What Separates the Good from the Great?

Geno has a great work ethic and he's a student of the game. It's all about him retaining information and learning from his mistakes.

 

Not being a dumb-ass on the field.

You can prepare all you want, but if you can't retain that knowledge on the field in game situations - then what's preparation?

 

The problem with the theory that it's all about preparation and smarts is that Ryan Fitzpatrick would be the best QB in the NFL if that was true.

The thing that makes Peyton Manning and Tom Brady great is that they do fairly limited things almost perfectly. Both the Patriots and the Broncos, but particularly the Patriots, have limited systems that are trying to do one of about three different possible things on any given play. Those QB's do those things as well as they can be done and occasionally take a deep shot when the defense has over-committed to stopping the underneath game.

Drew Brees is just a great QB. He can't do the things the Pats and Broncos try to do because the sight lines he gets are much worse than the ones the big guys do. What he does instead is to find a place to throw from where he can see what is going on and then he just makes great throw after great throw.

To the point of the OP: It really is all on Geno Smith this off-season. If he's working hard and progressing he's got a real chance to take the field for the Jets next September. If he's not really on the ball the Jets will find somebody else to take the snaps. It's really that simple.

 

There are 32 starting QB jobs in the NFL. I doubt that more than a half dozen of them are currently held by guys who prepare less diligently than the 3 guys above. Nobody waves off the responsibilities of preparing to be an NFL QB and keeps the job.

This is kind of like the "study hard and you'll get ahead" argument. You'll definitely get ahead if you do that but you won't pass the guys who are smarter than you and also study hard.

 

Brady, Peyton and Brees flat out has better physical tools than Fitzpatrick.

 

Consistency.


Playing exceptionally well game in and game out.

 

what separates the good from the great is the ability to put it all together on the field. every qb studies, every qb knows tendencies, but its a lot different to know it than to execute it. the greats are the few that are able to keep their heads clear and stay removed from the moment.

athletic intelligence is not something to be overlooked. you can train harder than everyone but if you cant put it all together than you will not be great. there are so many factors that go into it that its impossible to really hang on to any one thing as a primary reason. correlation does not equal causation.

 

out of 100 people surveyed....


let me see... have a good team behind them

 

Having an innate football IQ.

You can have all the physical talent in the world and prepare 24/7 but if you don't have that innate IQ you'll never be great.

Aaron Rodgers doesn't make the plays he does because of preparation. Russell Wilson didn't walk into that building last year and take over leadership of the team because of preparation.

You either have it or you do not. Andy Dalton can start preparing right now and not stop till September and he'll never be great.

Manning, Brady, Brees have an innate ability to understand everything that is going on on the field and can make adjustments presnap or on the fly to just make plays. Andrew Luck is exhibiting that. Kaep makes plays because he sees things others don't. Cam Newton no so much he is just so physically skilled.

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I agree with you that preparation isn't the "be-all" or "end-all" that separates the "men from the boys" in terms of QB play. I also agree with the OP that it is very important, and that Geno has a chance to be a very good starter.

I also agree with your point that Brady, Manning and Brees execute in a near perfect fashion. What causes that nearness to perfection? I think that is a big key as to what separates the good from the great. I think that part of it is an inner fire or drive to be the best they can be, or be the best ever at their position, and allow nothing to get in the way of achieving their goals. I also think that part of it is due to having smart OCs who don't try to get too fancy or cute like Schotty, and focus rather on execution. The great Packer teams of Lombardi didn't fool anyone with their play calling. Opposing Ds knew what the Packers were gonna do and they still couldn't stop them. Lombardi drilled, and practiced those few plays until the Packers could execute them flawlessly time after time after time. I think too many OCs have too many formations, too many plays with too many variables, and while they do work and produce results on occasion, don't allow their QB or offenses to be able to execute flawlessly with any consistency. Again, many football players aren't that bright. They need hundreds, if not thousands, of repetitions in order to execute their assignments flawlessly without having to think about it. Their bodies are "programmed" to work in a certain way.

Those great QBs may also have another type of "intelligence" where they are able to maximize their physical potential and combine that with their hard work, study, preparation, and synthesize it all together once they hit the playing field that others don't have.

I think luck may also be part of it. Playing on the right team, with the right CS and right offensive system. Having playmakers to work with and at least adequate OL. Staying healthy.

I think genetics may also be part of it. While they may not be exceptional athletes, some QBs seem to have a finer muscle coordination and control than others that enables them to have quicker releases and more accurate throws.

I think visualization may be part of it as well. In golf, one is taught to visualize one's self making the shot one wants to make. Practice that enough, and the mind is able to control the body and create that shot or shots consistently. Some QBs may be better than others at visualizing themselves succeeding and/or executing plays flawlessly than others. There is still a LOT that we don't know about the human brain and what we can accomplish through attitude and visualization that otherwise we may not be able to.

With regard to that inner drive and determination, some people refuse to let themselves get down when things get tough, and they don't let family or outside issues distract them. Others don't seem to have the same ability to block out distractions and focus for long periods of time. Just like in games where one team "wants the win more" than the other team, I think some players want to be great more than others, and are thus willing to make the sacrifices and work harder than others are.

Finally, I have to wonder if fate or karma doesn't play a part (perhaps a big part) in this as well. Some philosophies hold that we have a set destiny or path in our lives and no matter how hard we try, we cannot change it. There seems to be at least some truth in that as there are some obstacles we cannot overcome, some things we cannot change, although there some that we can.

To be sure, I don't think the answer to the question posed by the OP is anything simple or any one thing. I think it is probably a variety of different things and varies from individual to individual.

 

The great players in any sport are able to process and react to what they see faster and more consistently than the good players. Its not really about smarts or physical ability, although that helps.

 

This is exactly it. Cam Newton, Colin Kaepernick and Russell Wilson are great examples of this. Yes, they are good game managers (in general) but they are given way too much credit because of their success, which is mostly due to having some of the best defenses in the league.

 

All of these guys will have less effective defenses when they finally get paid.

The Seattle implosion is likely to be epic. They have so many good young players that they found from the mid-rounds on and those guys are all going to want to be paid like 1st rounders.

The Seahawks will be able to keep Wilson or the defense. It'll be interesting to see which way they go.

The Pats kept Brady and ditched the defense and have been slowly adding in defenders ever since. When Brady goes they'll be in trouble.

 

That is how it works when you are a QB. You get all the success when your team wins and all the blame when your team loses (unless you are the chosen few QBs by the media who then try really hard never to blame certain QBs for anything). A few of us mentioned in the divisional round game thread, that articles have shown Cam Newton has not improved anything greatly from last year to this year, but this year his team won the division and last year it missed the playoffs. The team around him got better but the quick analysis of the team is that Cam gets "it" now.

It will be interesting to see how these players do if their defense takes a drop or if they are put into a more wide open offense. There are chances that being brought along slowly through these heavy defense, low pass attempts offense will prepare them. There is also a chance that Luck will be more prepared because IND just told him to sink or swim and put the game on his ability consistently. Or, these players may never leave this type of system.

What separates good from great isn't just preparation, it's a combination of factors. One of them being the team around them. Granted we can say Wilson, Cam, Kap play efficient in the systems provided, but we have to acknowledge they play in low pass systems..

 

Same thing can be said for Brady pre 2004. After that the team got worst but he got better.

 

Game manager turned HOF/top 3 QB of all time. Normal progression, right? :grin:

 

fixed that for ya