Tebow>Newton?

[MHS831]

legs do not make good pro QBs.

Arm strength does not make a good pro QB.

Brains and accuracy make good pro QBs.

[Mr. Scot]

Serious question. If we wanted a The Golden Calf of Bristol type player, then why didn't we take him in the 2nd round last year?

Because we didn't want a The Golden Calf of Bristol type player.

[CRA]

legs do not make good pro QBs.

Arm strength does not make a good pro QB.

Brains and accuracy make good pro QBs.

I would take Big Ben any day of the week. He ain't the brightest QB on the block. He also isn't a traditional pocket passer.

[teeray]

Brains and accuracy make good pro QBs.

David Carr and Alex Smith are very smart and very accurate .

[monstercat]

legs do not make good pro QBs.

Arm strength does not make a good pro QB.

Brains and accuracy make good pro QBs.

In other words, Cam Newton is too dumb to play QB in the NFL.

This is what it all boils down to with most of the anti-Cam crowd, so why don't you stop beating around the bush and just say it?

[Mr. Scot]

David Carr and Alex Smith are very smart and very accurate .

Eeeehhh, not really.

Both played in QB friendly offenses that inflated the accuracy numbers. Carr in particular was a "captain checkdown".

And on the intelligence front, neither was good at making quick reads. Smith's QB coach in San Fran tried using a horn that went off at three seconds to get him to speed up his thought processes. It didn't work.

Intelligence and accuracy are the things you need most in a QB. They're not enough by themselves, mind you, but they are the chief needs.

[teeray]

before the draft they were both praised for their above average intelligence and great accuracy. especially Alex Smith.

yet draftniks hated josh freeman's accuracy and questioned his intelligence (until he scored a decent wonderlic score)

people didn't like vick's accuracy or intelligence coming in.

so how do you know?

[Lumps]

I get what the OP is saying you guys don't have to read so deeply into it, I don't get why you guys can't take this as it is. The simple answer really is the quality of the draft. It's very reasonable to assume Cam would have been taken around The Golden Calf of Bristol, had they both entered the draft at the same time. The Golden Calf of Bristol did not have character issues...so they say. And to take Cam as #1 overall and The Golden Calf of Bristol 25th overall does seem silly, but not really because they are not in the same draft. Again, the answer really relies on the draft class, and some hype thrown in but each draft class is separate, and they'll always hype something up for whatever reason.

Players are declaring early/late for this exact reason, their stock's worth is governed by the overall draft class. You see a little of this every year, it isn't science.

[Jerry]

If I were picking for teams and The Golden Calf of Bristol and Newton

were both standing there I'd take The Golden Calf of Bristol anyday.

The Golden Calf of Bristol is a team leader and has heart lots of heart.

There is NO WAY Newton is worth the #1 pick in the 2011 draft.

There is no way he is better then all those other guys.

To pick him #1 would be just another huge mistake.

[Mr. Scot]

before the draft they were both praised for their above average intelligence and great accuracy. especially Alex Smith.

yet draftniks hated josh freeman's accuracy and questioned his intelligence (until he scored a decent wonderlic score)

people didn't like vick's accuracy or intelligence coming in.

so how do you know?

The short answer: You don't.

You have to look at the whole picture - skillset, system, intelligence, character, etc - but even when you have it all in front of you, there's just no way to predict certain things (like how someone will handle going from being a college kid to a paid professional). Even JaMarcus Russell was praised for a lot of things pre-draft, while Tom Brady slipped to the sixth round.

It's all an educated guess.

You just have to hope the guys who work for your team are better "guessers" than others.

[CRA]

If I were picking for teams and The Golden Calf of Bristol and Newton

were both standing there I'd take The Golden Calf of Bristol anyday.

The Golden Calf of Bristol is a team leader and has heart lots of heart.

There is NO WAY Newton is worth the #1 pick in the 2011 draft.

There is no way he is better then all those other guys.

To pick him #1 would be just another huge mistake.

but if the clear cut best player in the draft was a RB......Carolina shouldn't take him. He wouldn't help Carolian to the degree other players could......

Need plays a role. The hole in Carolina is absurdly big at QB. Don't need a Peyton Manning to win big w/ a QB pick.

[jramsey4]

The only stats in college that even remotely matter are completion % and td/int ratio and even then not really as a O scheme can really skew that. Otherwise scouting would be oh so much easier. To me a QB's (or any player really) work ethic and leadership are the most important aspects of there game. Both Newton and The Golden Calf of Bristol have that in spades which is why I like them both.

The difference however between them is that Newton is literally and figuratively head and shoulders over The Golden Calf of Bristol. He has a better arm, he's bigger, stronger, and faster (although that one isn't really that important).

[teeray]

The short answer: You don't.

You have to look at the whole picture - skillset, system, intelligence, character, etc - but even when you have it all in front of you, there's just no way to predict certain things (like how someone will handle going from being a college kid to a paid professional). Even JaMarcus Russell was praised for a lot of things pre-draft, while Tom Brady slipped to the sixth round.

It's all an educated guess.

You just have to hope the guys who work for your team are better "guessers" than others.

i agree with everything in this post Scot except the highlighted. there is no evidence that any system you played in college determines more or less success in the NFL than another. just look at last season. the one guy who had the most trouble adjusting to the NFL came from a pro style offense.

and for those still trying to compare newton to The Golden Calf of Bristol, i can make a very compelling argument that he was the most effective rookie qb last year in his 3 starts

[teeray]

better than bradford, mccoy, or Clausen