and the fact that he played for a former NFL assistant coach in Pat Hill. "He's got that rare ability to lift the performances of the players around him," Broncos general manager Ted Sundquist said. "You can see that type of leadership quality in him. He's just very impressive on and off the field." Carr will be under enormous pressure -- a quarterback who is the No. 1 pick in the draft for an expansion franchise. Cleveland's Tim Couch has handled the same pressure extremely well. What Couch and Carr will have in common is Chris Palmer, the Browns' former head coach who is the Texans' offensive coordinator. Palmer also coached the Patriots' Drew Bledsoe when he was the top pick in the 1993 draft. "It looks like they're (the Texans) doing a good job of fitting the pieces around him," Colts coach Tony Dungy said. "Any quarterback coming into that situation has to be made to feel like he doesn't have to make all the plays to win. "It's natural for a rookie quarterback to have to fight through worrying that, `We're not going to win if I don't make every play.' " Scouts and coaches say one of Carr's strengths is his maturity. "He's got the intangibles," Mariucci said. "I think he's well-equipped to handle the bigness of this league, and that's very important for a quarterback who's going to be in his position."
Hmmm... too much hyperbole, for me. The part about Peyton Manning is amusing though - Carr isn't a stupid QB, but he doesn't have a reputation for being an obsessive student of the game like Manning. His arm's probably stronger, though. Not so much knocking Carr, as annoyed by the superlatives that people like to pile on players.
if they weren't using those superlatives, i would be worried about the Texans spending the first pick on him...i think this article and some other blurbs were set out to put people's mind to rest as to who the rest of the NFL (most of it anyway) is the best QB prospect out there this year.
But MadMax, if the superlatives fit, fine... some of them do. For instance, Carr definitely has a fabulous arm. And he was smarter than the average college QB. But to compare him to Peyton Manning in terms of football IQ... well, that's just not true, and make the other compliments seem more fishy as well. His arm's a rocket? Great! He's super-strong? Terrific! He can throw a ball with pin-point accuracy 45 yards down the field? Yay! He's as smart as Peyton Manning? Say whaaa... his decisions were good, not great at Fresno St. Remember, the entire deal with Manning is that he's not the perfect physical specimen for a QB. His arm could stand to be a good deal stronger. But he's such a student of the game, that he can compensate for it... more than adequately. We'll get a QB with Peyton Manning's football IQ and Ryan Leaf's arm one of these days... but sadly, that day has not arrived .
How the hell do you know? Have you ever spoken w/ Carr (or Manning)? You ever analyze game film w/ either one?
Buck: Ha... might be fun to do so! But in any event, it's an assessment from watching tons of David Carr on ESPN2 at 10:30pm since all the teams I actually care about played earlier in the day. Carr doesn't seem to adjust to defenses as well as Manning at Tennessee. Manning was one of the best at that. Carr seems to rely on his athletic ability much more to "force" the issue. Of course, Brett Favre does that, too... and people don't complain about that .
From what I've seen of Carr I agree. However, I would think it's fair to say that Manning received a significantly higher quality football "education" at Tennessee than Carr got at Fresno. He also had better skill position guys around him, lessening the need to create more on his own. Chris Palmer's a witch w/ QB's, & the ability to see the whole field & analyze defenses on the fly is definitly something that can be learned through study & practice. Back to Manning, has he ever played well in a big game?
Where exactly in the article does anyone compare Carr's IQ or study habits to Manning's. Ted Thompson is quoted as saying that Carr could end up being another Peyton Manning. Nowhere is his intellect even mentioned. They mention his "field presence", "demeanor" and "character", but nothing about intelligence. I would think that you would agree that with enough hard work (both physically and mentally) Carr could end up being another Peyton Manning.
bobrek: I think the point of comparing any QB to another is to draw a similarity, and say: well, X has some similarities to Y, a good NFL QB, so therefore, he could be good in the NFL, too. But I don't see that Carr has that many similarities to Manning. And the reaosn Manning is good isn't because of his physical gifts... which are considerable... but inferior to most other QBs of his caliber. I think a better comparison for Carr would be Brett Favre, who actually happens to be a better QB than Manning. I'm not taking a shot at Carr... just the comparison. And I wasn't referring to the intelligence of Manning or Carr either... just their football IQ. Just wanted to make that distinction... since I think it's sort of insulting to assume that an athlete is dumb/smart based on how they play a sport.
did you know... in his final 856 ATTs, manning threw 23 INTs; in his final 826 ATTs, carr threw 18 (note: those ATT numbers cover their junior and senior seasons). over that same stretch, carr completed 63.6% of his passes, manning 61.8%. as seniors, both threw 477 passes, manning was picked off 11 times, carr just 7. manning's completion % was 60.3, carr's 64.8. one of carr's strengths is that he doesn't force anything, one of those rare QB's who has knack for putting the ball where only his receiver can catch it. his low INT and high completion % seem to back up that assertion. i would rate his decision making at FSU closer to "great" than "good." also, i know manning has football in his blood, blah, blah, blah, but so does carr; iirc, his dad was a QB at fresno state. he likely isn't as smart as peyton manning in a football sense, but he's not far behind. and that they're both first overall picks makes the comparison less of a stretch, imo.
i think people overrate the concept of competition. using that rationale, manning also had superior talent around him, so in my mind, it all evens out in the end. and besides, it's not like manning was playing florida every week. he got his shot at the vanderbilt's and kentucky's of the world, too. but back to the notion of overrating competition, look at the last three super bowls: we had starting QBs from northern iowa, alcorn state and, hey, hey, fresno state. are any of those schools national powers? meanwhile, SEC grads like heath shuler and danny wuerffel have done nothing but suck at the NFL level.
I read all the hype too . Then I thought why would all the other GM's that don't have a shot a Carr waste their breath? Then it hit me, the more the Texans have to pay Carr the less money they will have to pay the free agents on the market in June. So so they are motivated to say he is the best thing since.......Heath Schuler?
Besides, how often will a gm/coach publicly downgrade a player they have no chance of drafting? Carr has talent, no doubt. But, I think opposing coaches see no point in bad mouthing him. It wouldn't make any sense.
oh, i don't know... maybe because mclain called and asked their opinions? i'm horrible when it comes to matters of the cap (yes, even more horrible than usual), but i'm pretty certain teams have a certain % of their cap automatically allocated for a rookie pool, so i don't think what the texans pay carr has any bearing on how much money they'll be able to spend in june. besides, draft selection dictates how much a player makes, not the glowing praise of other GMs and player personnel people.
