Ryan Mallet thrilled with Dolphins workout (Radio interview answers)

[hoops]

In all likelihood I think what it could be is that teams have witnesses saying they saw him do coke and/or weed, something like that, and when he got into those meeting rooms he told them yes he did some a couple of times during his year off from football, he partied too hard and then football came back around and he stopped all the partying and got back to work.

yeah that would be my thoughts also...i don't see nfl teams with major qb needs dropping the guy into round 2 for smoking some weed...but i can see them docking him a round for coke use years ago...if the coke stuff was habitual and they had evidence of such like you said he'd be off boards all together...

personally i think the round 2 talk comes from the prior coke use...

 

[ckparrothead]

That about sums it up.

We'll just have to wait and see. I'm assuming the worst, within reason, and I'm still comfortable with him.

 

[Mr. Magoo]

i think mallets the most pro ready but i also think it makes zero sense not to incorporate a ton of that auburn offense in your gameplan if you draft newton...play to his strengths

This notion that whatever team takes Newton should, or will have to, adapt to him by installing zone reads and option plays is something I just flat disagree with.

I don't care how big and strong Cam Newton is. In the NFL, if he tries to run the option, he's going to get punched in the mouth and they're going to hurt him, plain and simple. "Running" ability is the most overstated positive trait about a quarterback there is, in my view. What matters in the NFL is throwing the football and that's how you have to evaluate his potential.

My positive feeling about Cam Newton stems almost entirely from the fact that I like him as a passer. Unlike a lot of these guys, I think he shows a lot of potential to make the transition and be a pocket passer, not unlike how Steve Young did all those years ago (for his sake, I hope Newton makes the transition faster than Young did).

Tennessee had to adapt to Vince Young because Vince Young just wasn't good enough -- and didn't work hard enough -- to be an NFL quarterback. But the fact of the matter is no team is going to a Super Bowl with him as their quarterback no matter how much they change their offense. This whole thing is like saying last year that if the Rams took Sam Bradford they had to adapt by going to a spread, 2-minute, get the play call from the sideline look to make it easier on him.

Nonsense. Sam Bradford can read the defense and throw the football, and that's what it takes to play in the league. If Newton can't do that right away, then he'll have to sit on the bench until he can.

 

[vagrantprodigy]

I'm ok with taking Mallett, but only if we trade down to late first/early second. Also, I am concerned with the fist fight that will inevitably occur between Marshall and Mallett if things go south... They are both guys with tempers, and Marshall has a definite history of little self control.

 

[hoops]

This notion that whatever team takes Newton should, or will have to, adapt to him by installing zone reads and option plays is something I just flat disagree with.

I don't care how big and strong Cam Newton is. In the NFL, if he tries to run the option, he's going to get punched in the mouth and they're going to hurt him, plain and simple. "Running" ability is the most overstated positive trait about a quarterback there is, in my view. What matters in the NFL is throwing the football and that's how you have to evaluate his potential.

My positive feeling about Cam Newton stems almost entirely from the fact that I like him as a passer. Unlike a lot of these guys, I think he shows a lot of potential to make the transition and be a pocket passer, not unlike how Steve Young did all those years ago (for his sake, I hope Newton makes the transition faster than Young did).

Tennessee had to adapt to Vince Young because Vince Young just wasn't good enough -- and didn't work hard enough -- to be an NFL quarterback. But the fact of the matter is no team is going to a Super Bowl with him as their quarterback no matter how much they change their offense. This whole thing is like saying last year that if the Rams took Sam Bradford they had to adapt by going to a spread, 2-minute, get the play call from the sideline look to make it easier on him.

Nonsense. Sam Bradford can read the defense and throw the football, and that's what it takes to play in the league. If Newton can't do that right away, then he'll have to sit on the bench until he can.

i don't mean the read option stuff...you'll get him killed...i just think you need to play to his strengths...his mobility and spread guys out where his arm can make plays...i wouldn't want to try and run a whole lot of play action asking a cam newton to turn his back to the defense and then make quick reads and decisions with the football...but i also get a lot of what you're saying...and for me cam newton as a passer is very advanced relative to all the other duel threat qbs we've seen in recent years come out...i think we both agree on that and its something i'm hanging my hat on with him as a pro

 

[ckparrothead]

I don't care how big and strong Cam Newton is. In the NFL, if he tries to run the option, he's going to get punched in the mouth and they're going to hurt him, plain and simple.

