Mr. Scot

Saw this tweet responding to John Ellis... So I looked up the article. You can see it here: NFL Mock Draft 2023 For the unfamiliar, Bruce Feldman covers college football for The Athletic and is a really good info source. He notes that this article was compiled after spending two months talking to different college and NFL sources. Here's the writeup on Stroud. 1. Carolina Panthers (via CHI): C.J. Stroud, QB, Ohio State It’s been well-documented that new head coach Frank Reich has an extensive history of playing with taller quarterbacks — Philip Rivers, Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck and Carson Wentz among them. This point has come up repeatedly given Bryce Young’s lack of prototypical size — and that there are two very big quarterbacks this year in Anthony Richardson and Will Levis. Stroud has good size as well at 6 feet 3, 215 pounds — and he had no trouble carrying 220-plus in his college career. Reich did push back a bit on that size narrative this month when he noted that he had a very high grade on Russell Wilson in 2012. Stroud is worthy of the top overall pick. He checks every relevant box. Buckeye coaches have been raving to NFL personnel about his intelligence, according to sources. He is extremely accurate; can make all the throws; has played (and excelled) in many big-game situations; is very football smart; and sees the field well (even if it’s “muddy”). He also has better athleticism than most are giving him credit for — although he put on an impressive display in the College Football Playoff Peach Bowl semifinal against Georgia, going 23-of-34 for 348 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran for 34 yards on a defense loaded with more NFL-caliber athletes than any other in the college game. The Coaching Intel “He’s so accurate and so calm. I wasn’t sure about the (Buckeyes’) previous guy’s ability to read coverage. But I know C.J. can. He has such a good ability to process, and his anticipation is so good. He runs better than you think. He’s the complete package.” “He’s the most accurate quarterback I’ve ever played against. It’s like he couldn’t have handed the ball to his receivers any better, and they’re 30, 40 yards downfield. He’s got high-level NFL accuracy and NFL vision. I think he understands the game so well and gets it out in under three seconds. He has very high football IQ.” “His accuracy downfield is really special. He’s bigger than you think and faster and harder to sack than people realize. I thought he’s better than Trevor Lawrence. He’s such a pure passer and can make all the throws. He does really unique stuff. Watch some of the stuff he did against Michigan. There are two plays in that game, one on a deep go-ball and another on a corner route, where the DB undercuts it. It’s to the wide side of the field, and he just drops it in over the outside shoulder. Then, I’m watching him against Georgia, against those guys, and he was dominant in that game. We did our best to disrupt the timing, and he still got us. We played more aggressively at the line of scrimmage and he made a bunch of big plays. On third-and-11s, in real rough spots, he was able to improvise when it wasn’t there. If we didn’t match a pattern or cover a guy just right, he took advantage every time.” “I think he has a little different personality. He’s very level, which is good. Blank face. I think he’s got that elite mindset that is always neutral: not too high and not too low.” “I think he’ll be really good in the pros. He’s very smart. They did a good job with him. He keeps his eyes downfield. I think he’s confident. He understands protections. He’s got poise. He’s been on the big stage. Georgia’s defense is as good a comparison to the NFL as you’ll get, and look what he did to them.”

It isn't just David Newton's sources...

One of his specific comments was "At some point, you have to be able to win the game from the pocket." So yeah...

I think that's a lot of us right now.

Especially not with the draft.

My guess would be his pro team will build a heavily run based offense around him to minimize his weaknesses. It might work for a bit, but we had a similar thing with Newton. Atlanta and Wade Phillips showed everyone how to beat it.

On the flipside...

I've seen similar statements before. There's word of him having an aloof personality that sometimes turns teammates off. Don't know how valid it is but it's been talked about.

While I'd definitely acknowledge this is possible, I'd want a better source than Chad Forbes to believe it. Forbes isn't reliable.

It was. Rosen had other issues. Stroud and Young are way better quarterbacks than Richardson or Levis right now. And it's not guaranteed either will catch up.

FYI: You're talking to a guy who created a profile specifically to trash talk Huddlers about Teddy Bridgewater (hence the screen name). He's s troll.

It would also be very Belichick

Can't sign on to that. Richardson has more and bigger questions than anybody. I take Stroud. Young is good too but I worry about his durability taking NFL hits.

John sent her a clip

Speaking of Belichick... Yeah, that's...not really something you want to hear your boss say

Upside has gotten a lot of people fired...

John and Honest NFL...

Passing accuracy isn't something you see a lot of improvement in either. People will point to Josh Allen as an example but I don't really know how valid that is. And to be clear completion percentage doesn't really measure accuracy. There's a lot of other factors in that number.

If there's one thing this offseason has made abundantly clear, it's that everyone from Tepper on down wants to start winning now.

Elsewhere in the department of "please let this happen"...

I get it