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http://www.espn.com/blog/cleveland-...ble-qbs-only-one-guy-ready-to-play-right-away
PHOENIX -- Only one of the quarterbacks eligible for the NFL draft is ready to play right away.
That's the word from Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians, who addressed the draft class at the NFL's annual spring meetings.
"I’m not going to mention names," Arians said. "I think one of them is ready to start as a rookie. I think all the rest there are some really talented arms that need a year of learning how to play the position, especially at this level.”
The natural discussion that followed was to try identifying the one who can play immediately. It was all guesswork.
His one-guy assessment perfectly illustrates the challenge for the quarterback-needy Cleveland Browns as they prepare for the draft. They traded a pick a year ago that could have been Carson Wentz, and now they must choose between several players with talent, most of whom will require a 1-15 team to be patient and wait for the right time to put them on the field.
Arians is one of the true NFL "quarterback whisperers," and his resume supports it. His history is filled with quarterbacks he coached who played well. He worked with Peyton Manning. He got the best years out of Tim Couch (whom he stands by to this day, part of the reason players love him) and he got a 400-plus-yard playoff game out of Kelly Holcomb. He helped make Ben Roethlisberger what he is, had great success with Andrew Luck and has had success with Carson Palmer in Arizona.
One of the great failings of the Browns, post-1999, was that they failed to hire him as coach -- not once, but twice. (Alas we digress.)
Mitch Trubisky of North Carolina, Deshaun Watson of Clemson, DeShone Kizer of Notre Dame, Patrick Mahomesof Texas Tech and Davis Webb of Cal.
Arians wasn't mentioning names of who can and can't play right away because he may be in the market to draft one. But he did give this individual evaluation of Trubisky: "Really talented player. The growth potential is obviously there. The question is why wasn’t all that talent starting for the last three years? That’s always bugging me. So you have to go and answer those questions with him, with his coach. But the physical talent is there.”
He also chuckled at anyone comparing Trubisky to Aaron Rodgers, a future Hall of Famer who started 25 games at Cal.
“That’s a hell of a scout; I don’t know how you can compare those two," Arians said. "When Aaron was coming out, he was in a totally different offense. I’m old enough to know when Aaron came out because I evaluated him. I think Mitch probably has a stronger arm coming out than Aaron did. But to say anybody reminds you of somebody, to me it’s just physically stature-wise or just arm-strength wise.
"I wouldn’t put that much pressure on a guy to say he’s Aaron Rodgers.”
One of the key traits Arians looks for in a quarterback is the ability to process information quickly and under duress.
"What’s my protection? Am I hot? Do I have a sight adjustment weak side? What’s the coverage? Who do I throw to in this coverage? That all happens in 1.5 seconds," he said. "If you can’t process that information, you probably can’t play.”
Arians also laments the changes in the college game to spread formations and calling plays quickly from the sidelines. That offense limits the number of plays a quarterback runs and complicates the transition to the far more complex pro game.
Almost all of the draft-eligible quarterbacks come from that system, where the emphasis is on pace and calling plays quickly as opposed to pre-snap reads for coverage and protections. One element of the transition that Arians said is among the most difficult is something that from the outside seems natural: calling plays from the huddle.
"[Spread quarterbacks] never got in a huddle [in college] and looked at 10 other guys who’ve got families to feed, and had to call a play," Arians said. "They just look to the sideline, kick their foot and roll.
“That’s the hardest thing for these kids, to come to minicamp, get in a professional huddle and try to lead these guys. You have to give them a wristband because they can’t spit it out. Or you have to give them a wristband and then all the guys in the huddle get pissed off because he can’t call the play.
"I’m not making eye contact with you and you don’t have a helluva lot of confidence that I know what I’m talking about.
“We had a young guy in Pittsburgh who had all the talent in the world, but he could not call a play and he could not go to the line and use a snap count. It destroyed all of his confidence."
Browns coach Hue Jackson said that's one reason he emphasizes private workouts over pro days -- to give himself every chance possible to get as much information as he can.
"Trust me," Jackson said. "We go the extra mile with these guys. We really do. We spend a lot of time with them, and there's a lot of specific things that we ask them to do. I think if you talk to a lot of the quarterbacks, it's probably different than any other place that they've had to deal with thus far."
“Again, that’s the evaluation," Arians said. "If you’re [looking] for plug-and-play, again this draft is very small. But if you have time to bring them along, then this draft is large. But the plug-and-play guys are very small.”
He didn't mean in stature -- he meant in numbers. The challenge for the Browns is finding that one guy who is most ready to play in an NFL offense.
"Some guys might be really able to process football but can't play as well," Jackson said. "Some guys play as well and can't process football. So somewhere in between it's the right fit and the right medium for a player -- for us to consider to be a quarterback on our football team."
