Stop. So...he's never said anything specifically about Mariota's inability to make throws into tight windows. So what I saw and what I said and what Gruden said is 100% true. Thanks. _
Arians said this about spread QB's. “So many times, you’re evaluating a quarterback who has never called a play in the huddle, never used a snap count,” Arians said. “They hold up a card on the sideline, he kicks his foot and throws the ball. That ain’t playing quarterback. There’s no leadership involved there. There might be leadership on the bench, but when you get them and they have to use verbiage and they have to spit the verbiage out and change the snap count, they are light years behind.” What he said I thought was a little harsh, I understand his point. He's basically saying that QB's like that aren't ready to play and that Mariota and others are way behind other QB's. I don't think anyone would disagree with this.
It has to deal with the pro offense as a whole, that would include throwing receivers open and such - as I have already indicated. I again, never said I didn't like Mariota - there are some major question marks about him at the next level. I didn't like Geno Smith.
I would never presume to even come close to understanding the overall make up required for a great NFL QB, but I have a feeling that too many are really looking deep for excuses not to give MM a fair shot. Is Mariota a question mark in some areas....most certainly, as are 99.9% of all QB entering the NFL. But to me the most glaringly important quality of all is quickness of mind, decision making and intelligence, on and of the field. Finally we have a shot at someone that learns quickly and will not commit gross mental errors. He was able to master the system that he was taught pretty damned well I say, so why do we think that he would not be able to learn the under center technique? Now, add the fact that he is a disciplined an exceptional athlete and is it that hard to imagine that he cannot master the huddle and drop back of 3-5-7 steps in a year under the right coaching staff? I have not read anything negative about his throwing ability, accuracy and arm strength...most experts agree that is more than adequate with excellent accuracy. So it boils down to one thing and one thing only. Throwing into tight windows which is certainly a must in the NFL. That is all good and well but the fact that he has not thrown much into tight windows is not a foregone conclusion that he can't. Matter of fact while throwing into tight windows is a necessary part of the NFL game, being able to read defenses in seconds and determining who to throw to is the KEY TO THE GAME. Can not tell you how many times I cringed watching both Sanchez and Geno miss either seeing or hitting wide open receivers or worse taking way too long in reading defenses on the spread formation. Then again I have also seen a lifetime of ill conceived throws into tight windows by the like of Cutler and may others. So decision making trumps everything in my book. Lastly, who the hell said that we need to have a QB that takes 90% of all his snaps under center. This game evolves every day. How about for once being innovative and built a team strategy around exceptional talent. Mix it to be unpredictable and successful. BB did that with his team, his TE concepts, slot receivers, I could go on and on. My view on the draft is simple. The biggest risk and the absolute biggest reward lies with finding the right QB. All other positions don't even come close. In my view, when it comes to getting a stud QB your gut rules, and it is far, far better to take a chance and fail than to be conservative and miss on a one in your life time opportunity, then spending the rest of our lives regretting it and wondering what it could have been. I might be dead wrong but not taking a chance on something that important is not good thinking IMHO.
Apologies--Please post the link to the article where Arians specifically said Marcus Mariota can not throw into tight windows or throw guys open. I missed it. Because I've seen him do it plenty of times so maybe Arians missed those games. _
Exactly. The narrative is, he hasn't done it in college therefore he can NOT do it in the pros. Can't learn it, can't adjust his game, they are skills he can't master. You know, because he's already 21. Better to have an inferior talent at QB that has taken a few snaps from under center and dropped back a few times as a 21 year old against other 21 year old college kids than a superior talent with all the god-given ability in the world AND and incredible football IQ, work ethic and leaderhip qualities. _
Thanks for posting this. So the QB is light years behind. Lots of QBs come into the league that have been huddling with the offense, spitting out verbiage at the LOS and taking snaps from under center, and their footwork ain't for crap and neither are they. If Arians really would just unequivocably rule out spread QBs, he's a moron and a dinosaur. No wonder he wears those glasses from the '60s.
