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BY JIM THOMAS
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
04/12/2010
If only it were a matter of standing tall in the pocket and throwing the ball through a wall. Evaluating talent is always a crapshoot in the NFL draft. But picking a quarterback?
Double tough.
There's so much that goes into playing the position, things that can't be timed or measured, things that have absolutely nothing to do with size or arm strength. Which helps explain why even at the top of draft there's a Ryan Leaf for every Peyton Manning; an Akili Smith for every Donovan McNabb. MORE RAMS
Rams general manager Billy Devaney says he has learned this lesson the hard way at times over his career as an NFL personnel evaluator.
"I've come full circle," Devaney said. "If you don't have the intangibles to play that position. ..."
Well, it's probably not going to work.
Devaney was with the San Diego Chargers when they drafted Leaf — a colossal bust — No. 2 overall in 1998. And that experience helped change his thinking.
"To me, the physical skills are almost the easy part now (in evaluating) these kids," Devaney said. "There's so much that goes into being a quarterback in the NFL. The work ethic that you have to have. The leadership. The time that you put in. The media scrutiny. If you can't handle all that stuff, you're going to have a hard time performing on the field."
As they decide whether to take Sam Bradford, or perhaps trade down for Jimmy Clausen or Colt McCoy, the Rams are factoring lots of traits and characteristics into the evaluation process.
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"The teams that have been successful lately, it seems to me they have those leadership-type guys," coach Steve Spagnuolo said. "Guys that can get the job done in a pinch. Certainly you want all the other things that go with (playing quarterback) — a guy that can throw the football, all the physical qualities. But leadership to me is really important at that position."
In Detroit, coach Jim Schwartz said the Lions felt the same way en route to deciding on Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford as No. 1 overall.
"Does the team believe in this quarterback's ability to win?" Schwartz said. "If you can't cross that hurdle, it doesn't matter how strong his arm is, or how smart he is, or how fast he is or any of those other things. He's the leader of the team, and if a team doesn't have confidence in that player, then you're never going to get anywhere with him."
Leadership doesn't show up on game film. So it takes lots of research, but there should be a track record in college and earlier.
"You just grind as much as you can, talk to as many people, and try to get as accurate a picture as you can on the guy," Devaney said.
"Hopefully, you're getting good information," Spagnuolo said.
THE MENTAL GAME
You can be the brightest quarterback around in terms of IQ, but if you don't see the field, recognize coverages, see receivers breaking open — and do it quickly — it's hard to be successful in the NFL.
"We all wonder about the Wonderlic test and so forth," NFL.com analyst Gil Brandt said. "But there's a lot of times you have smart players that don't have mental quickness."
Some of these traits are discernible on film. But teams also like to test a quarterback prospect by getting him in front of a greaseboard and having him talk X's and O's.
Brandt tells a story of one such meeting this year with Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and an NFL team. When the team asked him about a specific play, Tebow replied: "This is how it's called at Florida, this is how it's called with your organization, and this is how it's called with West Coast teams."
"When you get a quarterback and he reacts that quickly, you know that the guy not only is pretty smart but he has that mental quickness to adjust very fast," said Brandt, the former Dallas Cowboys personnel guru.
Apparently, not all the quarterbacks in this year's draft pool have handled their greaseboard sessions as well as Tebow.
"If he can't explain the thing, and corrects himself — and corrects himself in the middle of it — then how can he handle the volume of what we're going to throw at him in the NFL?" said a veteran QB coach, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
According to this coach, that's what happened with a quarterback prospect during the pre-draft process for his NFL team. "And that kid happened to be one of the most talented guys in the draft," the coach said. "If I'm on that team, and he can't say that play in the huddle, can I follow this guy?"
Of course, it's easy to show off football acumen with a grease marker in your hand. But what about with a blitzing linebacker in your face? Of after getting crunched — again — by a defensive end?
"A lot of times you watch a college player on a good team and he might get hit once or twice in a game, and he's not throwing under a lot of pressure a lot of the time," San Diego coach Norv Turner said. "That's not the way our (NFL) game is played. They've got to throw in tight quarters. They've got to throw the ball with guys getting ready to hit them in the face. And then they've got to get up and throw it again the next down."
Be it Bradford, Clausen, McCoy — whoever — that's what everyone in the quarterback Class of 2010 will face at the next level.
