Mr. Scot

It wasn't just the ability to adjust on the fly. Pretty much anyone who comes up with a new wrinkle is going to go up against someone else who finds a way to beat it. What you have to be able to do then is turn around and tweak it or find something else to make your attack effective again. Shula had plenty of time both after Atlanta and after the Super Bowl to find some new things to add to his offense and make it work again. Even with a whole offseason to plan, he couldn't do it. I still say he's good as a QB coach, but I'd never want him as an OC again.

This is where I'm at... The top selling points for each of the big four, i.e. if you had to pick one thing, what are they best known for: Stroud - Accuracy Young - Intelligence Richardson - Athleticism Levis - Arm Strength Given those terms, I'm gonna compare the first two, and note that in most cases what one has, the other has also (accuracy, intelligence, processing, etc). The most obvious thing one has which the other doesn't? Prototype size. So the pick for me is Stroud.

It's not his strength. Pretty much everything I've read about Richardson includes some form of one specific word: inconsistency. That's something that short circuits an awful lot of guys at the pro level, and I suspect it'll short circuit Richardson as well. Bottom line for me... CJ Stroud is a quarterback with pro level skills. Bryce Young is a smaller quarterback with pro level skills. Anthony Richardson is an athlete that you're going to have to teach how to play quarterback at the pro level. Will Levis is the same thing as Anthony Richardson. Give me the guy that's already got the skill set and has a better frame to handle the punishment.

Honestly, I find it hard to believe anyone could read that article and not want him here.

Related to the article...

You should check out the Feldman article in the other thread.

Those analysis points all sound like they're talking about a professional quarterback. If he's already that good at the college level, imagine what he could be like with our staff coaching him up.

Drew Brees and Tom Brady were never what I'd call exciting quarterbacks, but you'd sit back and watch them just surgically pick your team apart and wonder how the hell they were doing it. I'd really like to be on the other side of that scenario, and I feel like Stroud could put us there

The Feldman article I just posted really reinforces my feelings about Stroud.

Where I'm sold... He’s so accurate and so calm. He has such a good ability to process, and his anticipation is so good. He runs better than you think. He’s the complete package.” “He’s the most accurate quarterback I’ve ever played against. It’s like he couldn’t have handed the ball to his receivers any better, and they’re 30, 40 yards downfield. He’s got high-level NFL accuracy and NFL vision. I think he understands the game so well and gets it out in under three seconds. He has very high football IQ.” “His accuracy downfield is really special. He’s bigger than you think and faster and harder to sack than people realize. He’s such a pure passer and can make all the throws. He does really unique stuff. If we didn’t match a pattern or cover a guy just right, he took advantage every time.” I think he’s got that elite mindset that is always neutral: not too high and not too low.” He’s very smart. He keeps his eyes downfield. He understands protections. Georgia’s defense is as good a comparison to the NFL as you’ll get, and look what he did to them.”

It's fair to point out that leading college kids is a lot different than leading grown men. Like I said though, I'm not that worried about it, but I make note of it.

Bruce Feldman's article mentions him having "a little different personality" and kind of a "blank face". Others have said similar things. Whether or not it's a negative is kind of open to interpretation. Where some would see it as being cool and even keeled, others might see it as aloof. I'm not that worried about it myself, but I've made note of it.

And for the interested, the equivalent analysis of Bryce Young... 2. Houston Texans: Bryce Young, QB, Alabama The DeMeco Ryans Era kicks off with another decorated former Alabama star. Young should be a good fit in a Shanahan-style offense that should have a potent running attack that can lean into the play-action game with him moving out of the pocket. Young at 5 feet 10, 195 pounds does not have ideal size. He’s a hard comparison. There’s some Russell Wilson in his game, but Wilson is much thicker, built more like a running back. Young is fleet-footed but not quite as dynamic as Kyler Murray, though he’s still a pretty special talent. He had a 79-to-12 TD-to-INT ratio playing in the toughest league in college football, winning the Heisman Trophy as a first-year starter. Against ranked opponents, it was 25-to-5. That’s still a strong ratio that also works in the face of the fact that his completion percentage dropped more than 10 percent in games against SEC opponents compared to nonconference games. As one coach noted, some schools might’ve had a lot less success with shorter, less athletic players than top-of-the-line SEC schools did when they tried to heat him up and get in his face. The latter is probably a much more realistic barometer of what Young will have to manage at the next level. The Coaching Intel “I am a big believer in Bryce. Been watching him forever. I was really impressed, especially with his intelligence and his decision-making. He’s emotionally mature and really accurate. We heard when Bill O’Brien got there, Bryce ended up teaching him the early stages of their offense. My only concern is that he’s little. At some point one of these gigantic interior guys is gonna land on him and you’ll be scared that he’s not gonna get up. His size scares me because against us, he really didn’t escape. We ran him down three or four times. We’ve got some good athletes, but those are the athletes that you’re trying to run away from at that level.” “I don’t think people give him enough credit for his feet. He doesn’t look like he’s running real fast, but he is. He’s also so damn accurate on the move. I was really impressed with how well he understands where to go with the ball, if you gave him any tip or tell of what you were doing, pressure-wise. If you do, he’d kill you. In our game, there’s no way he knew it was coming; our safety wasn’t even off the hash. There was nothing to tip him off. Nothing that said throw it out there. We hit pretty hard eight or nine times. I thought he did a really good job of handling that. He slid protection really good. I Zero-ed (blitzed) him a bunch, thinking, f— it. Let’s hit this quarterback as many times as I can. But he did such a great job of seeing it at the snap, especially for being such a young guy in terms of snaps played.” “If he’s got time, he’s gonna kill you. His arm is good in person but Hendon Hooker has a stronger arm. He’s at his best extending plays in the pocket, and he throws dimes. He also has a very good feel on touch and when to rifle it in there. We changed significantly (scheme-wise) before we played him. We ran Fire Zone and Cover 0 and really heated him up, and I didn’t think he saw it that well when there’re athletic 6-5 dudes running down your throat. I’m not sold on him. I’d take C.J. before him.” “He shredded us. It was like that old Denny Green line, he was who we thought he was. He completes passes on really good coverage. Incredibly accurate. He never left the pocket. Was impressed by his ability to go through his reads and find receivers down the field.”