LA, Absolutely great post. Spot on!!! You're not wrong. All those who don't want to draft Mariota are.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Per Rant Sports (they have professional writers) It has long been known that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would have the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft and that they will likely take a quarterback with that selection. People have speculated on who that quarterback would be, but it seems to be a coin flip between Oregon‘s Marcus Mariota and Florida State‘s Jameis Winston. But when the Buccaneers hired Dirk Koetter as their new offensive coordinator, they tipped their hand that they prefer Mariota as their top pick. The main reason why Koetter will likely prefer Mariota over Winston is because he is the better fit for the offense that Koetter is going to run in Tampa Bay. Bucs head coach Lovie Smith promised that the team was going to have a fast-paced, up-tempo offense when he was hired. With that guarantee in mind, Smith hired a coordinator in Koetter who can provide that quick offense. As the Atlanta Falcons‘ offensive coordinator, he moved to a lot of no-huddle offenses to set the pace and tire out defenses. This is similar to the style that Mariota runs at Oregon, where all they do is run the no-huddle and tire a defense with their speed on the field. Mariota is also a better fit as a quarterback in Koetter’s offense. Many will point to the fact that when Koetter was offensive coordinator with the Falcons he worked with a notorious pocket passer in Matt Ryan and conclude that since Winston is the better pocket passer, he is the better fit. This is not true, because when Koetter was hired to coach in Atlanta, Ryan was already inserted as the franchise quarterback and he had to tailor his offense to Ryan’s strengths. When he had the same position with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Koetter chose to work with David Garrard, a mobile quarterback. He also preferred high-paced offenses when he worked in the college ranks as a coordinator and a head coach. So this makes Mariota the more ideal fit than Winston. One final point to consider is Koetter’s relationship with the Oregon program. He was an assistant with the team years ago and also has a special relationship with current Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich. Koetter worked alongside Helfrich at Oregon, and he also brought Helfrich along as a coach on his staffs at Boise State and Arizona State. You could say that Koetter is one of Helfrich’s mentors and that could give him a special insight into the ability and tools that Mariota possesses. Looking at the entire picture, as a stylistic and personal fit, it appears as though the hiring of Koetter signals Mariota as the first overall pick by the Buccaneers.
Hahaha, yeah, Rant has some professional writers. Unfortunately for you, Justin Broyles isn't one of them. He's a college kid attending Allegheny College, class of 2017. https://www.idolbin.com/gprofile/107296682745089196957 Not even going to bother spending 30 seconds refuting what this "professional writer" kid wrote.
Koetter was with Oregon years ago! He ran an entirely different offense under Belotti back then. Mark Helfrich was probably still in college then. Jeff Tedford, their former OC, would have been a much better candidate for Mariota. He was OC at Oregon when the Ducks really began to experiment with the spread option.
Great post by you. As usual. Is Mariota behind 'cause the O he ran? Yeah. But he's ahead on maturity, intelligence, and athletically. He's a man. It oozes out of him I hope we get him. If we do, sit him a year, year and a half. I don't care about impatient fans, or what they'll say or do if it doesn't work Go for it
This is well written and I see your perspective. Yes he's hard working, athletic and has great character. That doesn't make him necessarily the best pick for us. I share the sentiment that the risks of Mariota are too great to use the sixth overall pick. Why? 1) Because he has benefitted from the spread offense. 2) You mentioned above that Geno missed open receivers. Well, so did Mariota in the Championship, and throughout the year. He needs to be able to not only throw TO open receivers but throw OPEN his receivers as well. 3) his athleticism is great but the NFL has been able to largely neutralize these mobile QBs as of late. Ask yourself this, if Mariota ran a 4.9 instead of a 4.5, would he be good enough to warrant the 6th overall pick? I know I'll get ripped for my opinion and that's fine but I hope we can trade down if he's there at 6 because we have so many holes. The allure of a potential "franchise" QB is great but how many times have we seen this before? At one point, people thought Ryan Leaf, Sanchez, Vince Young, E.J. Manuel were potential "franchise" QBs. And they were wrong. We can all sit here and say without a good QB we will never be competitive and I can't disagree. But the worst thing you can do is force a pick for a need. Why? Because then the next year ( or two) after we sit Mariota to learn and have a high pick, we pass on a better prospect than Mariota because it's "too soon to know if Mariota was a bust. Then we are sitting around in 2019 doomed to the same cycle. You draft a QB in a strong QB class (2004,2012,2005), not when you are desperate for a QB in a weak class....
What do Jamarcus Russell, Christian Ponder, and EJ Manuel all have in common? They all come from Jimbo Fisher's "Pro Style Offense" That crap means nothing. Draft Mariota.
Turbo, thank you for a well thought out and insightful counter point. I don't think the new regime could go wrong if they traded down nor if they picked up a stud OLB or WR. The problem with waiting for a strong QB class IMHO, and you might have hinted to it in your response is two fold.... a) The clarity and timing to understand when we have one....We cant wait 7 years for example nor miss the signs of what a strong class is b) Being able to be in the right position to select one when the ship comes I know this will sound very simplistic but I feel the search for your franchise QB is a yearly event, you continue to draft one and release you bottom ranked one till you are sure you got your guy.