Did you watch him play? He's over 6'5" and 250+ lbs of pure muscle, with the leg drive to move a pile on the goal line. He's strong as an ox, and not at all afraid of being physical with defenders. He's the one that will be doing a lot of the punching. And yes, it will hurt (the defensive players).

I think it would be downright foolish not to incorporate plays with run/pass option into the offense of whatever team drafts Newton.

 

[ckparrothead]

This isn't some china doll, people! Cam Newton is very literally the biggest and strongest quarterback prospect I have *ever* seen.

 

[hoops]

This isn't some china doll, people! Cam Newton is very literally the biggest and strongest quarterback prospect I have *ever* seen.

yeah but i don't think you want to turn him into tommy vardell all that often either...designed qb runs in the pros are dangerous...but i think its a part of who he is and what he brings to the table so in cams case you got to use it a little bit...that run threat on any play is also gonna make things easier on him when it comes to coverages...he's gonna see a lot of one on one looks cause the d will be all about stopping cam on the hoof

 

[ckparrothead]

Perhaps you guys need a refresher course on some of this stuff. If Cam Newton had no throwing skills whatsoever, he would be highly draftable as a tailback, and the closest comparison would be Brandon Jacobs. This is not a guy that needs to be protected in the short run. Would you want him to be a pocket passer in the long run? Absolutely. But he's not going to be one overnight, especially with a lockout-shortened off season. You're going to tell me the guy below needs to be protected from the big bad scary defensive players (that are almost ALL smaller than him)?

I guess it would be one thing if you felt he always unnecessarily sought contact as a runner. But that's just not the case. He's smart about it, has an innate feel for when it's appropriate to go down without a fight, and when it's appropriate to use that tremendous physical power of his. He's a quarterback, after all...which means, he's a quick thinker. Some of these arguments Magoo is making, I can already tell Magoo doesn't like him, because the arguments take it for granted that he doesn't trust Newton on some of the most basic levels.

[video=youtube;bQMQCFr1fbk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bQMQCFr1fbk[/video]

 

[hoops]

Perhaps you guys need a refresher course on some of this stuff. If Cam Newton had no throwing skills whatsoever, he would be highly draftable as a tailback, and the closest comparison would be Brandon Jacobs. This is not a guy that needs to be protected in the short run. Would you want him to be a pocket passer in the long run? Absolutely. But he's not going to be one overnight, especially with a lockout-shortened off season. You're going to tell me the guy below needs to be protected from the big bad scary defensive players (that are almost ALL smaller than him)?

[video=youtube;bQMQCFr1fbk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bQMQCFr1fbk[/video]

so you want him to put his head down in the pros and dig for yardage repeatedly??? he'll be on ir with a concussion...he may be bigger and stronger than a lot of these guys in the pros but these cats pack a whallop also

i understand the want for run pass option plays but i don't think you want cam going headfirst into piles in the pros all that often

 

[ckparrothead]

so you want him to put his head down in the pros and dig for yardage repeatedly??? he'll be on ir with a concussion...he may be bigger and stronger than a lot of these guys in the pros but these cats pack a whallop also

i understand the want for run pass option plays but i don't think you want cam going headfirst into piles in the pros all that often

I think you're babying the 6'5" and 250+ pounder with 6 percent body fat a little much. He was the starting tailback for Auburn's offense, in addition to being the starting quarterback, and he developed genuine running skills. He protects himself on the field, and has power to spare when the situation calls for it.

NFL defenders are not big scary monsters that will all kill him. They only look that way to defenseless players that aren't expecting it, and that's why the league is cutting down on that stuff. He's going to be bigger than all but the bigger defensive linemen on the football field. He's stronger than a lot of linebackers. That's not boasting, that's just reality.

Long run you don't want the guy to make a 10-15 year living running option stuff in the NFL. But short run? To play scared of contact with a guy that is 6'5" and 250+ lbs with 6 percent body fat, a guy that was stronger than most linemen on his team, a guy with that many carries in the SEC and that shows an innate ability to protect himself? Come on man. Just because a guy's position description says "quarterback" doesn't mean he automatically is a *****.

