If the Texans take Bortles, I'm gonna laugh my ass off when he busts, and Teddy Bridgewater becomes a star elsewhere.
Looks like my evaluation of McCarron was quite a bit off. I looked at his tapes last night and found his mechanics to be in dire need of some real good coaching. And it looks like I'm not the only one to think that way: His deep balls sail a lot - and that's not because his arm is weak. It's a very poor footwork, combined with overall poor throwing mechanics. http://www.sportsonearth.com/articl...aj-mccarron-is-headed-for-backup-stint-in-nfl I am tempering my expectation for this kid. He is good for 5th round pick, no higher. He will have to start off as a backup QB. It is okay to have weak arm - he does throw good darts in ~20 yard range so that should be more than enough. If he cannot fix his mechanics, he's destined to be a clipboard holder for his life.
I liked him a lot...until this past Sugar Bowl. A bigger problem than what you were talking about is that he absolutely wilts against a strong pass rush. He did very well for most of his career as a play action passer throwing intermediate to deep routes against teams that were almost 100% keyed in on the run, but when he fell from behind and the pass rush got to him, he couldn't deal with it.
1. Tell me which QB deals with hard pass rush well. I doubt Peyton Manning or Tom Brady falls into that category. To my best recollection, Joe Montana was one and the only QB that knew how to attack the relentless pass rushes, and even he lost a few times. [His comeback win against Eagles and Giants as a 49er and against Oilers against a Chief comes to mind; man, he was such a unique QB.] 2. It's more or less the coaching and scheming to take the pass rush out of the equation - as a pass rusher, you don't play in a vacuum all by yourself [unless you happen to be Lawrence Taylor, which you are not.] It is a coordinated team effort - as such, it SHOULD be dealt with as a team as well. [i.e. remember why Molly block was invented in the first place.] 3. For that reason, I find the 'he never faced elite pass rush all his career' knocks a bit laughable. First and foremost, you don't go to prestigious programs like Alabama by being nobody. You have to got to be the top QB prospect to get to the schools like 'Bama or USC. You know, the recruiting power of these powerhouse schools is formidable - they literally suck the entire top talent out of their respective regions. You can't use that fact against that kid. 4. All in all, I surely expected better fundamentals out of the kid - his footwork looks like a disaster. Oh no - not near the trainwreck that is Geno Smith, but still a lot of work is needed there. I don't know if his sight adjustment is correct. He is thus far a one-trick pony; if he can get the ball out in less than 3 seconds, he is as lethal as anyone. That means the playbook at Alabama involves a lot of quick slants, quick outs, hitches or those 'quick hitters.' The article in the second link does say he progresses through the receivers smoothly, but I didn't see that from that clip, so I wouldn't know. 5. His throwing motion needs some work - that's true for most QB prospects, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. What I don't like about his throwing motion is that, he has a slight wind-up motion. Not as nasty as that of Kerry Collins, per se - if the DB saw his hitch, they could immediately break on the ball and get a pick. McCarron's wind-up is not as nasty as that, but it's still there. When I was taught how to throw the football, I was taught that, the ball should be kept at chest level first (1), then when the pass needs to go out, the ball should go straight up behind the head. (2) No wind-up is necessary. So there are a few things to clean up; but the most important problem is his footwork. Especially since he is not gifted with a rocket of an arm that everybody covets.
I'm not saying he never faced good pass rush other than Oklahoma, and a lot of QB's struggle against it. But Alabama's offense that is so heavily run oriented that the vast majority of his throws were play action passes. When he was asked to put his team on his back in that game, against a strong pass rush, he looked visibly panicked in the pocket. This is coming from someone that was a defender of him. Not that it might not be worth taking a flier on him later in the draft, but that was really hard to watch.
I hear you. That must come from that, he rarely experienced the situation, where the original game plan failed. What I am telling you is that, you cannot put all of that on him; that's unfair. If anything, these college QBs are students first, then football players second. What I am trying to say is that, they don't play football for living at that stage. The practice time is limited. For this reason, I have hard time assuming McCarron had all the necessary coaching he had to get to grow as a competent QB. Well - some QBs are born with it, like Montana. [He was known for last second magic even during his Notre Dame days.] But coaching can do a lot to help the situation; i.e. Walsh is well known to have the 3rd and long situation written into the practice. There, the QB had to throw, and the pass rush was also simulated; so the QB also had to see where the rush was coming [yes. this was choreographed into this practice.] evade it [whatever means necessary] and throw a pass. I really don't think McCarron picked up this kind of coaching. He just doesn't have time for that. [Not just him; most QBs in college don't have time for that.] And having problematic throwing mechanics showed its ugly nature in that situation in flying colors. Since he didn't have clean pocket, he usually threw flat-footed. [The only thing worse is throwing off the back foot while backpedaling. That is a sure recipe for INT.] And having that hitch didn't help either; that's another half a second that he didn't need to burn to get the pass off. So, it is clear that, if he fixes his throwing mechanics, at least a sizable portion of the problem will go away. Compact throwing motion allows the passer to deliver the ball with some heat without having to bulk up much more. Just, the QB must learn how to transfer the torque from his feet to the throwing hand. [This is why throwing while flat-footed is almost a criminal offense.] It all starts from the footwork, so god knows how long it will take. In the least, he is not foreign to taking snaps directly under the C, so that's a huge plus. He can do everything he is asked to do in WCO. He is risk-averse, he may not go for the haymaker, but you know he will give you a very safe, reliable game each and every week. Later, when his arm strength gets better [through NFL coaching and training] and he gains more experience, he will be able to hit some haymakers of his own. All of this starts with correct throwing mechanics, however. He must fix that as soon as possible. If he cannot do that, then his days as NFL starter won't even exist.