PHOENIX -- Only one of the quarterbacks eligible for the NFL draft is ready to play right away.
That's the word from Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians, who addressed the draft class at the NFL's annual spring meetings.
"I’m not going to mention names," Arians said. "I think one of them is ready to start as a rookie. I think all the rest there are some really talented arms that need a year of learning how to play the position, especially at this level.”
The natural discussion that followed was to try identifying the one who can play immediately. It was all guesswork.
His one-guy assessment perfectly illustrates the challenge for the quarterback-needy Cleveland Browns as they prepare for the draft. They traded a pick a year ago that could have been Carson Wentz, and now they must choose between several players with talent, most of whom will require a 1-15 team to be patient and wait for the right time to put them on the field.
Arians is one of the true NFL "quarterback whisperers," and his resume supports it. His history is filled with quarterbacks he coached who played well. He worked with Peyton Manning. He got the best years out of Tim Couch (whom he stands by to this day, part of the reason players love him) and he got a 400-plus-yard playoff game out of Kelly Holcomb. He helped make Ben Roethlisberger what he is, had great success with Andrew Luck and has had success with Carson Palmer in Arizona.
One of the great failings of the Browns, post-1999, was that they failed to hire him as coach -- not once, but twice. (Alas we digress.)
Mitch Trubisky of North Carolina, Deshaun Watson of Clemson, DeShone Kizer of Notre Dame, Patrick Mahomesof Texas Tech and Davis Webb of Cal.
Arians wasn't mentioning names of who can and can't play right away because he may be in the market to draft one. But he did give this individual evaluation of Trubisky: "Really talented player. The growth potential is obviously there. The question is why wasn’t all that talent starting for the last three years? That’s always bugging me. So you have to go and answer those questions with him, with his coach. But the physical talent is there.”
He also chuckled at anyone comparing Trubisky to Aaron Rodgers, a future Hall of Famer who started 25 games at Cal.
“That’s a hell of a scout; I don’t know how you can compare those two," Arians said. "When Aaron was coming out, he was in a totally different offense. I’m old enough to know when Aaron came out because I evaluated him. I think Mitch probably has a stronger arm coming out than Aaron did. But to say anybody reminds you of somebody, to me it’s just physically stature-wise or just arm-strength wise.
"I wouldn’t put that much pressure on a guy to say he’s Aaron Rodgers.”
One of the key traits Arians looks for in a quarterback is the ability to process information quickly and under duress.
"What’s my protection? Am I hot? Do I have a sight adjustment weak side? What’s the coverage? Who do I throw to in this coverage? That all happens in 1.5 seconds," he said. "If you can’t process that information, you probably can’t play.”
Arians also laments the changes in the college game to spread formations and calling plays quickly from the sidelines. That offense limits the number of plays a quarterback runs and complicates the transition to the far more complex pro game.
Almost all of the draft-eligible quarterbacks come from that system, where the emphasis is on pace and calling plays quickly as opposed to pre-snap reads for coverage and protections. One element of the transition that Arians said is among the most difficult is something that from the outside seems natural: calling plays from the huddle.
"[Spread quarterbacks] never got in a huddle [in college] and looked at 10 other guys who’ve got families to feed, and had to call a play," Arians said. "They just look to the sideline, kick their foot and roll.
“That’s the hardest thing for these kids, to come to minicamp, get in a professional huddle and try to lead these guys. You have to give them a wristband because they can’t spit it out. Or you have to give them a wristband and then all the guys in the huddle get pissed off because he can’t call the play.
"I’m not making eye contact with you and you don’t have a helluva lot of confidence that I know what I’m talking about.
“We had a young guy in Pittsburgh who had all the talent in the world, but he could not call a play and he could not go to the line and use a snap count. It destroyed all of his confidence."
Browns coach Hue Jackson said that's one reason he emphasizes private workouts over pro days -- to give himself every chance possible to get as much information as he can.
"Trust me," Jackson said. "We go the extra mile with these guys. We really do. We spend a lot of time with them, and there's a lot of specific things that we ask them to do. I think if you talk to a lot of the quarterbacks, it's probably different than any other place that they've had to deal with thus far."
“Again, that’s the evaluation," Arians said. "If you’re [looking] for plug-and-play, again this draft is very small. But if you have time to bring them along, then this draft is large. But the plug-and-play guys are very small.”
He didn't mean in stature -- he meant in numbers. The challenge for the Browns is finding that one guy who is most ready to play in an NFL offense.
"Some guys might be really able to process football but can't play as well," Jackson said. "Some guys play as well and can't process football. So somewhere in between it's the right fit and the right medium for a player -- for us to consider to be a quarterback on our football team."
