Rank these QB skills in your opinion

[sureletsrace]

There are many, many things that make a QB who he is, and have a large impact on his likelihood to succeed. Far too many to list, actually, but I'll list several of the major ones below and ask you to rank them from most to least important.

Arm Strength
Accuracy
Height/Weight
Intelligence
Mobility
Throwing Motion/Release
Vision
Competitiveness
Leadership
Character/Work Ethic

I'd also love to hear some reasoning behind why you feel the way you feel.

 

[Derinyar]

Arm strength to me is the hard one. There's a minimum arm strength you need to have or the rest doesn't matter, but having a cannon isn't necessary for success.

Assuming that minimum arm strength is met the most important thing to me is reading the defense. After that leadership, accuracy and the ability to move inside the pocket. I say this because I assume the high end NfL QB will have to have work ethic.

 

[texbumthelife]

There are many, many things that make a QB who he is, and have a large impact on his likelihood to succeed. Far too many to list, actually, but I'll list several of the major ones below and ask you to rank them from most to least important.

Arm Strength
Accuracy
Height/Weight
Intelligence
Mobility
Throwing Motion/Release
Vision
Competitiveness
Leadership
Character/Work Ethic

I'd also love to hear some reasoning behind why you feel the way you feel.

1a)Work ethic (To me, these are the most important qualities because they're uncoachable, but they are crucial to development and growth as a player. The quarterback needs to be the smartest and the hardest working guy on the team.)
1b)Intelligence
2)Vision (Being able to scan the defense quickly and not stare down a receivers is what generally is the most important thing for a young QB still learning. It provides scheme flexibility and prevents defenses from defeating you with one approach.)
3)Accuracy (This is pretty obvious. It doesn't matter how hard you throw, if you can't be accurate with ball placement, you're Kyle Boller.)
4)Competitiveness (These next two are two more you can't coach. They're also the two traits that determine whether your team rallies behind you.)
5)Leadership
6)Arm strength (Strong arm quarterbacks are easy to fall in love with, but it's never been a key attribute in any quarterback's success.)
7)Mobility (The ability to instinctually move in the pocket and avoid the rush is co-dependent on other aspects of the team, but still important.)
8)Height/Weight (Drew Brees and Russel Wilson say 'hi'.)
9)Throwing Motion/Release (this is easy to fix with coaching and too many guys with hideous releases *see Phillip Rivers* have been very successful)

 

[texbumthelife]

I know some guys will rank these very differently. This should be a cool exercise if more people play along.

 

[reddyuta]

1. Intelligence.- most important to me because these guys can overcome other shortcomings to some extent.
2. Accuracy
3. Fast release.
4. Strong desire to be great.
5. Should be great in the pocket
6. Leadership
7. Height.
8. Arm strength.

 

[jterrell]

There are many, many things that make a QB who he is, and have a large impact on his likelihood to succeed. Far too many to list, actually, but I'll list several of the major ones below and ask you to rank them from most to least important.

Arm Strength
Accuracy
Height/Weight
Intelligence
Mobility
Throwing Motion/Release
Vision
Competitiveness
Leadership
Character/Work Ethic

I'd also love to hear some reasoning behind why you feel the way you feel.

Accuracy
Vision
Height/Weight
Intelligence
Character/Work Ethic
Mobility
Throwing Motion/Release
Competitiveness
Leadership
Arm Strength

I basically have to have accuracy and football IQ.
After that of course I need enough size to see over the line and enough weight to live through a sack a game.
Really prefer a gym rat type but I gotta have the basics first. Good guys beat bad guys but childishness can be outgrown.
Mobility and agility are important. Need some way to extend plays.
Leadership comes with commitment and experience.
Motion and arm strength are somewhat tangential as long as they aren't extreme outliers. --an arm like Moore is an issue.

 

[HanD]

These two things will maximize potential and foster growth and development:
Character/work ethic
Intelligence

Important and wants but not as important as the first two.
vision
Leadership
accuracy
competitiveness

Not important and can be overcome but nice to have:
Mobility
Arm strength (as long as it isn't a detriment)
throwing motion/release
height/weight

 

[jterrell]

These two things will maximize potential and foster growth and development:
Character/work ethic
Intelligence

Important and wants but not as important as the first two.
vision
Leadership
accuracy
competitiveness

Not important and can be overcome but nice to have:
Mobility
Arm strength (as long as it isn't a detriment)
throwing motion/release
height/weight

Not taking shots at you here but just pointing out the obvious...
Character and intelligence are excellent for anyone in any field but also there are people with off the charts scores in both areas who couldn't QB a peewee game.

It starts and ends with football. The things you list only matter (in this context) if they can play football.

 

[sureletsrace]

1a)Work ethic (To me, these are the most important qualities because they're uncoachable, but they are crucial to development and growth as a player. The quarterback needs to be the smartest and the hardest working guy on the team.)
1b)Intelligence
2)Vision (Being able to scan the defense quickly and not stare down a receivers is what generally is the most important thing for a young QB still learning. It provides scheme flexibility and prevents defenses from defeating you with one approach.)
3)Accuracy (This is pretty obvious. It doesn't matter how hard you throw, if you can't be accurate with ball placement, you're Kyle Boller.)
4)Competitiveness (These next two are two more you can't coach. They're also the two traits that determine whether your team rallies behind you.)
5)Leadership
6)Arm strength (Strong arm quarterbacks are easy to fall in love with, but it's never been a key attribute in any quarterback's success.)
7)Mobility (The ability to instinctually move in the pocket and avoid the rush is co-dependent on other aspects of the team, but still important.)
8)Height/Weight (Drew Brees and Russel Wilson say 'hi'.)
9)Throwing Motion/Release (this is easy to fix with coaching and too many guys with hideous releases *see Phillip Rivers* have been very successful)

Good list. I think I would have Throwing Motion/Release higher, but I don't know what I'd be willing to move down. For every Phillip Rivers, there are 10 Tim Tebows.

