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http://espn.go.com/nfl/insider/story/_/id/15161687/jon-gruden-top-takeaways-qb-camps-nfl-draft
ESPN NFL Insider Mike Sando went to Orlando, Florida, to watch Jon Gruden's QB Camp tapings with seven draft-eligible quarterbacks. Below, Sando has written up Gruden's biggest takeaways from the interviews and throwing sessions, in Gruden's voice.
Cal's Jared Goff and North Dakota State's Carson Wentz are in the spotlight first. Catch the TV specials starting at 4 p.m. ET Saturday on ABC.
Five takeaways on Jared Goff
1. The Matt Ryan comparisons are a little lazy
I've heard a lot of people compare Goff to Ryan and I can see some similarities, but there are critical differences too. Ryan came out as the closest thing to Peyton Manning that I can remember, at that time. I was still coaching Tampa Bay and I remember clear as day when the Miami Dolphins did not take Ryan. That meant Ryan was coming to Atlanta and the NFC South, and he was going to start from Day 1. Ryan was really such a polished quarterback coming out of college. He had Tom O'Brien coaching him at Boston College, the same guy who coached Russell Wilson at NC State. The training was completely different for Goff in Sonny Dykes' offense at Cal, which means there should be more of a transition period than what Ryan experienced.
2. Goff has incredible feet
Everything starts with the feet for quarterbacks. That is one area where Goff separates himself from the other quarterbacks in this draft. I would hate to compare Goff to Joe Montana, but from the waist down, he really is outstanding. Goff can move in the pocket, and he can make difficult throws under intense pressure. His feet are a tremendous asset entering the NFL.
3. Goff needs to embrace a real NFL protection scheme
You'll have a hard time finding a college quarterback who got more done under intense fire than Goff did at Cal. He got the everlasting snot knocked out of him and still threw 43 touchdown passes last season. When you see that, you start to project in your mind what he might do if a team could actually protect him.
Joe Flacco, Steve McNair and quite a few other guys have come up through programs that were not in the national spotlight. Wentz played in a championship program that emphasized the team game, so he does have a very good pedigree.
Cam Newton has used so effectively for Carolina. I want Wentz to become a little more selective with these plays. He needs to do a better job protecting his right shoulder, the right wrist he injured previously and the top of his head. Wentz should still remain a running threat. He can be a real weapon that way. But a little more discretion will help him stay out of the training room.
Goff will need to be a traditional dropback passer to succeed in the NFL. He is not going to be a dual-threat quarterback. He must master a legitimate NFL protection scheme. The run-pass option (RPO) schemes we're seeing so much in the high school and pro games are highly productive. The trade-off is that the quarterback can become a bobblehead. I'm OK with throwing bubble screens and quick screens like everybody else, but when you start throwing timing post patterns with no blocking, you are playing with fire. Utah burned them. They are up there running play after play at breakneck speed. Sometimes I don't think he has any idea who is unblocked, and he pays for it.
4. I'm not sure how Goff would fare in bad weather
Goff's small hands (9 inches) were a big story at the combine. I think it's an overrated story. The best quarterback coaches I've been around -- Bill Walsh, Mike Holmgren and Paul Hackett -- didn't even measure hand size back in the day. But if you subscribe to the theory that bigger hands help in bad weather, that is one area where Goff will have to prove himself. Goff is from Marin County, California. He could wind up playing in bad weather like they have in Cleveland. We haven't seen him play in those conditions yet.
5. There should be no urgency to play Goff right away
Goff has quick feet and a quick arm and is quick enough mentally to take what he has learned in the classroom onto the field. The more you give him, the better he is going to be. But the reality is, Goff is 21 years old and a true junior. He has added weight and strength, but he still has a ways to go. He could use a year in an NFL training program. My hope for Goff is that he gets the time to learn an NFL offense and apply what he has learned, gets stronger physically and really just makes up for the fact that he is not a fifth-year senior. He is definitely a good prospect who can develop in a pro-style, old-school offense.
Five takeaways on Carson Wentz
1. Wentz checks just about all the boxes for a top QB
Wentz was a late bloomer in high school who suffered an injury that took him off the recruiting radar a little bit. When he got to North Dakota State, he was behind a quarterback in Brock Jensen who would finish with 48 wins and three national titles. For him to stick around and carve out his own legacy says a lot about Wentz. He really is refreshing to be around. I see him as a polished, hard-nosed and multidimensional quarterback. He has great size and has been well-coached in an excellent system at North Dakota State. What more are you looking for if you are not looking for Carson Wentz to be the quarterback of your football team?
