Dominic Rhodes to Oakland Raiders

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by skinsfan69

I watch alot of college ball. I saw Brady Quinn every week for two years. He's not the most accurate guy around. I honestly think Quinn get's a lot of hype cause he's from ND. Don't get me wrong, he's really good. He benefits from a passing offense. But I don't think he's any better than Troy Smith, Chris Leak or Kevin Kolb. Smith had just as good a year if not better. He got better once Weiss came to South Bend. I would say Quinn has had the better coaching of anyone. But Russell is just a freak. Quicker release, better arm, more accurate. Plus he's very mobile for his size. He just has not had Quinn's coaching. When he get's to Oak, and if Sarkeshain can work on his footwork, and if the Raiders can straighten out Moss and Porter, look out. Of course that's a lot of if's.

And Marino had great physical skills. Great feet, cannon arm and the best release of all time. That's almost all you need to play QB.

I think you are taking too lightly the differences between a great college QB and a great NFL prospect. Troy Smith had a better year, obviously, and while I don't think that Leak was/is nearly as good as Quinn and that there is no was to project Kolb's numbers to major D-I competition, it's not an undefendable stance to say that they were better college QBs than Quinn.

In college, athleticism goes a long way. The last year he played at Va. Tech, Vick was probably the best QB in the nation. At the next level, the value of athleticism in a QB is cut down significantly. This is why guys like Quinn and Russell project better than Smith or Leak. That's not to say Leak or Smith can't play from the pocket, because they obviously can, but they are clearly inferrior to Russell and Quinn. It's also not to say that athleticism is worthless at the NFL level (see: Young, Vince) because it can be another weapon in a guys game, but it's not going to make a poor passer by NFL standards a good QB (see: Vick, Michael).

Don't overestimate the effect of Weis on the ND offense. He's a pretty good playcaller, and he's got a good system, but he's human. He made a bunch of mistakes in playcalling last year. He overestimated the talent of his offensive line and left Quinn unprotected too many times. Quinn's statistical surge as a junior, which most people just see and attribute to Weis, was probabaly going to happen to a fairly similar degree no matter who the coach was. Weis most likely walked into a great offensive situation. Where Weis is better than the average coach is in his aggression. He goes for it on fourth very often and gives his team the best chance to score points. But when they don't get it, I'm sure his defense loves him...

Getting back to Russell v. Quinn, we can debate Physical ability all day long, but when it comes to projecting the best NFL QB, physical skills are going to be nearly moot. They both have the arm to make all the throws, and they are both athletic in their own right. What's going to seperate them at the next level is their ability to make quick, accurate reads, their pocket presence, and their ability to manage the game. I don't expect JaMarcus Russell to struggle with any of the above necessarily, I just EXPECT Quinn to excel.

And periodically, Quinn makes an inexcusably inaccurate throw. But given his 60% completion percentage, I feel this is a very excusable flaw in this game. Russell's 67% as a junior is incredibly impressive and projects great things to come for the guy, but he's only started about 30 games compared to Quinn's 45. Both matured massively as juniors, and the fact that Russell came out instead of staying one more year to prove that he's truely deserving of the No. 1 pick (that his ridiculous 67% was no fluke) gives a big expierence advantage to Quinn.