Good write up. Would just add that he also said he's never heard a bad word about Wilson from any of his teammates. Counters the concern about him being able to have the respect of a locker room.
This utter bull shit lol nobody has Wilson over Lawrence and if they do they should be fired.... Lawrence is one of the best prospects of all time people! The absolute best prospect of all time in NFL history was John Elway and Lawrence is not far behind. He’s top 5 for sure with Peyton and Luck. Wilson has live arm and reminds people of Mahomes so it gets scouts excited. Thing is he isn’t Mahomes...
It can't end this way, we still have another month till free agency! Zach Wilson is a guaranteed bust. Commence 20 more pages of discussion.
I'm no expert but from what I seen from highlights and pro day for Lawrence... I have to say Wilson would be my pick, and I think more ppl would also go Wilson if the "experts weren't so loud in their support of Lawrence." Lawrence reminds me of John Elway but not the same arm strength, but Wilson is Mahomeseque as you mentioned. Wilson's ceiling is very high imo, but very hard to tell which qb will translate into a franchise qb, maybe both??
Lawrence has a very good NFL arm but it is more in the Herbert territory than NFL elite. He does not have a Mahomes/Allen arm. If you want the best arm in this class it is Trey Lance who has elite arm talent. As I said before, you can make the case for 3 QB's to end up being the best in the class 5 years from now and it heavily depends on their situation and who drafts them and what system they go to and the weapons they have. Zach Wilson Trevor Lawrence Trey Lance would be my rankings but I might even go Lance if I was Atlanta or Philadelphia.
There's elite arm talent and then there's very good arm talent that is plenty for the NFL. There are very few in the absolute 'elite' category but there are plenty of quarterbacks who have been elite that don't have the arm talent of Mahomes, Rodgers or Allen who are pretty much in a category of their own with maybe a couple others. Brady, Brees, Peyton, etc.
Sure. But all 3 you mentioned Brady, Brees, and Peyton had elite mental traits. That's not Lawrence either. Lawrence is more of a tools based prospect.
Could be. We'll see what ultimately happens with him. It's tough to really gauge what a quarterbacks mental tools are going to be until they enter an NFL system though, and it's tough to forecast that as a fan since we don't have insight quite yet as to what they're like in the film room.
If by "arm talent" you mean primarily or only "arm strength," then I agree that Lance has elite arm talent. If, OTOH, you include accuracry, then I disagree. I think of arm talent to also include accuracy, and both Wilson and Fields are more accurate than Lance.
Velocity that is wow matters. When you have a cannon like Lance it makes playing most NFL zone defenses very difficult for the defensive side. And with Lance if you are playing man he has the athleticism to grab yards from you. I also think Lance is underrated with other things he can do. The issue with Lance is he just hasn't played top competition so there will be more unknowns. If I had an OC that was based on quick hitters, getting the 1st read open I might take Lance 1st (Atlanta). You also probably want to keep Lance on the bench Year 1 so you lose some value on the rookie cost controlled contract. Wilson and Lawrence are day 1 starters.
Yes, it definitely matters, but so does accuracy. I'd rather have more accurate QB with a good enough arm, but not a cannon, than a QB with a cannon, who isn't that accurate. Sam has a pretty strong arm, but is pretty inaccurate.
Everyone wants accuracy. Problem is that is seldom defined. Accuracy in the pocket, accuracy on the run, accuracy under pressure, accuracy off platform. I remember last year when some people liked Jalen Hurts because of his accuracy. It sounds like a thing but everyone defines it their own way.
It's broad and sometimes completion percentage is overused to justify accuracy. Hitting places in stride and placing balls where only the receiver can catch it and keep moving are important. But there are also route concepts that require throws to be in a certain place even if the receiver isn't going to pickup extra yards after they catch it. Brady was the master of this over the middle throwing all those dirt balls for Welker and Edelman to dig out against tight coverage. Good observation though. It's tough to really define it.
Of course, I'd prefer a QB who is accurate regardless, but as long as he's accurate in the pocket and under pressure, I'll be happy. I could live with a little inaccuracy off platform or on the run. With Wilson or Watson we wouldn't have to worry about that too much. To be clearer, I want a QB who can put the ball where he wants it...low, outside, inside, high, in stride, to a spot on the field, and who can throw with anticipation.
Actually I think this can be evaluated much better than it is, although you're not going to get clearcut, numerical values so it makes evaluators squeamish IMO. I actually think some teams DO have ways of measuring and evaluating this aspect and seem to find those "hidden gems" - and by that I don't necessarily mean they find HOF QBs, but this can apply to even backup QBs who find success that no one predicted. Anyway, I think this is an aspect that NFL teams ought to invest more in.
Accuracy in the pocket is what you want above all. After all we spend reams of time discussing and the teams themselves invest resoures heavily into building an OL then can keep the pocket clean and the QB on his feet and breaking down QB mechanics to the nth degree when talking about their platform etc... Having a QB able to roll-out or make yardage o the ground is nice but then your game comes down to half-field reads and the QB inevitably getting beaten up.