 

[hoops]

I think you're babying the 6'5" and 250+ pounder with 6 percent body fat a little much. He was the starting tailback for Auburn's offense, in addition to being the starting quarterback, and he developed genuine running skills. He protects himself on the field, and has power to spare when the situation calls for it.

NFL defenders are not big scary monsters that will all kill him. They only look that way to defenseless players that aren't expecting it, and that's why the league is cutting down on that stuff. He's going to be bigger than all but the bigger defensive linemen on the football field. He's stronger than a lot of linebackers. That's not boasting, that's just reality.

Long run you don't want the guy to make a 10-15 year living running option stuff in the NFL. But short run? To play scared of contact with a guy that is 6'5" and 250+ lbs with 6 percent body fat, a guy that was stronger than most linemen on his team, a guy with that many carries in the SEC and that shows an innate ability to protect himself? Come on man. Just because a guy's position description says "quarterback" doesn't mean he automatically is a *****.

maybe i am...i'm not saying don't do it...it's a part of what cam brings to the table...i'd just be counting how often i went to that well every week...i'm definitely not gonna use this guy like a rb and have him carrying the rock 15 times a game in the pros...

realistically ck...if cam newton can be used the way that you are talkin he could change the game at the nfl level...a duel threat qb that you can run in the pros on the regular and who has the arm to gash you with high level passing skills at the nfl level... thats a game changer if he pulls it off

 

[TrinidadDolfan]

Just to be clear hoops, you know I was joking about recouping the 2nd, right?

Thank God! I was begining to worry about you there! lol

 

[Mr. Magoo]

Perhaps you guys need a refresher course on some of this stuff. If Cam Newton had no throwing skills whatsoever, he would be highly draftable as a tailback, and the closest comparison would be Brandon Jacobs. This is not a guy that needs to be protected in the short run. Would you want him to be a pocket passer in the long run? Absolutely. But he's not going to be one overnight, especially with a lockout-shortened off season. You're going to tell me the guy below needs to be protected from the big bad scary defensive players (that are almost ALL smaller than him)?

I guess it would be one thing if you felt he always unnecessarily sought contact as a runner. But that's just not the case. He's smart about it, has an innate feel for when it's appropriate to go down without a fight, and when it's appropriate to use that tremendous physical power of his. He's a quarterback, after all...which means, he's a quick thinker. Some of these arguments Magoo is making, I can already tell Magoo doesn't like him, because the arguments take it for granted that he doesn't trust Newton on some of the most basic levels.

You mean the Brandon Jacobs that has been nicked up throughout his career and has never had more than 224 carries in a season?

I'm not saying Cam Newton is a *****. I'm saying your franchise quarterback is too valuable to use as a running back even part of the time. As a scrambler? Sure. But don't let him get hit any more than he has to.

And you say he's 6'5 and 245 like it's some huge advantage as a runner when it's really not. For breaking tackles ala Roethlisberger? Sure, it's nice to have size and strength. But not in the open field. Not in the NFL. There's a reason most running backs in the NFL aren't any taller than 6 feet. Being big just makes you that much bigger a target for more guys to hit.

[video=youtube;E_TUVAvLQhQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_TUVAvLQhQ&feature=related[/video]

If you think he can take the pounding, more power to you. All you're going make more likely is that your franchise quarterback has to sit on the bench.

I do like Cam Newton and I've said so consistently. He's my third rated quarterback after Gabbert and Ponder and I have consistently defended his ability to throw the football. But not unlike Ponder, he'll have to dial his aggressiveness with the football in his hands way down.

 

[NYPhin24]

I'm ok with taking Mallett, but only if we trade down to late first/early second. Also, I am concerned with the fist fight that will inevitably occur between Marshall and Mallett if things go south... They are both guys with tempers, and Marshall has a definite history of little self control.

I agree in a way, im for trading down and gaining more picks as much as anyone, but if Mallet is sitting there at #15 I say pull the trigger, if you trade down back into the mid 20's that leaves opportunities open for teams to draft him ahead of Miami

The Jaguars are sitting right behind Miami at #16 and could grab Mallet, Seattle at #25 can trade up and grab him as well, teams that drafted before Miami can also trade back into the first round to grab him like the Broncos did for Tebow, if you want to be 100% sure you have your QB, you take him at #15 and dont look back