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NFL-ready solutions hard to find for Rams' quarterback need
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...utions-hard-to-find-for-rams-quarterback-need
INDIANAPOLIS -- Finding options to solve the St. Louis Rams' quarterback question isn't hard. Finding a realistic, legitimate answer is.
"Let's be real," general manager Les Snead said. "The pool of quarterbacks for anybody, that's usually the slimmest of pools of any of the players."
It's the hardest position to project, which is exactly what the Rams and nearly every team in the NFL are forced to do. In the past decade or so, the college and professional games have moved in opposite directions.
College quarterbacks ring up video-game numbers playing in wide-open, spread offenses that ask them to make one read and get rid of the ball. The production is eye-popping, but it leaves a clear void in terms of NFL readiness.
Meanwhile, the NFL has become a quarterback-driven league in which signal-callers capable of making pre-snap reads and going through multiple progressions has become not only preferred, but mandatory. Because fewer college quarterbacks are coming from pro-style offenses, the type of quarterback prepared to contribute right away is becoming an endangered species.
Without a deep pool of refined candidates to choose from, teams often find themselves selecting prospects and hoping they develop. Problem is, teams have become less and less committed to actually doing the developing. More often than not, those young quarterbacks are thrown into the fire. When they fail, teams move on to the next one.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
"It’s a cycle that needs to be broken," Snead said. "Here’s how it’s got to happen. You take a guy from one of those systems, you’ve got to take him and then you’ve got to tell [everyone], ‘Guys, we’re not playing him this year.’ But it’s OK. I don’t care what happens. You need to unwind the system because he’s been speaking French to where I speak Spanish. He can do it, it’s just I think it’s a lot easier transition to let him unwind first and then start rewinding his brain."
From the Rams' perspective, that's a process that probably would have been best implemented in 2014. Had the Rams used a higher pick on a quarterback last year, they could have one who has spent a year in the system and would be closer to ready than just about any they can reasonably get this time around.
The Rams now find themselves in a position where they are searching for a young quarterback who can contribute in the event Sam Bradford can't stay healthy. If they choose to do that in the draft, it's all but certain anyone they add won't be able to play right away.
This year's draft features Florida State's Jameis Winston and Oregon's Marcus Mariota, whom many consider the top two in the draft. There's a perceived drop-off after the pair, but even Winston and Mariota come with question marks. In Mariota's case, it's those same questions about transitioning from a wide-open college system to playing in the NFL.
Neither Winston nor Mariota figures to be available to the Rams at No. 10 overall, which means they're going to have to find help elsewhere. UCLA's Brett Hundley and Baylor's Bryce Petty, both of whom had formal interviews with the Rams scheduled this week, are considered next in line, but also face endless questions about their ability to make a transition into the NFL.
Petty might offer the best example of a system quarterback attempting to make that move. Until last month's Senior Bowl, Petty had never even had a play call relayed to him over a headset, having to spit it back out in a huddle.
"Honestly, it’s got to be hard for them to diagnose and project anybody, really," Petty said. "You really got to just get in there and be with them and talk X's and O’s with them. For me, it’s a great opportunity being here, being able to talk to them now."
Hundley's learning curve won't be quite as steep, but he will still be asked to do more than make one read and take off running.
"I think going over film with them is huge," Hundley said. "I think these formal interviews that we get to do and get to sit in the classroom and talk to them, that’s when we get the opportunity to express our reads, our thoughts, and go over it with them in detail. I think that’s a big time to show what you’re looking at, you know your stuff."
But the reality is there simply aren't enough quarterbacks who do know their stuff or, more to the point, have proved capable of executing it. That is why the Rams are all but certain to again hand the reins over to Bradford. Snead and the Rams envision adding plenty of insurance at the position in hopes that they can strike gold. But in this, the fourth year of the Snead and Jeff Fisher regime, they don't have much time to see that through.
"There’s a lot of stones to turn over," Snead said. "What you’re alluding to, people don’t want to give you really good QBs, so a lot of times you’ve got to go find them.
"There’s stones out there, but when you turn them over, there’s nothing under them."