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
04/12/2010
If only it were a matter of standing tall in the pocket and throwing the ball through a wall. Evaluating talent is always a crapshoot in the NFL draft. But picking a quarterback?
Double tough.
There's so much that goes into playing the position, things that can't be timed or measured, things that have absolutely nothing to do with size or arm strength. Which helps explain why even at the top of draft there's a Ryan Leaf for every Peyton Manning; an Akili Smith for every Donovan McNabb. MORE RAMS
Rams general manager Billy Devaney says he has learned this lesson the hard way at times over his career as an NFL personnel evaluator.
"I've come full circle," Devaney said. "If you don't have the intangibles to play that position. ..."
Well, it's probably not going to work.
Devaney was with the San Diego Chargers when they drafted Leaf — a colossal bust — No. 2 overall in 1998. And that experience helped change his thinking.
"To me, the physical skills are almost the easy part now (in evaluating) these kids," Devaney said. "There's so much that goes into being a quarterback in the NFL. The work ethic that you have to have. The leadership. The time that you put in. The media scrutiny. If you can't handle all that stuff, you're going to have a hard time performing on the field."
As they decide whether to take Sam Bradford, or perhaps trade down for Jimmy Clausen or Colt McCoy, the Rams are factoring lots of traits and characteristics into the evaluation process.
FOLLOW ME
"The teams that have been successful lately, it seems to me they have those leadership-type guys," coach Steve Spagnuolo said. "Guys that can get the job done in a pinch. Certainly you want all the other things that go with (playing quarterback) — a guy that can throw the football, all the physical qualities. But leadership to me is really important at that position."
In Detroit, coach Jim Schwartz said the Lions felt the same way en route to deciding on Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford as No. 1 overall.
"Does the team believe in this quarterback's ability to win?" Schwartz said. "If you can't cross that hurdle, it doesn't matter how strong his arm is, or how smart he is, or how fast he is or any of those other things. He's the leader of the team, and if a team doesn't have confidence in that player, then you're never going to get anywhere with him."
Leadership doesn't show up on game film. So it takes lots of research, but there should be a track record in college and earlier.
"You just grind as much as you can, talk to as many people, and try to get as accurate a picture as you can on the guy," Devaney said.
"Hopefully, you're getting good information," Spagnuolo said.
THE MENTAL GAME
You can be the brightest quarterback around in terms of IQ, but if you don't see the field, recognize coverages, see receivers breaking open — and do it quickly — it's hard to be successful in the NFL.
"We all wonder about the Wonderlic test and so forth," NFL.com analyst Gil Brandt said. "But there's a lot of times you have smart players that don't have mental quickness."
Some of these traits are discernible on film. But teams also like to test a quarterback prospect by getting him in front of a greaseboard and having him talk X's and O's.
Brandt tells a story of one such meeting this year with Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and an NFL team. When the team asked him about a specific play, Tebow replied: "This is how it's called at Florida, this is how it's called with your organization, and this is how it's called with West Coast teams."
"When you get a quarterback and he reacts that quickly, you know that the guy not only is pretty smart but he has that mental quickness to adjust very fast," said Brandt, the former Dallas Cowboys personnel guru.
Apparently, not all the quarterbacks in this year's draft pool have handled their greaseboard sessions as well as Tebow.
"If he can't explain the thing, and corrects himself — and corrects himself in the middle of it — then how can he handle the volume of what we're going to throw at him in the NFL?" said a veteran QB coach, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
According to this coach, that's what happened with a quarterback prospect during the pre-draft process for his NFL team. "And that kid happened to be one of the most talented guys in the draft," the coach said. "If I'm on that team, and he can't say that play in the huddle, can I follow this guy?"
Of course, it's easy to show off football acumen with a grease marker in your hand. But what about with a blitzing linebacker in your face? Of after getting crunched — again — by a defensive end?
"A lot of times you watch a college player on a good team and he might get hit once or twice in a game, and he's not throwing under a lot of pressure a lot of the time," San Diego coach Norv Turner said. "That's not the way our (NFL) game is played. They've got to throw in tight quarters. They've got to throw the ball with guys getting ready to hit them in the face. And then they've got to get up and throw it again the next down."
Be it Bradford, Clausen, McCoy — whoever — that's what everyone in the quarterback Class of 2010 will face at the next level.
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