Since I never watched Mannion play in college, what is it that you didn't like about his game?
There was a lot about his game that I didn't like. Fair or not, I saw a lot of him as a sophomore when he was not good. Got benched for Cody Vaz that year for a time. I was evaluating Markus Wheaton back then and I saw Mannion routinely throw inaccurate passes to him when he was open. So there was already a bad taste in my mouth with him from that point.
What issues did I have with his game? He just struck me as very similar to Nick Foles and Mike Glennon. Same sort of mechanical deficiencies. Same sort of physical tools. Same sort of frustrating inconsistencies. And I really didn't like his throwing motion. It wasn't as ugly as Hogan's but it wasn't pretty either.
The biggest issue I saw with Mannion is that he didn't do well when forced off his spot. He's one of those QBs that you come after when he's playing because he gets rattled when he's forced to move around a lot. It's kind of similar to the issues that Bradford has. You let him take his drop and get the ball out on time without a guy in his face, he looks good. Good rhythm passer. But when you mess with his rhythm, he is thrown completely off his game. I remember the Stanford game his Senior year, they blitzed the hell out of him. He had no answer for it.
That's something I don't like seeing. I can completely understand if a team is getting after you with their rush while blanketing your WRs. As a QB, you're stuck. But when a team is throwing the kitchen sink at you, you have to be able to diagnose the blitz, find your match-up advantages, and neutralize the blitz by getting the ball out quickly.
From years of watching him (even during his amazing year with Cooks), I saw a guy with middling physical talent, inconsistent mechanics, and a mental game that didn't always translate to the field. Don't get me wrong. He wasn't all bad. His touch throws, like fade routes, were gorgeous by the time he became a senior. But I just saw too many holes that NFL DCs can take advantage of.
Like I said earlier, I saw a lot of Foles and Glennon...but I felt he was an inferior prospect to Glennon because Glennon showed a bit more ability to move around without his accuracy becoming spotty. He strikes me as a career backup type. And I'm not entirely sure that Fisher and Snead felt differently. People tend to undervalue those players but after seeing Bradford struggle with injuries, I think Fisher and Snead value a good, steady backup QB.