2. The level of competition Wentz faced is one unchecked box
All you can do is look at how Wentz performed at the Senior Bowl. He played with all the players from big-time programs and represented himself well in that environment. It is not like these are uncharted waters, either. Kurt Warner, Joe Flacco, Steve McNair and quite a few other guys have come up through programs that were not in the national spotlight. Wentz played in a championship program that emphasized the team game, so he does have a very good pedigree.
3. Wentz's tape against Northern Iowa was revealing
Northern Iowa was the one team that got Wentz good -- really good. I loved watching that tape from 2014 and could not wait to see how Wentz would respond the following season. When those Bison came out of the Thunderdome in Fargo, they were so fired up. You could see Wentz's anxiousness. You could see it when he was throwing all-go special. He was just trying so hard. Then, at the end of the game, when he had to do it, his true greatness as a college quarterback came out in that two-minute drive. That was what I wanted to see from Wentz after Northern Iowa got the better of him the first time.
4. Wentz needs to follow Chip Kelly's advice
Kelly taught me a saying: Touchdown, first down, get down. If you are a quarterback running and you can get the touchdown or the first down, get it, but make sure you get down too. North Dakota State incorporated some of the same quarterback power runs Cam Newton has used so effectively for Carolina. I want Wentz to become a little more selective with these plays. He needs to do a better job protecting his right shoulder, the right wrist he injured previously and the top of his head. Wentz should still remain a running threat. He can be a real weapon that way. But a little more discretion will help him stay out of the training room.
5. I've seen Wentz make effective protection calls
Defenses are going to test every rookie quarterback with blitz concepts to see what they can handle. I showed Wentz the tape of Arizona giving Russell Wilson four consecutive double-A-gap blitz looks against empty backfields when Wilson was a rookie in Seattle. These blitzes were not coincidences. A young quarterback needs answers. I teach all our QB Camp participants a few basic NFL pass-protection concepts to take onto the practice field when we're done taping in the classroom. These were not new concepts for Wentz because of his training at North Dakota State.
ESPN NFL Insider Mike Sando went to Orlando, Florida, to watch Jon Gruden's QB Camp tapings with seven draft-eligible quarterbacks. Below, Sando has written up Gruden's biggest takeaways from the interviews and throwing sessions, in Gruden's voice.
Cal's Jared Goff and North Dakota State's Carson Wentz are in the spotlight first. Catch the TV specials starting at 4 p.m. ET Saturday on ABC.
Five takeaways on Jared Goff
1. The Matt Ryan comparisons are a little lazy
I've heard a lot of people compare Goff to Ryan and I can see some similarities, but there are critical differences too. Ryan came out as the closest thing to Peyton Manning that I can remember, at that time. I was still coaching Tampa Bay and I remember clear as day when the Miami Dolphins did not take Ryan. That meant Ryan was coming to Atlanta and the NFC South, and he was going to start from Day 1. Ryan was really such a polished quarterback coming out of college. He had Tom O'Brien coaching him at Boston College, the same guy who coached Russell Wilson at NC State. The training was completely different for Goff in Sonny Dykes' offense at Cal, which means there should be more of a transition period than what Ryan experienced.
2. Goff has incredible feet
Everything starts with the feet for quarterbacks. That is one area where Goff separates himself from the other quarterbacks in this draft. I would hate to compare Goff to Joe Montana, but from the waist down, he really is outstanding. Goff can move in the pocket, and he can make difficult throws under intense pressure. His feet are a tremendous asset entering the NFL.
3. Goff needs to embrace a real NFL protection scheme
You'll have a hard time finding a college quarterback who got more done under intense fire than Goff did at Cal. He got the everlasting snot knocked out of him and still threw 43 touchdown passes last season. When you see that, you start to project in your mind what he might do if a team could actually protect him.
Joe Flacco, Steve McNair and quite a few other guys have come up through programs that were not in the national spotlight. Wentz played in a championship program that emphasized the team game, so he does have a very good pedigree.
Cam Newton has used so effectively for Carolina. I want Wentz to become a little more selective with these plays. He needs to do a better job protecting his right shoulder, the right wrist he injured previously and the top of his head. Wentz should still remain a running threat. He can be a real weapon that way. But a little more discretion will help him stay out of the training room.
