Hey! Someone heard that interview! LOL.
I said that Pat Devlin reminds me a lot of Marc Bulger. He does. Not a great natural arm at all, below average for an NFL starter. Fairly quick feet, a very quick release, and he's accurate. Bulger started making waves even as a camp arm because he could go entire practices where the ball wouldn't hit the ground once. I remember seeing him in NFL games actually go like 24 or 25 completions in a row without even an incomplete pass. That's Devlin. Part of it is accuracy, but part of it is also shot selection. He was in a dink and dunk offense at Delaware, and it's hard to say if that's by offensive design or by Devlin's own choosing. Joe Flacco was not a dink and dunk quarterback, and he played in the same system. Dan Henning once said he could draw up the same play for Chad Henne, Tyler Thigpen and Chad Pennington, versus the same defensive look, and the ball would go to three different receivers. That's how much opportunity a quarterback has to imprint himself onto an offense, regardless of its design. The lack of arm strength infects Devlin's decision-making as well as his ability to improvise under pressure. His biggest weaknesses were lack of aggression and susceptibility to pressure. I expect him to continue looking good in practice while pressure is not a factor, but in the preseason games I can't help but wonder if he's going to start cracking when the pressure is truly dialed up.
I popped a listen after I was done with the interview and heard Jeff Darlington try and refute me on the arm strength. I'd suggest Jeff actually watch him play. His arm isn't naturally strong, and the median NFL starter has a howitzer, that's why I said below average for an NFL starter. The guy went undrafted for a reason. He never really cut loose much at Delaware and they wanted to see him do that at Shrine practice, and when he got into that situation he honestly botched it. Bad practices, even worse game.
Like any QB he just needs to sharpen the tools in his tool box and eventually if his decision making improves enough and he learns to be more aggressive with the ball, using his accuracy, feet and touch, and not necessarily his arm strength, he may have a shot at being successful.
