Agreed CC. As you can probably tell from my rather verbose (at times, lol) post, it is something I feel passionately about when evaluating QBs. It is a pet peeve of mine when the media gets so caught up hyping a guy's speed/mobility and arm strength...are those things important (esp the arm strength)? of course they are, but sometimes I think people forget that QB is arguably THE most difficult position to play in all of sports, primarily bc of the mental acuity and innate ability which it requires (under tremendous pressure-both mental and physical). As you noted, as long as I know a guy at least clears the "arm strength" bar, I am much more interested in his ability to read defenses, his decision making and his ability to accurately deliver the ball. It is kinda like saying: "okay, does this guy at least have a decent arm? Yes? good, check off that box, now we can move on to the REALLY important stuff and determine if he can actually PLAY the position of QB in this league, as opposed to just being a dude with a strong arm who can heave a football really far.
haha u get points for even remembering who Drew Henson was. I was in school at the time, and got into a debate with a guy who played with Henson on the UM football team. I thought it was absurd that Brady was forced to share snaps and starts with Henson, when I thought Brady was the better QB. All I heard with Henson was what a "phenomenal athlete" he was and his arm strength, blah blah blah...yet Brady sure as hell seemed to be more accurate, more intelligent and more clutch than Henson, which in my book made him the guy Lloyd Carr should have been starting every game, unless injured. IN all honesty, I have to admit that even though I felt that way about Brady vs. Henson when they were both at Michigan, I had no idea Brady was going to become arguably the greatest QB in NFL history, lol. At that time, I just thought he was a underrated and underappreciated college QB while Henson was vastly overrated at Michigan.
I think that was true a decade ago and beyond. Now that the line between “pro” and “college” style offenses is blurred, you can have early success with physical ability as you continue to develop the mental part of the game. Darnold and Rosen could make all the throws and we’re supposed to be ahead of their peers w/ regards to the mental part of the game. How is that working out for them? Of course there are certain threshold that need to be met and you have to feel comfortable based on the prospect’s mental acuity, work ethic...etc. that they will get better in those areas. You put a smart kid in the same system for multiple years, they should get better.
I'm always leery of these surveys primarily because of all the disinformation that gets thrown around by teams around the draft process. I'm fairly sure that the scouts ask their teams who they're supposed to promote and downgrade when these questions come up. That makes the process unlikely to produce true value assessments. After all the scouts are being paid to provide information for their employer and nobody else.
I agree Brady was underrated and under appreciated at UM but 10 out of 10 times an athlete like Henson will get drafted ahead of Brady all else being equal. He was disrespected in college and shouldn’t have dropped all the way to the 6th round. That said did you see him w/o a shirt back then? It wouldn’t of hurt to hit the weight room prior to the draft. At the end of the day you are playing sports which is an athletic endeavor. Scouts will get themselves fired trying to find the next Tom Brady, who is the ultimate outlier of all outliers.
I agree legler regarding Brady's body....i remember it was described as "soft and unathletic" kind of like a "dad body" lol.....it is kinda funny how in so many ways, he is this generation's Joe Montana. The same thing was said about Montana throughout his career...how he did NOT look like a professonal athlete, how he had skinny chicken legs, an unimpressive frame, etc. Yet he sure as hell had the physical tools AND the ability/instincts/mental acuity to master the position of QB.
Agreed, it is also a "pet peeve" - or maybe I should say persistent wonder - that even pro evaluators don't do a very good job of this. Of course it's not easy to do, and there are so many unsolvable variables because colleges are each different, the talent on each team is different, the strength of schedule, etc. - but still, for all the money teams invest in players, player scouting and development, and the fact that the most important position by orders of magnitude is the QB, you would think that they would come up with ways to assess the mental aspects that a QB possesses by now. The Wonderlic is about all they have and that's so outdated and minimal to start with. Especially with the advances in computer technology, it should be "easy" to develop simulators and games that can test a QB's ability to process information under pressure. At a minimum, I would think that scouts/evaluators who are experienced would be able to see this aspect of a QB, but either they can't, or more likely, they get bogged down in the things that are more easily measured. I just hope that Douglas & Co. do a better job than most.
I guess you didn't see the Coastal Carolina game then. Zach Wilson vs Coastal Carolina 2020 - Bing video Watch around the 5:30 mark, last play of the first half.
Brady was under-rated for two reasons: first he was not an impressive physical specimen, being very underweight for a player of his height. Secondly, the coaching staff at Michigan treated him like an obligatory Junior-Senior starter after Brian Griese had started the first two years he was there and Drew Henson was highly recruited to replace Brady if he was not up to the standards of UM football. I probably watched every UM game in Brady's junior and senior seasons and I really did not see a great QB there. I did however see a few great comebacks and I was rooting for the Jets to take Brady later on in the 2000 draft. I vividly remember thinking that he was still on the board in the 5th and 6th rounds and wondering if Parcells would double up on QB after taking Chad in the 1st. I was really disappointed when he wound up on the Pats but not because I thought he was going to be great - just that i didn't really want to have to root against him.
the amount of times a QB throws the ball 60-65 yards in the air during a season is like less then 1% of their throws.It's really not important. Even with that his pro day throw was over 55 yards against his body fading away. you really don't think stepping into a throw and being set he can add another 5-10 yards? IDK why your so anti wilson but at this point it's just sad you have to make things up.
I love when folks bring up a clown like JaMarcus Russell in these discussions like we got a comparable fat lazy sizurp drinker in this class. There are no idiots at the top of this QB class so let’s try to refrain from the JaMarcus Russell references. With that out of the way, the reason why the arm strength is relevant is because we are talking about the 2nd overall pick in a very good QB class. That guy should be special. In order for his style of play to be as special in the NFL as it was in this past COVID season, I believe it takes a special type arm. Quick release and corky arm angles don’t make you a star in the NFL.
We should all also remember that the worst thing that could happen to Zach Wilson is that he gets drafted by the Jets #2 overall. He's going to face 10x the pressure here that he would virtually anywhere else because Jets fans aren't looking for a QB at this point. We're look for The Messiah to lead us out of the desert and into Lombardiland. Anything short of that will be a failure and anything that actually looks like a failure will wind up casting him into The Abyss of backpage hell. I remarked a couple of years ago that the best thing that could happen to JD in the off-season was getting hit by a truck. He'd still be the guy who almost saved the Jets and not the guy likely to fail at the job over the next few years. The best thing that could happen to JD and Zach Wilson after the draft is that a meteor lands on the car they're headed home in. JD will still be the guy who almost saved the Jets and Zach will be the great prospect who could have saved the Jets.
