fishypete said:Perhaps that the way you look at it....but Rivers didn't rise until he played the game....while the scouts and GM's are mostly gone before the game...they indeed get the game film...if they game didn't matter....why would they want it?
Practice is practice...but it's the games where players either rise or fall...the NFL doesn't sell T.V. rights to practices...but to games. What if a player practices great...but when the heat is on...can't play against players that are as good as he is? It all matters....and it's that clear and simple.
Playing well in college is far different than playing well in the Pros.
Maybe you choose to ignore what every scout and personnel man in the league says regarding the importance of the Senior Bowl practices versus the game, but I don't.
Rivers caught Shottenheimers in practice that week, remember, Shottenheimer coached Rivers side in that Senior Bowl.
Every player coming out of college has a big learning curve to go thru when entering the pros, perhaps even more so for a QB. As I said, they are primarily looking at talent and the overall package which includes the players ability to learn when scouting them at the Senior Bowl, they are far less concerned about how well they do in a game with one week to learn a system with brand new coaches and teammates.
Now certainly a player can add an explanation point to his Senior Bowl week in the game, and maybe even catch someones eye, as they have in the past, but the point is, Jay Cutler's stock did not drop because of this game.
That would be similar to saying John Elways stock dropped after his subpar rookie year.
What the NFL saw was, the arm, the release and the intelligence and intangibles that show he can be molded into a successful NFL qb.