This is an excellent debate. I come out on the side of Philip Rivers though. There are just SO many things he does well...so many positives, especially now that I've read the Scouts Inc reports on him on ESPN Insider. Here's a taste. Mel Kiper use to be a Rivers hater by the way, didn't list him in the Top 25 and said he was a 2nd round candidate. After the Senior Bowl he was a believer.
"Rivers stole the show at the Senior Bowl with his incredibly quick release, snap delivery, excellent velocity and pinpoint accuracy"
-Mel Kiper Jr.
"He went 4-0 in bowl games during his college career and put on a show at this year's Senior Bowl, and with his smarts Rivers could come in and compete for the starting job as a rookie."
-Mel Kiper Jr.
"B- Adequate-to-good. Capable of making all the throws and shows good zip on his outs"
-Scouts Inc. on Rivers Armstrength
"B Great touch on fade route. His accuracy declines on downfield throws."
-Scouts Inc. on Rivers Accuracy Long
"A- Great timing in the short-to-intermediate routes. Catchable ball and leads WRs well."
-Scouts Inc. on Rivers Accuracy Short
"A- Sees the entire field. Reads defenses extremely well. Gets through his progressions quickly."
-Scouts Inc. on Rivers ability to locate 2nd receivers.
They gave him solid A's in both Judgement, and Poise as well, saying about the latter "Handles pressure extremely well. Constantly beats the blitz. Adjusts to defense quickly"
"He must, however, prove that his arm is strong enough and that his unusual style can be productive at a higher level -- and he's off to a good start"
-Scouting report of Rivers on 1st day of Senior Bowl
"Rivers has really helped his cause so far this week...Rivers has done a good job of overcoming [the unusual delivery] by showing a quick release and a stronger arm than a lot of scouts anticipated. Rivers has shown excellent zip on the deep out routes and he has been the most consistently accurate passer on the South roster."
-Scouting report of Rivers on 2nd day
"Everyone we talk to continues to rave about Rivers' intelligence, personality and overall intangibles. Coach Marty Schottenheimer can't say enough about Rivers' ability to pick up the offense so quickly and run it at such an efficient level. Other scouts rave about Rivers' successful interviews...[Despite lack of mobility and long release], Rivers continues to show good zip on deep out routes and the arm strength to make all of the throws. He is an extremely accurate passer in all zones and he won't make many mistakes in terms of his reads"
-Scouting report on Rivers for 3rd Day.
"Rivers was the most consistent of the three [South] quarterbacks on passing drills this afternoon. He doesn't get the RPMs on the deep out route that J.P. Losman does, but he throws a heavier ball that actually might fare better in adverse conditions...Rivers puts more "thrust" into his throws, which results in less rotations, but also keeps the nose of the ball steady and allows it to cut through the wind better [than Losman's]. He also shows a much better ability to throw a change-up on shorter touch routes than Losman does."
-Scouting Report of Rivers on 4th and Final Day.
"He had terrific interviews, became a clear leader of the South team, showed consistency and accuracy as a passer and displayed the arm strength to make all the NFL throws."
-Scouts Inc Summary.
This by no means was all Scouts Inc had to say about Rivers though. I focused on the positives. The negatives mainly focused on Rivers' lack of mobility and athleticism, his "long than ideal delivery" and "funky release points" It seems like when these scouts see him next to JP Losman they drool over Losman because of his athleticism and foot speed, as much as his cannon arm, and when you put the two next to each other the scouts will always fall in love with Losman next to Rivers even while Rivers is leading his team up and down the field for touchdown after touchdown while Losman can't complete a pass.
If you want Rivers, its because he has superb Poise, superb Judgement, great Accuracy, great ability to Target 2nd Receivers, superb prototypical NFL Size, great Intelligence, great Toughness and willingness to play through pain, fantastic Character, nearly perfect Production (one of the most productive college QBs ever), and awesome Durability (he's never missed a game in 4 years of starting...only major injury was a toe injury in 2002).
If you don't want Rivers, its because he has only somewhere between 'adequate' and 'good' Armstrength, he has definite problems buying time in the pocket with his Escape Ability, has only a mediocre or even below average Set Up (footwork), has way below average Running Ability, is not a very Flexible athlete, and has somewhere between a mediocre and below average Quickness of Delivery particularly with his funky release points that sometimes make him look like he's playing like a 6'0" QB instead of a 6'5" QB.
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