[MIJB#19]

General Manager notes 2079: Ellis who?
There's no turning back, for the 8th time in the '70s, we'll have a new (opening day) starting quarterback. Sensational, since we had only 9 different guys in the previous 66 seasons. Ellis McAlister is the name, an unknown for the outside world, but within the Merchantmen, we know this kid well. That is to say, we thought we knew this kid to be a career backup. But here we are, years of keeping him around are about to get a new twist.

It was the 2074 draft when we saw the name Ellis McAlister for the first time. We were coming of the Winston Buckner season, who turned out to be a one-season solution and felt that Robbie Howe might not be the long term solution. The awesome defense was aging, but still in full galore. Cap space was tight and I figured this should be the draft where would interview 12 quarterbacks and see what it might bring.

And interviewing we did, 12 different quarterbacks. Results were mixed, with only 2 kids giving us an "underrated" impression. One of them was Brandon Riley, the Augusta Greenjackets made him the #2 overall pick and they have made the playoffs in all 5 seasons with him under center, with one lost IHOF Bowl on his resume. In retrospect a wasted interview, but so be it.

The other "underrated" kid was Ellis McAlister. Was he anything spectacular? Not quite. His combine numbers were pretty good, Solecismic score of 38, 7.36 seconds in the agility test, 13 bench reps. Numbers that should a general manager get interested in a quarterback. He also had better than 'average' 40-yard dash and position drill scores. His scouted potential ranges, though:
24-36 screen
28-39 short
28-40 medium
33-44 long
3-14 deep
12-24 third down
29-40 accuracy
34-45 timing
37-49 sense rush
9-20 read defense
20-32 two-minute
32-43 scramble

It makes you (me as well) wonder why we interviewed McAlister, probably because of the interesting combine scores. We did though and by the time it was our first sixth round pick, I figured, why not get this kid with very high volatility a chance? We grabbed some left tackle with awesome agility and named Louie Murray 3 picks later. Murray started in every game we played after that draft, 80 straight regular season games and 4 more in the playoffs. McAlister has been on the field in just 1 of those 84 games, handing off three times to Lucas Blackwell to salvage a 40-14 victory at home over the Bordeaux Vineyards.

The progress notes of post camp, mid-pre-season and season end:
2074: 14/35 to 14/39 to 17/39
2075: 21/39 to 22/41 to 23/41
2076: 28/41 to 29/42 to 29/42
2077: 34/42 to 35/42 to 35/42
2078: 39/42 to 41/44 to 41/44
2079: 43/43 to 50/50 to t.b.d.

And there's the reason why McAlister hung around: the kid showed progress in ability in every training camp (+4, +5, +5, +5, +2 to fully developed). Additionally, he showed disgruntlement towards being the backup to Sammy Erickson. Usually a hint that said player is better than backup material. It shows, at this point, he's the 21st highest rated quarterback by my staff. With 5 years on roster prior to this season, he's good for cohesion as well, that can't be bad either. And on top of that, he's come a long way from the scouting report post interview:
44 screen
56 short
49 medium
88 long
27 deep
36 third down
60 accuracy
94 timing
49 sense rush
28 read defense
55 two-minute
34 scramble

Lastly, his combine numbers today are very similar to what he showed as a rookie. His combine score next off-season will tell us whether his latest improvement was a sip from the elixir of life or it was all written in the stars...