Breed
Pro Bowler
I posted this on the ESPN board, thought I'd share it with everyone here.
Before the draft Beck's biggest strengths were considered to be his poise, accuracy, smarts (ability to quickly dissect coverages) and his 'moxy'. Beck had one of the most accurate arms (if not the most accurate) in the '07 draft, few people realized his armstrength was just as impressive as his accuracy.
Everybody knew he was smart, his wonderlic score of 34 didn't suprise anybody (2nd best among QBs). His ball velocity did suprise people.
"Beck's ball speed of 61.1 mph was second best among quarterbacks and better than Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith's 58.5 mph, Michigan State's Drew Stanton's 55.7 or Stanford's Trent Edwards' 55.2. (Neither Russell nor Quinn threw at the combine.)"
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/draft/2007-03-07-john-beck_N.htm
Quinn's ball speed is probably closer to 55-57 mph (still good). Russell may have the strongest arm the NFL has ever seen. This was an impressive QB class and Beck had the 3rd strongest arm of any '07 QB. Jay Cutler impressed scouts last year when he had 60 mph ball speed.
Another important aspect of Beck's game is that he throws a very catchable ball. He can zip it in there if he has to, but he also knows when to put touch on the ball.
There are areas of his game that I don't like. He needs to improve his footwork. His release point is low, that's going to need some work. But overall, those things should be coachable.
Beck will turn 26 on August 21, so his age is his biggest downside and probably the only reason he was there at #40. Beck's footwork and release point need to be ironed out, I doubt he'll be ready before mid season (at best).
Among a few examples:
Steve Young turned 30 during the 1991 season, by that point he only had 825 career passing attempts.
Roger Staubach was 27 years when he was drafted. Staubach was 29 at the beginning of the '71 season, at that point he only had 129 career passing attempts.
Kurt Warner was 28 years old when he made his first career start.
Matt Hasselbeck was 26 years old when the Seahawks gave a 1st round draft pick for him. To that point he only had 29 career passing attempts. Hasselbeck underperformed his first year starting with the Seahawks (70.9 QB rating in 321 passing attempts) but Improved dramatically his 2nd year with the team.
Matt Shaub is 26 years old with a 69.2 career QB rating (161 passing attempts). Houston gave up 2 2nd round draft picks (likely high 2nd round picks) and went from #8 overall to #10 overall just to land Schaub. The 40th overall pick for Beck seems like a bargain compared to the Shaub trade.
I loved the quote from Beck about his armstrength.
When asked about his armstrength Beck would reply "hey you want me to chuck the ball 75 yards......I can do that no problem"
Before the draft Beck's biggest strengths were considered to be his poise, accuracy, smarts (ability to quickly dissect coverages) and his 'moxy'. Beck had one of the most accurate arms (if not the most accurate) in the '07 draft, few people realized his armstrength was just as impressive as his accuracy.
Everybody knew he was smart, his wonderlic score of 34 didn't suprise anybody (2nd best among QBs). His ball velocity did suprise people.
"Beck's ball speed of 61.1 mph was second best among quarterbacks and better than Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith's 58.5 mph, Michigan State's Drew Stanton's 55.7 or Stanford's Trent Edwards' 55.2. (Neither Russell nor Quinn threw at the combine.)"
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/draft/2007-03-07-john-beck_N.htm
Quinn's ball speed is probably closer to 55-57 mph (still good). Russell may have the strongest arm the NFL has ever seen. This was an impressive QB class and Beck had the 3rd strongest arm of any '07 QB. Jay Cutler impressed scouts last year when he had 60 mph ball speed.
Another important aspect of Beck's game is that he throws a very catchable ball. He can zip it in there if he has to, but he also knows when to put touch on the ball.
There are areas of his game that I don't like. He needs to improve his footwork. His release point is low, that's going to need some work. But overall, those things should be coachable.
Beck will turn 26 on August 21, so his age is his biggest downside and probably the only reason he was there at #40. Beck's footwork and release point need to be ironed out, I doubt he'll be ready before mid season (at best).
Among a few examples:
Steve Young turned 30 during the 1991 season, by that point he only had 825 career passing attempts.
Roger Staubach was 27 years when he was drafted. Staubach was 29 at the beginning of the '71 season, at that point he only had 129 career passing attempts.
Kurt Warner was 28 years old when he made his first career start.
Matt Hasselbeck was 26 years old when the Seahawks gave a 1st round draft pick for him. To that point he only had 29 career passing attempts. Hasselbeck underperformed his first year starting with the Seahawks (70.9 QB rating in 321 passing attempts) but Improved dramatically his 2nd year with the team.
Matt Shaub is 26 years old with a 69.2 career QB rating (161 passing attempts). Houston gave up 2 2nd round draft picks (likely high 2nd round picks) and went from #8 overall to #10 overall just to land Schaub. The 40th overall pick for Beck seems like a bargain compared to the Shaub trade.
I loved the quote from Beck about his armstrength.
When asked about his armstrength Beck would reply "hey you want me to chuck the ball 75 yards......I can do that no problem"