 

[texbumthelife]

Not taking shots at you here but just pointing out the obvious...
Character and intelligence are excellent for anyone in any field but also there are people with off the charts scores in both areas who couldn't QB a peewee game.

It starts and ends with football. The things you list only matter (in this context) if they can play football.

Work ethic is immensely important. Lack of work ethic is why so many guys dominate physically at the college level and then never transition to good pros when they can't simply physically dominate anymore.

I get what you're saying though. I just think the uncoachable traits are most important.

You listed height/weight as your third most important trait. That really surprises me. I think that height/weight blue print has been shattered in the last decade with smaller guys proving it's not as important as once believed. I can't help but think you're throwing that out there as a shot at Goff.

We do agree on the importance of vision though. I think it would be easy to put that #1, too.

 

[texbumthelife]

Good list. I think I would have Throwing Motion/Release higher, but I don't know what I'd be willing to move down. For every Phillip Rivers, there are 10 Tim Tebows.

The thing is, nearly every kid coming out of college has a hitch of some sort in their throwing motion. It's one of the very first things they get to work on in mini camps. Tebow is kind of an extreme example. Of course, someone with a throwing motion that elongated is going to be at a serious deficit, but even that could have been coached up had his mental ability as a quarterback matched his physical ability. Just another reason why intelligence and work ethic are so important.

 

[HanD]

Not taking shots at you here but just pointing out the obvious...
Character and intelligence are excellent for anyone in any field but also there are people with off the charts scores in both areas who couldn't QB a peewee game.

It starts and ends with football. The things you list only matter (in this context) if they can play football.

I'm assuming an nfl qb no? If they can get on an nfl team they have some ability in football as a given. Given ability of an nfl level I want smarts and work ethic first.

 

[Hoofbite]

Throwing motion is one of the more ridiculous aspects to worry about. If the guy has a good arm and is accurate, does it really matter if his motion is less than perfect?

 

[Manwiththeplan]

It's funny how everyone ranks arm strength last, but as Derinyar said, you need a certain amount or the rest doesn't matter. Yes there are some accurate QBs who don't have great arm strength who go on to become elite, but there are also a lot of guys who are accurate, but just don't have the arm to compete at this level.

 

[65fastback2plus2]

6 - Arm Strength
3 - Accuracy
10 - Height/Weight
2 - Intelligence
9 - Mobility
5 - Throwing Motion/Release
1 - Vision
8 - Competitiveness
4 - Leadership
7 - Character/Work Ethic

Everything revolves around vision. If you cant see the play, see the defense, see players in space, etc. then you can have all the other ones and it doesnt matter.

What is intelligence or accuracy going to do for you if you cant see the play and see the defense well? nada.

 

[jterrell]

We have a lot of characteristics that bleed into each other.

For me if i had to do these evaluations regularly.
I'd replace vision and intelligence with football IQ. A sort of combined metric.
Physical attributes would be 1 category for me. This is height/weight/speed/agility combined.
Arm a combo of strength and accuracy.

 

[jterrell]

I'm assuming an nfl qb no? If they can get on an nfl team they have some ability in football as a given. Given ability of an nfl level I want smarts and work ethic first.

I hear you and your take isn't illogical.. I am merely noting is it is tough to use characteristics that can't get you to pee wee starting jobs as your TOP criterion.

Kellen Moore isn't a good NFL QB and it has zero to do with his character or work ethic. Both of those are reportedly off the charts.
Character, intelligence and work ethic are more important for a Coach

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I think you missed pocket presence and anticipation. Those are as big as anything for a QB.






YR

 

[Alexander]

There are many, many things that make a QB who he is, and have a large impact on his likelihood to succeed. Far too many to list, actually, but I'll list several of the major ones below and ask you to rank them from most to least important.

Arm Strength
Accuracy
Height/Weight
Intelligence
Mobility
Throwing Motion/Release
Vision
Competitiveness
Leadership
Character/Work Ethic

I'd also love to hear some reasoning behind why you feel the way you feel.

1. Intelligence - Dumb QBs don't survive
2. Accuracy - They have to put the ball where it needs to go
3. Character/Work Ethic - They can be as talented as can be, but if they do not put in the work, forget it.
4. Leadership - If they are timid and cannot lead, they are going to crumble playing the hardest position in pro sports
5. Competitiveness - They have to want to win and care about winning
6. Height/Weight - They have to meet some minimums, it is very hard to compete if they are too short and they have to make up for it with fantastic intangibles.
7. Arm Strength - I might have this one actually a little higher than I like. But not every team runs dink and dunk systems so they have to be able to make the throws. But, keep in mind, having a bazooka for an arm and that's all is not much good.
8. Vision - The player has to be able to see the field and develop anticipation.
9. Mobility - depends on what you are talking about. If it is "running QB" type mobility, not much at all, the team has to understand the handicap. But if it is mobility in the pocket (i.e. feeling the rush), then it goes much higher on the list.
10. Throwing motion/release - Can be corrected or even just left alone.

Some of these are closer together or could be listed as equals, but since you asked for the ranking, there you go.