Illinois Panthers ~ 6021/222
1 ~ Processing Speed
2 ~ Precision
3 ~ Pocket Presence
4 ~ FirePower
Processing Speed is my measure for a Player's capacity to Rapidly Read & React to the dynamically developing Tactical LandScape. This Capacity is crucial to the success of all 22 Players on the Field, but above all to the QuarterBack. Diagnostic Acuity supports this and is also crucial, but Knowledge without Processing Speed is fatal.
Precision speaks above all to Mechanics: A QuarterBack's consistency with his Stance, his Set Up, and his Delivery. I refer to consistent Accuracy in the Short & Intermediate Zones, where the best Offenses all make their Bread & Butter. In breaking it down, I'm looking at Timing, Placement, and Leading Receivers to DayLight.
Pocket Presence is all about how the QuarterBack responds to Pressure. Precision against mediocre Defenses or within simple Schemes matters not, if a QuarterBack mentally locks up under genuine Pressure against the better Defenses in The Only Games That Really Matter. Frankly, I'm not entirely sure that I even need this Category, because I strongly suspect that how a QuarterBack handles Pressure is far less about Testicular Fortitude than it is about Processing Speed.
FirePower is another Category that I am ambivalent about including, for it is simply DownField Precision. Furthermore, I don't consider it anywhere near as Short & Intermediate Precision, because DownField Precision makes for lovely HighLight Footage, but it's Short & Intermediate Precision that Moves The Chains and wins Championships.
Please note, if you will: I list FirePower last of the 4 Attributes I value most...and don't list 40 Speed at all.
Beyond this point, my Fellow FootBall Fanatics, you will find a lengthy Dissertation about QuarterBacks. Should you wish to take a look, I will of course be honored. But should you wish to spare yourself, the actual Scouting Report is far below!!
Yon Rambling Dissertation
Arm Strength is vastly overrated, and scrambling ability, while exciting, is ultimately worse than useless, because History makes it clear that noteworthy Scramblers, over the years ~ and indeed, the same could be said about the thousands of QuarterBacks who've failed despite a great Arm ~ ultimately fail to focus all their energy on QuarterBacking.
Mobility, alike, is vastly overrated. Steve Young is the only Scrambler who ever won a Super Bowl, and he won it because he was on a great team, because Barry Switzer can't coach at the NFL level or the CowBoys would've rolled the Miners again in 1994, and because he eased up on the scrambling. He became a QuarterBack.
Mind you: I'd hardly suggest that Arm Strength isn't nice to have...But the temptation to let'er rip ~ and to relying on that Capacity ~ can have a crippling effect on developing those skills that most matter, deep in the Heart of Winter.
And often they have been.
Countless times, in fact.
And don't get me started on Scrambling.
Processing Speed and an insatiable Work Ethic, producing that relentless Devotion to mastering every possible Aspect of the Job ~ the Aspects I've listed above ~ and Balls are what ultimately win Championships.
It's not as easy as simply counting the Rings, because Fortune & Circumstance play a large part in the Fates of Men.
And it sure as Hell isn't racking up gaudy Statistic during the regular Season. It's the Capacity and the Will to do the thousands of little things that put one's team in the best position to win, day in and day out ~ and doing them well ~ that is the ultimate measure of any QuarterBack, albeit one ~ ironically ~ that's impossible to quantify.
It's the ability to Read & React with Speed & deadly Accuracy against the nastiest, wiliest Defenses on the Planet, deep in the Heart of Winter...and the Will to dedicate Years to intensive Training & Study in order to be able to.
That ~ and his willingness to Use The Whole Pig ~ is what once separated Tom Brady from the Pack.
Precision. Phenomenal. Extraordinary Tough & Outstanding Timing. Funny thing is: His Mechanics still have plenty of room for Improvement, though he's already come a long way.
Pocket Presence. Horrible. Lousy Spatial Diagnostics, and he sometimes skitters away, sometimes from Fantoms!!
FirePower. Moderate. Looks great on the Bombs against horrible Secondaries, but his Receivers often have to wait for it.
And this extraordinary Article by the incredibly insightful Matt Waldman is why.
Jimmy Garoppolo is one of the most intriguing Prospects of this Draft. His Mechanics need work, how far he can develop his FirePower Potential is uncertain, he often tweaks out for no reason, and his Game in General is a bit raw…
But in the Short & MidRange Game, his is already impressive, and he's demonstrated phenomenal Accuracy & Precision in Moving The Chains ~ sometimes in Big Gulps ~ and he is blessed both with impressive Processing Speed and, despite somewhat raw Mechanics, an absolutely stunningly rapid Delivery. And he spreads the Ball around.
That last cannot be overestimated in its Importance: Garappolo is one of the most convincing Play Fakers in this Class, and he includes the entire Roster in'is Receiver Arsenal. That speaks volumes to me.
He's a Student of the Game who listens to his Coaches and actually does The Little Things that help win Games.
He Uses The Whole Pig.
Even so, his Pocket Poise give me grave doubts about his Capacity to excel at The Next Level.
Thanks, as always, to the extraordinary Work by the men of Draft BreakDown!!
OverRated!!
Perceived Market Value 1st/2nd Round | Yankee Grade 4th/5th Round |