Brian Quick ..

[MauiRam]

Saw something interesting last night. Way back when the 2012 NFL combine was being conducted, I recorded various segments of the combine on the DVR. Never had the time to watch any of it, but last night I thought I'd take a look. Mostly it was quarterbacks and wide receivers runnning the forty yard dash to start off with.

Later qbs and wrs teamed up for various routes etc. It took a while for Brian Quick to get his turn, as he wasn't in the first group of receivers. Chris Givens was though, and he looked very fast en route to clocking a 4.37. When Brian did get his opportunity to run, he ran a 4.48 and a subsequent 4.53. While watching all these guys run, many looked to hit their top end speed at around the 20 yd mark - even the really fast ones. The few exceptions (IMO) were the tallest guys who seemed to be peaking at the finish or even beyond.

Brian Quick in particular looked to be still accelerating as he hit the finish line and beyond. He also has a very smooth stride - deceptively smooth. If my eyes were not playing tricks on me, (I had the benefit of rewinding), I'd venture that Quick is actually faster than Givens once he gets going. Givens would beat him to 40 yds, but at 60 yds my money would be on Quick. I believe Quick will be just as viable a deep threat as Givens .. My two cents any way ...

[fliptalianstallion]

Quick may be our replacement for Lloyd, hopefully he also has the fight for yards after catch attribute, something Lloyd lacked.

[Ramendola16]

Looking at the tape, it's clear that Quick has great speed when the engine gets going. Watch this game against Virginia Tech, and you'll see what I mean.



Take a look at the play at 0:28. I'm sure we've all seen it, but it just goes to show his top-end speed. On this particular play, Quick catches the ball at roughly his team's 40 yard line. He makes a sharp cut and begins running, slowly picking up speed. Then, at roughly the 48-49 yard line (VT's), he suddenly hits another gear. It's so noticeable it's crazy. If he gets any space to build speed, I wouldn't be surprised if he can run by plenty of defenders.

[Trevor]

His running style is very smooth.

[Goldenfleece]

Getting faster after 40 yards has pretty limited game uses, though. Isn't that why they use that particular metric? Because virtually all throws will be inside 40 yards? Even on deep plays, teams rarely ask the QB to literally put the ball up 50 or 60 yards through the air. It's good news if Quick breaks free after the catch, but he's still going to have to get separation within the 15-30 yard range first to be an effective deep threat. That is unless we really think the offensive line can buy Bradford 5-6 seconds.

[MauiRam]

At 6' 4" with very long arms, he should be able to get at least vertical separation. He won't be as easy to jam either at the LOS tipping in at 6'4" and 222 lbs. We'll never know until the pads go on, but I like his chances ..

[Ramendola16]

Getting faster after 40 yards has pretty limited game uses, though. Isn't that why they use that particular metric? Because virtually all throws will be inside 40 yards? Even on deep plays, teams rarely ask the QB to literally put the ball up 50 or 60 yards through the air. It's good news if Quick breaks free after the catch, but he's still going to have to get separation within the 15-30 yard range first to be an effective deep threat. That is unless we really think the offensive line can buy Bradford 5-6 seconds.

I agree. But it looks like he might not need that whole 40 yards. In that play above, he hits the gas after roughly 10 yards. And even though that may not be his top speed, he still makes those DB's look awfully slow!

[MauiRam]

Getting faster after 40 yards has pretty limited game uses, though. Isn't that why they use that particular metric? Because virtually all throws will be inside 40 yards? Even on deep plays, teams rarely ask the QB to literally put the ball up 50 or 60 yards through the air. It's good news if Quick breaks free after the catch, but he's still going to have to get separation within the 15-30 yard range first to be an effective deep threat. That is unless we really think the offensive line can buy Bradford 5-6 seconds.

Maybe you are right about this, but I can't help but wonder if your premise is accurate, how is it that Jerry Rice managed to consistently get separation given his pedestrian 40 time of 4.6 plus. Anquan Boldin ran a 4.72 and he gets open pretty well - he isn't all that easy to catch afterwards either. One thing is sure, if Quick turns out to be a stud, we'll soon forget this discussion ..

[NJ Ramsfan1]

The thing that is most important in my mind is that the Rams need to have gotten it right with this pick, because we need quality receivers like a baby needs diapers.

[Goldenfleece]

Maybe you are right about this, but I can't help but wonder if your premise is accurate, how is it that Jerry Rice managed to consistently get separation given his pedestrian 40 time of 4.6 plus. Anquan Boldin ran a 4.72 and he gets open pretty well - he isn't all that easy to catch afterwards either. One thing is sure, if Quick turns out to be a stud, we'll soon forget this discussion ..

Well, speed isn't the only way to get separation. It's also possible for a guy to not be a very good sprinter--for example, literally not knowing how to get off the blocks quickly. I'm sure this was even more true back when Rice debuted before players went to special camps to train for the combine.

[MauiRam]

Well, speed isn't the only way to get separation. It's also possible for a guy to not be a very good sprinter--for example, literally not knowing how to get off the blocks quickly. I'm sure this was even more true back when Rice debuted before players went to special camps to train for the combine.

That's probably true - guys weren't getting bazillions for just running fast back when Jerry was drafted. Danny Amendola doesn't have long speed, but his 15 yd dash time is probably smoking. It's been a while since we've seen our receivers run away from people, we are overdue for some fast guys ala Hakim, Bruce and Holt.

[sb2sb2sb]

All I can say is I am excited for this Bradford - Quick combo to pan out!

[gap]

how is it that Jerry Rice managed to consistently get separation given his pedestrian 40 time of 4.6 plus.

Players were forced to give him separating. If they didn't, he grabbed the imaginary flag from his imaginary back pocket, and the officials called Defensive Pass Interfierence.


gap