Last of a dying breed?

[TJKJ23xx]

QBs as we have known them over the years are changing but are Offensive staffs in the NFL really accepting the athletic capabilities of these new generation of QBs or trying to fit a square peg into a round hole?

Looking back at the talent of the last few drafts vs now seems to show a trend that we have yet to see many teams willing to implement. The talent pools of QBs was at it's worst last year by a wide margin. Kenny Picket being picked in the 20s is way off track from what the "draft experts" had been pushing the narrative on for months. I wont even get into the blatantly erroneous prediction that Malik Willis was a top 10 pick. The last few years have seen more athletic QBs rise and being coveted more often than the tradition pocket passer.

The NFL is moving closer to college style play and requiring those mobile QBs more often. The main issue with this is not all OC are capable of truly preparing these young men for the level of competition they will see. Defenses aren't as likely to carry a team to and through the playoffs as they used to but they can neutralize a lopsided game plan or trait. We saw in the SB the Chiefs D adjust to Hurts ability to extend the play or get out of the pocket and basically turn into a RB.

We had 10 years of watching a feeble attempt at transforming an NFL offenses to cater to an athletically inclined first QB first hand and also got a glimpes of what causes counter productivity in the growth and expansion of having a mobile QB. The staff we had with Cam had a chance to create something great, instead they only hindered Cam's overall development and put him through beating after beating each time we faced our opponent. 

Which brings me to my point. The NFL as a whole is afraid to start over with an empty slate to properly position a "dual threat, mobile, run first, athletic" QB for sustainable success. The are constantly trying to either balance or just run specific but obvious plays to cater their abilities. The potential factor of these QBs have made teams reach and make huge mistakes when trying to realize and implement their potential, look at what the 49ers gave up to get Lance and clearly that is not going to work out as hoped. 

As the league stands a QB that is a pocket passer by trade but can create on the move or ensure they are not just a statue is the best to build around but I feel with the right innovations a QB in the mold of mobile first will thrive and be come a force once the right offense is created for them. This has yet to be seen properly but I hope with all the innovative talent we have coming in we can see the next great offense like the RPO, Air Coryell, Air Raid, WCO, etc. 

 

Edited February 16, 2023 by TJKJ23xx

[SmokinwithWilly]

There really needs to be some type of developmental league other than college football. I think a lot of the problem stems from you have teams like Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia, etc. playing a lot of games against far inferior teams. These guys are making the jump to the NFL and have only faced that level of talent once or twice a year, plus playoffs. It's really hard to determine how good a college QB is when he's throwing to a top 10 receiver vs a top 250 ranked CB. 

[Khyber53]

Brock Purdy outplayed basically every hyper mobile QB drafted into the league over the last two years. 

It's not about the rise of the mobile QB. It's not about pocket passers vs college schemes.

Any type of QB can succeed (if they've succeeded at the college level) if they have one important trait: processor speed. It's either a "get it" or "don't get it" kind of thing and you won't know what you have until they've been on the field at the pro level. 

The defenses are better coached and more prepared than just about anything they've faced in college, and that's from the NFL's best to worst teams. Every player that takes the field would have been a star-level player at their college and at just about any college in the country. The concepts are heavier, with more moving parts than anything pushed at the college level... heck most plays end up being a trigonometry exercise moving at 18 mph with immeasurable numbers of collisions.

It all breaks down to processing speed. Almost all of the guys at this level can move, either fairly well to excellent. They almost all have arm strength beyond what QBs had 15 years ago. Almost all of them can drop a football into a trash can from 30 yards out. And most of them can take more hits than their old school counterparts of yesteryear.

What separates them is how they can slow down the game in their heads, see the field, assess threats and opportunities, avoid mistakes and exploit openings while a few million people watch and while a few million of their own dollars are potentially on the line, not to mention their long-term health.

Trying to lock into some prototypical type of QB because of how the college game is right now is short sighted. It's be like I don't know, hiring some guy out of Baylor who was a motivator and was going the change how the game is coached. 

The league doesn't have to change and open up to a particular style of play. It just continues with the bloody of tooth method of survival it always has at the QB position... it's not what their style of play is, it is can they win and survive at it? 

It's a lot to ask a young man to go out there and carry a whole team and fandom on their shoulders. It's even more to ask an entire league to change just to give one particular type of player a better chance.