Pocket passers no longer the future for QBs in NFL ?

michael89156 · 2014-01-22T08:46:04Z

Pocket passers no longer future for QBs in NFL Published 15 minutes ago By Ross Tucker Sporting News RSS Russell Wilson (AP Photo)The quarterback of the future will be on display in Super Bowl XLVIII and no, it's not 37-year-old Peyton Manning. Not by a long shot. It's Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and young athletic signal-callers like him, but not because of the reasons you might think. There's no question the NFL game is slowly changing. Some would say evolving. Quarterbacks are running the ball with greater frequency and efficiency than ever before. The read-option play has proven to be very effective although the rampant success that teams had with it in 2012 was tempered a bit by better prepared defenses in 2013. Still, it's a play that's here to stay, even if it's just as a changeup. In fact, designed quarterback runs in general are here for good. If you need any more evidence just look at the first half of the NFC Championship Game. The 49ers called a number of run plays for Colin Kaepernick and it paid off as he ended the game with 130 yards on just 11 carries. Some of those yards came when Kaepernick scrambled on passing plays but that just adds to my point about the value of athletic playmakers at the quarterback position. And that doesn't even include the crazy jump-pass that he threw to Anquan Boldin for a touchdown. I still don't know how he did that. The fact that a coach like Jim Harbaugh and a team like the 49ers would call that many designed QB runs in a do-or-die game tells you everything you need to know about their opinion of both Kaepernick and the QB position. It tells you they have more faith in his legs than in his abilities as a pocket passer. It also tells you they believe designed quarterback runs are an important part of an offense, especially when a team's season is on the line and they aren't as worried about the risk of injury. Those are all strong reasons why guys like Kaepernick and Wilson are the future of the quarterback position, but they're not my reasons. At least not my overarching one.The No. 1 reason why I think athletic playmaking quarterbacks are here to stay? Elite pocket passers are either a dying breed or too hard to find or both. Think about it. The best ones are still, after all these years, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady at ages 37 and 36, respectively. The only other pure pocket passer that may be in their class is Drew Brees. He's 35. Within five years and likely sooner they will all be out of the league. And then what? Aaron Rodgers is the obvious heir apparent but he's firmly on the borderline between being a pure pocket passer and a young athletic playmaker. Most of his work is in rhythm from the pocket like the aforementioned three but he's got plenty of Houdini-like plays like the throw to Randall Cobb against the 49ers in the wild-card round as well. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has always been more of a playmaker than a coolly efficient pocket surgeon. Most teams that defend him actually prefer when he is getting rid of the ball in rhythm and staying in the pocket. That means he's not really an elite pocket passer. The point is either we aren't training quarterbacks the right way or we just aren't making 'em like Manning, Brady and Brees anymore. Matthew Stafford, Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco have all had various levels of success in their own way but they aren't in the same class as the other guys. Not even close. Eli Manning's had high level success with two Super Bowl victories but is wildly inconsistent. Phillip Rivers had a nice bounce back year but the jury on him is still out. Andy Dalton? Don't even go there. Based on this season, unless you have a truly elite pocket passer, and I don't see many (any?) young ones out there, you are going to have much more success with a guy that's capable of making several plays with his feet per game. Those third-down conversions that guys like Cam Newton gobble up are back-breakers for a defense and can often make the difference in the game. The bottom line is that athletic playmaking quarterbacks are the future of the NFL because it is easier for a player to be one and thus for teams to find one then it is to be a pocket savant. There's a lot more guys out there with great feet than there are with beautiful minds and computer-like efficiency. There just is. The one great hope for pure pocket passers moving forward is Andrew Luck but his presence only serves to strengthen my argument, not hurt it. First of all, Luck is a much better athlete than people give him credit for and makes a lot more plays with his feet than people realize. Just look at his rushing yardage and touchdown totals. Secondly, even if we choose to classify him as a pure pocket passer he's not at the same level as the other guys yet. Let's say Luck does in fact get to that level. That's it? That's all you got? The supposed best quarterback prospect in the last 25 years is the one guy capable of playing the posit...

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Yikes. Knew it was bad, but damn. Converting just 35% of your 3rd downs does make it pretty impossible to win. Cam Newton and Andrew Luck were the only mobile QB's that stood out to me. I have to check again, but I believe Newton led both QB's and RB's with the most 3rd down conversion runs. 33.33% of Glennon's 3rd downs were 3rd and 10+

That is brutal.

Posted : Jan. 28, 2014 5:53 pm

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Pocket passers no longer the future for QBs in NFL ?

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