Way-too-early look at the 2012 quarterback draft class

[sniperhare]

Right now I'd put front runners as Luck and Barkley. I think Foles could be good if he gets to sit and adjust to the level of competition.

I won't be focusing on them nearly as much as this year since the Jaguars got their QB of the future.

[rangerrick012]

I like Kellen Moore and hope he ends up in the silver and black.

[CM Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jarodd21

I hear ya man.. I felt Tyrod Taylor got shafted for that this year too. He was clearly better then alot of the QBs drafted higher then him but his height hurt him.. Moore is going to get treated the exact same way even though he's proven to be a winner and a very smart QB.

Tyrod Taylor fell because the passing offense at Virginia Tech was pretty simple and even then he struggled with second and third level reads. The one play I keep going back to is during a game with Georgia Tech which the Yellow Jackets specifically played contain defense with their pressure package to keep Taylor confined to the pocket. He sat there about seven or eight seconds before deciding to loft a pass right into the teeth of the defense for an easy interception.

Great playmaker and a tremendous athlete, but not a great passer.

[Jarodd21]

Quote: Originally Posted by CHooe

Tyrod Taylor fell because the passing offense at Virginia Tech was pretty simple and even then he struggled with second and third level reads. The one play I keep going back to is during a game with Georgia Tech which the Yellow Jackets specifically played contain defense with their pressure package to keep Taylor confined to the pocket. He sat there about seven or eight seconds before deciding to loft a pass right into the teeth of the defense for an easy interception. Great playmaker and a tremendous athlete, but not a great passer.

Ok you gave an example of a bad read he made and I'm sure he had more especially his first 2 years at V.Tech but there are plenty of games where he looked great in the pocket and made the proper reads and went through his progressions and made the throw.. When McShay was breaking Taylor down he showed a few clips of him doing this. He pretty much said he was one of the better passers in the draft but would he be able to make the reads over Big O-lines and D-Lines in the league. I might have to go look for clips just to show you.. I won't say he was a great passer but he was definitely above average especially his last 2 years at V.Tech. Much better then alot of QBs drafting before him. His height definitely hurt him. He would have easily been a first round talent if he was 6'3-6'4 IMO.

[CM Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jarodd21

Ok you gave an example of a bad read he made and I'm sure he had more especially his first 2 years at V.Tech but there are plenty of games where he looked great in the pocket and made the proper reads and went through his progressions and made the throw.. When McShay was breaking Taylor down he showed a few clips of him doing this. He pretty much said he was one of the better passers in the draft but would he be able to make the reads over Big O-lines and D-Lines in the league. I might have to go look for clips just to show you.. I won't say he was a great passer but he was definitely above average especially his last 2 years at V.Tech. Much better then alot of QBs drafting before him. His height definitely hurt him. He would have easily been a first round talent if he was 6'3-6'4 IMO.

I don't doubt his height was a knock against him, but Tyrod's biggest attribute has always been his athleticism. Despite his 24:5 TD:INT ratio, the Hokies great run-heavy offense and simplified passing game protected him a lot.

You don't need to look for clips of Tyrod, I'm an ACC football fan and have seen plenty of Tyrod since he started playing for the Hokies in 2007. A large number (moreso than any of the other quarterback in this draft) of the pass plays that the Hokies succeeded on were either pass-run options where the offense would roll to one side of the field, effectively cutting the field in half, or broken plays where Tyrod would scramble away from pressure long enough to buy time for a receiver to get open.

This is not to say Tyrod didn't improve over his time as a Hokie - he most certainly did - but to say he's better than many of the passers who went before him is a stretch, IMO. A good kid though, and I think he can stick at the NFL level if he works hard enough, but I'm not sure how good he will ultimately be.

---

To get back to the topic at hand, on second thought I'm not sure if Landry Jones would even bother declaring with Luck and Barkley on the board when he could potentially be the top guy in the 2013 draft. If he did, however, watching how those three guys fall in the draft will be interesting.

[Jarodd21]

Quote: Originally Posted by CHooe

I don't doubt his height was a knock against him, but Tyrod's biggest attribute has always been his athleticism. Despite his 24:5 TD:INT ratio, the Hokies great run-heavy offense and simplified passing game protected him a lot. You don't need to look for clips of Tyrod, I'm an ACC football fan and have seen plenty of Tyrod since he started playing for the Hokies in 2007. A large number (moreso than any of the other quarterback in this draft) of the pass plays that the Hokies succeeded on were either pass-run options where the offense would roll to one side of the field, effectively cutting the field in half, or broken plays where Tyrod would scramble away from pressure long enough to buy time for a receiver to get open. This is not to say Tyrod didn't improve over his time as a Hokie - he most certainly did - but to say he's better than many of the passers who went before him is a stretch, IMO. A good kid though, and I think he can stick at the NFL level if he works hard enough, but I'm not sure how good he will ultimately be. --- To get back to the topic at hand, on second thought I'm not sure if Landry Jones would even bother declaring with Luck and Barkley on the board when he could potentially be the top guy in the 2013 draft. If he did, however, watching how those three guys fall in the draft will be interesting.

I watched plenty of him too and I'm not saying I watched every game but you can see the improvements with his passing over the last few years. He had to move around in the pocket to buy himself some time to see over the line.. But you can clearly see him going through his progressions in the pocket and not looking to take off all the time like he did earliar in his career. Mel kiper and the rest of the guys at the NFL draft were talking about how much he improved as a passer in the pocket and he clearly was the best QB in the ACC. Most scouts had nothing bad to say about him as a passer. It was his height.. Most of people get caught up on the great runs he made but he became a very good passer. But IMO I believe he was better then alot of those QBs that went ahead of him. His height hurt him. He definitely would have been a 1st rounder if he was 6'3 or taller. But thats just me and I don't think it was a stretch to say that. You can match his stats with all those guys.

[k_mac]

I think Moore should be in at least the top three. He's done nothing but win since he's been at Boise. One real loss on his record, the bowl game against TCU in 2008. I really don't credit Moore for the Nevada loss, that was a lack of kicking. He is hands down the most accurate passer in this class. We'll see how he handles adversity this season, losing his top targets. Moore is going to get criticized for playing in the WAC, other than that, he's the real deal.

Another QB who isn't getting a lot of attention is San Diego's Ryan Lindley. In my mind he's this class's sleeper pick. He throws a good ball, strong armed. And at 6'4" there's no height problem.

[blakty]

On Tyrod:

Quote: Originally Posted by Jarodd21

His height definitely hurt him. He would have easily been a first round talent if he was 6'3-6'4 IMO.

He's taller than Vick, who he's been favorably compared to, so the only real weakness in his game I can see is he takes to long to make a decision with the football. However, if you're gonna hold the ball for 9 seconds you better throw 20+ TDs.

On Topic: Luck is as good a prospect as anyone has ever seen. At first I thought he was just an afterthought behind an awesome running attack, but by the 2010 season he blew my mind. I actually like what I've seen from Ryan Lindley and I actually have him going ahead of Cousins. I think Pryor would be better off at almost any other position than Quarterback.

I would have liked to see Barkley play against Washington last year. Wait...he did?...