I'm just not going to hold it against Jake Fromm for not often doing what he's not often asked to do. He does what he is asked to do better than nearly everyone out there. If I had to go strictly with QBs that are leaned on to power their offense exclusively with their arm then I'd be stuck drafting from Mike Leach every year.
Based on what I've seen of Jake Fromm's skill set, I don't think he's incapable of carrying the team when asked. This is what they said about Tom Brady in New England prior to 2007, and what they said about Russell Wilson prior to 2016 or thereabouts, but the bottom line is those players brought a certain performance standard with them to how they operated any given play. I think Jake Fromm does that as well. And I don't think it changes wildly just because the usage goes up a tick. All you can do is manage what you can control.
I'm sure people could bring up individual games where things didn't work out well for Jake Fromm. Most of them would be 2017 when he was a true freshman leading his team to the National Championship Game. Could probably bring up the LSU game this year. Sometimes, sh-t happens. Didn't see a ton to pick at in that LSU game anyway, and I thought the Bama and Texas games rang a little more true in his favor than the LSU game did as a critique.
Based on how Georgia structures its offense, it's not coincidental when poorer offense seems to be connected with higher QB usage, nor is it coincidental when the defense is defending something well they're probably also defending other things well, or when the offense is screwing up in one way and then screwing up in other ways. You manage what is in your power to manage, play the game that's in front of you.
What he generally does is go out there, make the right reads, and throw timely strikes. He does it with great pro velocity, something I think people tend to overlook in his game. I think his feel for taking off is underrated. He's going to steal base more often than people imagine at the next level, in part because nobody's ever going to install a game plan that accounts for it. That's the mark of a good pro as well, always being better at things the defense decides you're not great at.
And that probably describes Jake Fromm's game, in a more general way. A defense is going to look at him and decide what they have to defend against because it's what he's good at, and what they in turn have to leave open because that's not who he is, whether it be something related to his arm, his ability to handle pressure, or his willingness and/or ability to steal base when you're caught in man and guys get out of their lanes. But he'll kill you for that. He's got a great all-around skill set, a beautiful head on his shoulders, and a LOT of patience.
I think he's going to make a fine pro and I'm more confident about that than I was about Dwayne Haskins. I've got three quarterbacks in this next draft that if I take, I would believe and have confidence about it that I got the barrel on the ball. And then I've got a toolsy guy that I'd be cautiously optimistic about, hoping that things 'click'. That's about where I was on Dwayne Haskins.