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...utions-hard-to-find-for-rams-quarterback-need
INDIANAPOLIS -- Finding options to solve the St. Louis Rams' quarterback question isn't hard. Finding a realistic, legitimate answer is.
"Let's be real," general manager Les Snead said. "The pool of quarterbacks for anybody, that's usually the slimmest of pools of any of the players."
It's the hardest position to project, which is exactly what the Rams and nearly every team in the NFL are forced to do. In the past decade or so, the college and professional games have moved in opposite directions.
College quarterbacks ring up video-game numbers playing in wide-open, spread offenses that ask them to make one read and get rid of the ball. The production is eye-popping, but it leaves a clear void in terms of NFL readiness.
Meanwhile, the NFL has become a quarterback-driven league in which signal-callers capable of making pre-snap reads and going through multiple progressions has become not only preferred, but mandatory. Because fewer college quarterbacks are coming from pro-style offenses, the type of quarterback prepared to contribute right away is becoming an endangered species.
Without a deep pool of refined candidates to choose from, teams often find themselves selecting prospects and hoping they develop. Problem is, teams have become less and less committed to actually doing the developing. More often than not, those young quarterbacks are thrown into the fire. When they fail, teams move on to the next one.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
"It’s a cycle that needs to be broken," Snead said. "Here’s how it’s got to happen. You take a guy from one of those systems, you’ve got to take him and then you’ve got to tell [everyone], ‘Guys, we’re not playing him this year.’ But it’s OK. I don’t care what happens. You need to unwind the system because he’s been speaking French to where I speak Spanish. He can do it, it’s just I think it’s a lot easier transition to let him unwind first and then start rewinding his brain."
From the Rams' perspective, that's a process that probably would have been best implemented in 2014. Had the Rams used a higher pick on a quarterback last year, they could have one who has spent a year in the system and would be closer to ready than just about any they can reasonably get this time around.
The Rams now find themselves in a position where they are searching for a young quarterback who can contribute in the event Sam Bradford can't stay healthy. If they choose to do that in the draft, it's all but certain anyone they add won't be able to play right away.
This year's draft features Florida State's Jameis Winston and Oregon's Marcus Mariota, whom many consider the top two in the draft. There's a perceived drop-off after the pair, but even Winston and Mariota come with question marks. In Mariota's case, it's those same questions about transitioning from a wide-open college system to playing in the NFL.
Neither Winston nor Mariota figures to be available to the Rams at No. 10 overall, which means they're going to have to find help elsewhere. UCLA's Brett Hundley and Baylor's Bryce Petty, both of whom had formal interviews with the Rams scheduled this week, are considered next in line, but also face endless questions about their ability to make a transition into the NFL.
Petty might offer the best example of a system quarterback attempting to make that move. Until last month's Senior Bowl, Petty had never even had a play call relayed to him over a headset, having to spit it back out in a huddle.
"Honestly, it’s got to be hard for them to diagnose and project anybody, really," Petty said. "You really got to just get in there and be with them and talk X's and O’s with them. For me, it’s a great opportunity being here, being able to talk to them now."
Hundley's learning curve won't be quite as steep, but he will still be asked to do more than make one read and take off running.
"I think going over film with them is huge," Hundley said. "I think these formal interviews that we get to do and get to sit in the classroom and talk to them, that’s when we get the opportunity to express our reads, our thoughts, and go over it with them in detail. I think that’s a big time to show what you’re looking at, you know your stuff."
But the reality is there simply aren't enough quarterbacks who do know their stuff or, more to the point, have proved capable of executing it. That is why the Rams are all but certain to again hand the reins over to Bradford. Snead and the Rams envision adding plenty of insurance at the position in hopes that they can strike gold. But in this, the fourth year of the Snead and Jeff Fisher regime, they don't have much time to see that through.
"There’s a lot of stones to turn over," Snead said. "What you’re alluding to, people don’t want to give you really good QBs, so a lot of times you’ve got to go find them.
"There’s stones out there, but when you turn them over, there’s nothing under them."