I'm not sure why this McCarron discussion is here, because it seems obvious that QB is not a high priority for the Jets in this draft, and not likely to be addressed at all. If there is any thought, as someone suggested, that McCarron will be around in the 5th round for a late-draft pick up, I suspect that notion is flawed from the beginning. I watched A.J. play his entire collegiate career and I will not deign to project him as the top QB prospect or a future HOF player, nor even a 'can't miss' prospect. I will say that he has a skill set that will cause someone to give him the opportunity to play and they will invest more in him than 5th round money and time. He may wind up on a team with more than one drafted QB in 2014, or one with an aging veteran. One likely scenario would be a team like the Jaguars who may pass on taking a QB in the #3 overall spot, but would be remiss if they lay all their hopes at the feet of Chad Henne. When it comes to A.J. McCarron, I have an obvious bias, not only from the standpoint of being a fan, but from having seen more of his play than any other QB in the draft. Manziel would be a close second, and while my initial reaction to Johnny Football was that he'd be a complete bust at the NFL level, his second season at A&M convinced me otherwise. He is a phenomenal athlete who has instincts that cannot be taught. Speaking of Manziel, I recently saw a mock that had him dropping to the 26th overall pick, going to the Browns as their 2nd 1st round pick. First, I find this to be incredulous, as I will be surprised if the Texans do not make him the #1 overall pick. But, if he should fall that far....how does he possibly get past #18? Does anybody still think Geno Smith and Mike Vick have more upside than Manziel????
IMO that depends on on'es priorities and what one thinks of Smith. There is a camp that says until you're sure you have your franchise QB or QB of the future, you keep drafting QBs. Even then, one never has enough QBs and they can be very nice trade bait a year or two down the road. Ron Wolf had great success with the Packers with that approach. I like Geno a lot, but is he the slam dunk QB of the future of this team? Absolutely not. In fact, if you listen to many, if not most, Jets fans, there's more room for doubt than there is optimism. At the very least, the Jets are going to need a backup QB going forward. Simms isn't the answer. I could very easily see them taking a QB somewhere around the 4th-5th round, or if Idzik sticks with bpa, even earlier. Then one has to look at the QBs in this draft and their skill sets and how they might fit in the Jets' WCO. I think there are probably only three QBs in this draft who would be a fit: Bridgewater, Manziel and maybe Garoppolo. I like Mettenberger's arm, but I think he's a better fit in a Steelers-type offense. I see McCarron as a game-manager type QB, and am not really very high on him at all. I've seen him play a lot and just never been impressed by him. Tajh Boyd has the mobility, but his accuracy, decision-making and about everything else not so much. If Bridgewater fell to 18, I'd sprint to the podium and take him in a NY minute. I'd have a hard time passing up on Garoppolo in round 2. I'm really torn on Manziel. The kid does have incredible instincts and a very good arm. That said, I think he's a prick, may have a drinking problem, and I don't like him. He's not gonna be able to run in the NFL. If he tries it, he's gonna get hurt like RGIII did. He's gonna have to learn to move in the pocket to avoid the rush and keep the play alive, but not cross the LOS. I think that might be hard for him. He's also going to have to find throwing lanes like Drew Brees did. I can see him either being a very good NFL QB or being a bust. I don't think there's much middle ground with him.
I don't think Garoppolo is worth the selection at round 2 if you are talking Jets. There are major red flags in regards to his pocket presence. Take a look at this article when you get a chance. http://mattwaldmanrsp.com/2014/03/05/qb-jimmy-garoppolo-knockout/
[quote="101_GANG_GREEN_101, post: 2971802, member: 9655"http://mattwaldmanrsp.com/2014/03/05/qb-jimmy-garoppolo-knockout/]I don't think Garoppolo is worth the selection at round 2 if you are talking Jets. There are major red flags in regards to his pocket presence. Take a look at this article when you get a chance. http://mattwaldmanrsp.com/2014/03/05/qb-jimmy-garoppolo-knockout/[/quote] That's where I had seen him projected. I glanced at that article and while I think he has some valid observations, I think some of them are over the top, and it seems fairly obvious to me that he just doesn't like Garoppolo. Like most players, particularly those from smaller schools, he has work to do on his fundamentals. The Ryan Riddle Quote is idiotic imo. I used to post with a guy on another Jets board that claimed that NFL teams didn't teach any technique. It's BS. You hear NFL coaches and scouts talk about that all the time, and you do see guys work on and improve their fundamentals. Too often times in college and high school, coaches won't mess with player's throwing motion because they're afraid it will confuse the kid and would hurt the team. Most are out for themselves, trying to get as many wins as they can. Helping kids develop sound fundamentals is down the list even if they (the CS) knows them, and I think often times they don't.
I think that's true of most of these draft gurus. There is always a few of them who will hate a player and those are the articles that get the most buzz. Nobody wants to hear from the 50 guys that love a player, they want to hear about the dirt. _
