The new "combine" flavor of the month QB has appeared.
Maywood
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So I was just checking out the Sports News and noticed a story about "Anthony Richardson’s sensational combine performance" and how it's got the media whipped up and supposedly has raised his positioning in the upcoming Draft. Enough already, I say, enough..................how many times do the NFL scouts have to get fooled by the results of these dog-and-pony-shows?? They stand around with their clipboards, stop watches and tape measures in an attempt to disprove what 2-3-4-5 years of NCAA play have told them. Then the media hype starts, fan pressure builds and ownership decides to risk a lost season and millions of dollars.
Insanity.
I provide two examples, Tom Brady and Zach Wilson.
Tom Brady had a lackluster beginning at Michigan but in his final two seasons he displayed the skills which would develop in the NFL, enough so that any scouts tracking him should have at least been curious. At the combine he may not have "flopped" but he didn't impress and subsequently fell all the way off everyone's radar till he was taken in the draft as an afterthought. The rest, as they say, is History, as Brady had an illustrious 23 year career.
Zach Wilson is sort of a polar opposite, he played at a passing school and had a very fine resume prior to the combine. Under close watch he threw some passes that amazed everyone, I recall our own justacommeman being gaga over him. Wilson moved up in the Draft and was chosen with high hopes by the New York Jets. His fall was precipitous and his stands on the brink of two things: an unseen before resurrection with NFL employment or future selling Maytag washers at the local discount store.
If you hadn't noticed, I have a dim view of these "combine" results.
Maywood.
Comments
Your not alone, the combine serves it purposes but is not a sure fire look into said players NFL future performance.
Honestly there is very little that can be done to tell if a player is going to be worthy of a high draft pick or any pick for that matter.
The Minnesota Vikings chose left tackle Matt Kalil 4th overall because of a tremendous "shuttle run". Too bad that didn't help him with blocking.
Troy Williamson was blazing fast at WR, he couldn't catch the ball, but we needed someone to replace Randy Moss' speed.
People go nuts over athletic ability, guys have to have the right size hands to play offensive line? Or is it feet?
@JoeBanzai said: Too bad that didn't help him with blocking.
The Browns chose Anthony Schwartz in large part because of his combine speed times at WR and have tried to figure out ways to use him. They have all failed.
Perhaps the biggest failure came in the game where Baker Mayfield suffered his shoulder injury on an interception where he attempted to make a tackle. If you watch the replay you'll see that Mayfield laid the ball out perfectly over the middle, but Schwartz stopped the route in his tracks when he knew he'd get drilled upon catching the ball. Sorry, Anthony, if you're a WR in the NFL you need to go over the middle and pay your dues or get out.
The result was an injury to Mayfield which helped end his tenure in Cleveland while Schwartz, on his rookie contract, remains with the team.
It is looking like the only QB in this draft that is possibly the most of a sure thing is Stroud. I don't see a great crop of QB's here. Next year when many of the Pac-12 starters come out, more potential QB fodder there....................
Agree that athletic talent only goes so far in these times, brains and implementation are also part of the EQ, and the Zach Wilson's will always be a risk. HST, Mahomes came out of a QB school too, Texas Tech. But, he sat for a year in the NFL and learned, probably made a big difference.
Edited to add: Or maybe Mahomes is just really damn good and it did not matter.
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Not a huge fan of the combine. lots of freak athletes who were pretty poor at playing football: Trent Richardson, Jamarcus Russel, Tony Mandarich
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
I remember watching the Florida - Florida State game this year and they were talking up Richardson as a top QB in the draft. From what I saw that game, I was unimpressed. Only completed a third of his passes and had a junk time TD.
As long as youve never seen AR play hes a cant miss prospect lol. I really dont understand these teams that get hyped up over someone thats good at working out. Florida should have been better but his play held them back. How do people just forget all the game tape because of a workout without pads?
We should also stop having OL and DT run the 40, if theyre doing that in a game something has gone horribly wrong