Saw this tweet responding to John Ellis... So I looked up the article. You can see it here: NFL Mock Draft 2023 For the unfamiliar, Bruce Feldman covers college football for The Athletic and is a really good info source. He notes that this article was compiled after spending two months talking to different college and NFL sources. Here's the writeup on Stroud. 1. Carolina Panthers (via CHI): C.J. Stroud, QB, Ohio State It’s been well-documented that new head coach Frank Reich has an extensive history of playing with taller quarterbacks — Philip Rivers, Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck and Carson Wentz among them. This point has come up repeatedly given Bryce Young’s lack of prototypical size — and that there are two very big quarterbacks this year in Anthony Richardson and Will Levis. Stroud has good size as well at 6 feet 3, 215 pounds — and he had no trouble carrying 220-plus in his college career. Reich did push back a bit on that size narrative this month when he noted that he had a very high grade on Russell Wilson in 2012. Stroud is worthy of the top overall pick. He checks every relevant box. Buckeye coaches have been raving to NFL personnel about his intelligence, according to sources. He is extremely accurate; can make all the throws; has played (and excelled) in many big-game situations; is very football smart; and sees the field well (even if it’s “muddy”). He also has better athleticism than most are giving him credit for — although he put on an impressive display in the College Football Playoff Peach Bowl semifinal against Georgia, going 23-of-34 for 348 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran for 34 yards on a defense loaded with more NFL-caliber athletes than any other in the college game. The Coaching Intel “He’s so accurate and so calm. I wasn’t sure about the (Buckeyes’) previous guy’s ability to read coverage. But I know C.J. can. He has such a good ability to process, and his anticipation is so good. He runs better than you think. He’s the complete package.” “He’s the most accurate quarterback I’ve ever played against. It’s like he couldn’t have handed the ball to his receivers any better, and they’re 30, 40 yards downfield. He’s got high-level NFL accuracy and NFL vision. I think he understands the game so well and gets it out in under three seconds. He has very high football IQ.” “His accuracy downfield is really special. He’s bigger than you think and faster and harder to sack than people realize. I thought he’s better than Trevor Lawrence. He’s such a pure passer and can make all the throws. He does really unique stuff. Watch some of the stuff he did against Michigan. There are two plays in that game, one on a deep go-ball and another on a corner route, where the DB undercuts it. It’s to the wide side of the field, and he just drops it in over the outside shoulder. Then, I’m watching him against Georgia, against those guys, and he was dominant in that game. We did our best to disrupt the timing, and he still got us. We played more aggressively at the line of scrimmage and he made a bunch of big plays. On third-and-11s, in real rough spots, he was able to improvise when it wasn’t there. If we didn’t match a pattern or cover a guy just right, he took advantage every time.” “I think he has a little different personality. He’s very level, which is good. Blank face. I think he’s got that elite mindset that is always neutral: not too high and not too low.” “I think he’ll be really good in the pros. He’s very smart. They did a good job with him. He keeps his eyes downfield. I think he’s confident. He understands protections. He’s got poise. He’s been on the big stage. Georgia’s defense is as good a comparison to the NFL as you’ll get, and look what he did to them.”

It isn't just David Newton's sources...

One of his specific comments was "At some point, you have to be able to win the game from the pocket." So yeah...

I think that's a lot of us right now.

Especially not with the draft.

My guess would be his pro team will build a heavily run based offense around him to minimize his weaknesses. It might work for a bit, but we had a similar thing with Newton. Atlanta and Wade Phillips showed everyone how to beat it.

On the flipside...

I've seen similar statements before. There's word of him having an aloof personality that sometimes turns teammates off. Don't know how valid it is but it's been talked about.

While I'd definitely acknowledge this is possible, I'd want a better source than Chad Forbes to believe it. Forbes isn't reliable.

It was. Rosen had other issues. Stroud and Young are way better quarterbacks than Richardson or Levis right now. And it's not guaranteed either will catch up.