Goff will need to be a traditional dropback passer to succeed in the NFL. He is not going to be a dual-threat quarterback. He must master a legitimate NFL protection scheme. The run-pass option (RPO) schemes we're seeing so much in the high school and pro games are highly productive. The trade-off is that the quarterback can become a bobblehead. I'm OK with throwing bubble screens and quick screens like everybody else, but when you start throwing timing post patterns with no blocking, you are playing with fire. Utah burned them. They are up there running play after play at breakneck speed. Sometimes I don't think he has any idea who is unblocked, and he pays for it.
4. I'm not sure how Goff would fare in bad weather
Goff's small hands (9 inches) were a big story at the combine. I think it's an overrated story. The best quarterback coaches I've been around -- Bill Walsh, Mike Holmgren and Paul Hackett -- didn't even measure hand size back in the day. But if you subscribe to the theory that bigger hands help in bad weather, that is one area where Goff will have to prove himself. Goff is from Marin County, California. He could wind up playing in bad weather like they have in Cleveland. We haven't seen him play in those conditions yet.
5. There should be no urgency to play Goff right away
Goff has quick feet and a quick arm and is quick enough mentally to take what he has learned in the classroom onto the field. The more you give him, the better he is going to be. But the reality is, Goff is 21 years old and a true junior. He has added weight and strength, but he still has a ways to go. He could use a year in an NFL training program. My hope for Goff is that he gets the time to learn an NFL offense and apply what he has learned, gets stronger physically and really just makes up for the fact that he is not a fifth-year senior. He is definitely a good prospect who can develop in a pro-style, old-school offense.
Five takeaways on Carson Wentz
1. Wentz checks just about all the boxes for a top QB
Wentz was a late bloomer in high school who suffered an injury that took him off the recruiting radar a little bit. When he got to North Dakota State, he was behind a quarterback in Brock Jensen who would finish with 48 wins and three national titles. For him to stick around and carve out his own legacy says a lot about Wentz. He really is refreshing to be around. I see him as a polished, hard-nosed and multidimensional quarterback. He has great size and has been well-coached in an excellent system at North Dakota State. What more are you looking for if you are not looking for Carson Wentz to be the quarterback of your football team?
2. The level of competition Wentz faced is one unchecked box
All you can do is look at how Wentz performed at the Senior Bowl. He played with all the players from big-time programs and represented himself well in that environment. It is not like these are uncharted waters, either. Kurt Warner, Joe Flacco, Steve McNair and quite a few other guys have come up through programs that were not in the national spotlight. Wentz played in a championship program that emphasized the team game, so he does have a very good pedigree.
3. Wentz's tape against Northern Iowa was revealing
Northern Iowa was the one team that got Wentz good -- really good. I loved watching that tape from 2014 and could not wait to see how Wentz would respond the following season. When those Bison came out of the Thunderdome in Fargo, they were so fired up. You could see Wentz's anxiousness. You could see it when he was throwing all-go special. He was just trying so hard. Then, at the end of the game, when he had to do it, his true greatness as a college quarterback came out in that two-minute drive. That was what I wanted to see from Wentz after Northern Iowa got the better of him the first time.
4. Wentz needs to follow Chip Kelly's advice
Kelly taught me a saying: Touchdown, first down, get down. If you are a quarterback running and you can get the touchdown or the first down, get it, but make sure you get down too. North Dakota State incorporated some of the same quarterback power runs Cam Newton has used so effectively for Carolina. I want Wentz to become a little more selective with these plays. He needs to do a better job protecting his right shoulder, the right wrist he injured previously and the top of his head. Wentz should still remain a running threat. He can be a real weapon that way. But a little more discretion will help him stay out of the training room.
5. I've seen Wentz make effective protection calls
Defenses are going to test every rookie quarterback with blitz concepts to see what they can handle. I showed Wentz the tape of Arizona giving Russell Wilson four consecutive double-A-gap blitz looks against empty backfields when Wilson was a rookie in Seattle. These blitzes were not coincidences. A young quarterback needs answers. I teach all our QB Camp participants a few basic NFL pass-protection concepts to take onto the practice field when we're done taping in the classroom. These were not new concepts for Wentz because of his training at North Dakota State.
