TedSlimmJr....I was recently having a conversation with a friend about RGIII and at the time it seemed very obvious that with the Skins trading up to number 2 that they would go after him...but now I am having some doubts..I thought that it was pretty interesting that you had Tannehil ahead of RGIII..can you give some insight on it? I have never been a fan of Griffin as a pro qb..and I like Ryan alot....I agreed with Ck about his funny release at times and he just does not pass the eye test with me as far as his build is concerned..Do you think there is any chance that Tannehil goes number 2 to the skins? They both ran some bootlegs in college and both throw the ball pretty good on the run but with Tannehil you get the pro level size...
I don't know who the Redskins want to draft at #2, and don't care. All I know is that I think Tannehill projects better to the NFL than Griffin does... no matter where they're drafted.
I pay close attention to footwork, that's where a quarterback is made. It is the source of accuracy.
Your footwork dominates everything that you do in any sport at any position... none moreso than the quarterback position. I like to see a QB's footwork tied in to what his eyes are seeing. If you understand the concepts of READ, PURE, and KEY progressions within the structure of a particular offense, focusing on the footwork alone will tell you whether the decision (throw) was correct or not based on the coverage, leverage, and the defender the quarterback was keying.
This becomes much more clouded when you're evaluating a QB who operates strictly from the shotgun, as footwork doesn't apply as much. It's not required in non-sophisticated passing offenses. College coaches are limited in the amount of practice time available to them (20 hours a week). They only coach what's essential to making their particular system work.
Baylor's offense under Art Briles is a very non-sophisticated system. It's a simple MOFO/MOFC "Read" key off the 4-verticals Run-&-Shoot concept. Switch and Choice might occassionally be the sight adjustments by the WR and QB. That right there tells you that there are no pure progressions in the offense. I could go further, but the point is that Griffin is going to have to learn progressions, and the proper footwork. After he learns these two, he then has to marry them together.
Everyone sees the highlights and thinks he's a franchise quarterback, but they don't understand what a project he is on a down-to-down basis. There's no question he's talented, and a supremely gifted athlete. But he gets sacked once every 14 dropbacks, which is by far the worst ratio of any of the top 10-15 QB's in this draft. It's because he runs himself into sacks trying to get outside the pocket. I don't like that.
Tannehill has better pocket presence and footwork, combined with understanding how to tie his footwork in to what his eyes are seeing. It's a result of playing under center in a pro-style, West Coast Offense. He was required to make more "NFL throws" on a down to down basis than any QB in this class other than Andrew Luck. "NFL throws" meaning, progression followed by the result of the throw having to be traced back to his footwork. It has nothing to do with arm strength, which is what most people think that means.
The bottom line for me is this... other than Andrew Luck, I don't see any "franchise" quarterbacks in this draft. People have become far too liberal with the terms "franchise" and "quarterback". It basically applies to any and every Big-12 quarterback that the media hypes up nowdays.
Beyond Luck, I see a bunch of quarterbacks that can be lumped into a couple of different tiers together for various reasons. But I don't see any franchise changers. There's nobody that I'm absolutely sold on, or would put my job on the line for.
I think a couple of these kids have a chance to end up decent starting quarterbacks if they're developed properly and are able to overcome their flaws through being students of the game and working at their craft.
