erod
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Winter is coming for NFL personnel evaluators at the game's most valuable position. Quarterbacks have always been hard to find, but these days, they're a needle in a sea of haystacks.
High school and college football is ruining the position for the NFL. Permanently perched in the shotgun in simplistic, check-with-me, one-read offenses that require virtually no defensive understanding or brain power is leaving NFL general managers scratching their heads at what to do. Not only is it ugly to watch, it simply doesn't work against NFL-caliber defensive players. You have to be able to work under center and read defenses in the NFL, and these blokes can't.
This year, suddenly drafting running backs became in vogue again, and offensive linemen seem to be gaining in value early, too. Some think teams like Dallas started that trend, but I think growing frustration and hopelessness with today's young quarterbacks played a bigger role. Teams have to run because they can't pass.
The whole thing makes the Dustin Vaughn approach Dallas is taking look pretty smart.
Who are tomorrow's great quarterbacks? Aside from Andrew Luck, name me a good, young QB in the NFL that looks like he's headed for the all-time great list.
I'm not buying Russell Wilson so much, and neither are the Seahawks apparently. He's a bus driver for a team built on smothering defense and running the football. He was awful against Green Bay before that last heave. He looked woefully inept compared to Romo. He has his moments, so I'll give him a half a nod, but he looks terribly uncomfortable in the pocket, where real NFL quarterbacks play.
Collin Kaepernick is imploding. RG3 is a lost puppy. Alex Smith can't throw to wide receivers. Geno Smith is just winging it. Cam Newton hasn't developed at all. Mark Sanchez is scared. Sam Bradford was bad before he was hurt. Jay Cutler has checked out. And then there's Freeman, Ponder, Manziel, Cousins, Barkley, McNown, Gabbert, Clausen, Quinn, Locker, Mallett, and on and on it goes.
And on queue, this year's draft produced nothing but project QBs. I think Winston and Mariotta are going to bust, too.
Honestly, could Vaughn be any more far-fetched than these guys?
It's laughable how teams are unloading the cash vault for guys like Andy Dalton and Ryan Tannehill because the chasm out there is just too scary not to. The mere glimmers shown by Teddy Bridgewater and Derek Carr will probably make them billionaires soon, too, and Blake Bortles need only be "meh" to get his. The resume of work isn't as important as the lack of alternative. Seattle will have to do it with Wilson eventually.
It's easy not to notice because the league still features some high-powered offenses and lots of scoring thanks to Brady, Rodgers, Brees, Romo, Roethlisberger, Flacco, Ryan, Rivers, and the Manning boys. But do you notice anything about that list? Yep, they're getting up there.
Something's got to give somewhere. College football has to start playing real football again, not the chuck-it-in-a-nanosecond filth we suffer through on Saturdays. It looks like Tecmo Bowl. High schools should do the same, but they won't. (Why would an NFL team hire a college coach anymore?)
Quarterbacks are the lifeblood of the NFL, and the supply on the way looks weaker by the year.
So bring on Dustin Vaughn. He has as good a chance as any. That's sad to say out loud, but it's true.
High school and college football is ruining the position for the NFL. Permanently perched in the shotgun in simplistic, check-with-me, one-read offenses that require virtually no defensive understanding or brain power is leaving NFL general managers scratching their heads at what to do. Not only is it ugly to watch, it simply doesn't work against NFL-caliber defensive players. You have to be able to work under center and read defenses in the NFL, and these blokes can't.
This year, suddenly drafting running backs became in vogue again, and offensive linemen seem to be gaining in value early, too. Some think teams like Dallas started that trend, but I think growing frustration and hopelessness with today's young quarterbacks played a bigger role. Teams have to run because they can't pass.
The whole thing makes the Dustin Vaughn approach Dallas is taking look pretty smart.
Who are tomorrow's great quarterbacks? Aside from Andrew Luck, name me a good, young QB in the NFL that looks like he's headed for the all-time great list.
I'm not buying Russell Wilson so much, and neither are the Seahawks apparently. He's a bus driver for a team built on smothering defense and running the football. He was awful against Green Bay before that last heave. He looked woefully inept compared to Romo. He has his moments, so I'll give him a half a nod, but he looks terribly uncomfortable in the pocket, where real NFL quarterbacks play.
Collin Kaepernick is imploding. RG3 is a lost puppy. Alex Smith can't throw to wide receivers. Geno Smith is just winging it. Cam Newton hasn't developed at all. Mark Sanchez is scared. Sam Bradford was bad before he was hurt. Jay Cutler has checked out. And then there's Freeman, Ponder, Manziel, Cousins, Barkley, McNown, Gabbert, Clausen, Quinn, Locker, Mallett, and on and on it goes.
And on queue, this year's draft produced nothing but project QBs. I think Winston and Mariotta are going to bust, too.
Honestly, could Vaughn be any more far-fetched than these guys?
It's laughable how teams are unloading the cash vault for guys like Andy Dalton and Ryan Tannehill because the chasm out there is just too scary not to. The mere glimmers shown by Teddy Bridgewater and Derek Carr will probably make them billionaires soon, too, and Blake Bortles need only be "meh" to get his. The resume of work isn't as important as the lack of alternative. Seattle will have to do it with Wilson eventually.
It's easy not to notice because the league still features some high-powered offenses and lots of scoring thanks to Brady, Rodgers, Brees, Romo, Roethlisberger, Flacco, Ryan, Rivers, and the Manning boys. But do you notice anything about that list? Yep, they're getting up there.
Something's got to give somewhere. College football has to start playing real football again, not the chuck-it-in-a-nanosecond filth we suffer through on Saturdays. It looks like Tecmo Bowl. High schools should do the same, but they won't. (Why would an NFL team hire a college coach anymore?)
Quarterbacks are the lifeblood of the NFL, and the supply on the way looks weaker by the year.
So bring on Dustin Vaughn. He has as good a chance as any. That's sad to say out loud, but it's true.
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