Official 2021 QB Thread

[.Buzz]

1 minute ago, goldfishwars said:

Sure, it's easy for Orlovsky to put that stuff out there anonymously. But it's a toxic narrative to float for obvious reasons I won't go into. But he's got to back that stuff up especially when it comes to a dude who pleaded for the 2020 season to go ahead and played through some horrific injuries. 

Of course it is. It is every year. Just like the people who floated that out about Myles Jacks knee. Pretty sure Schefter and pretty much all of the big time insiders were in on that one.

Unfortunately that's how this league/most sports leagues are. If someone can go through the media to help get someone to drop/gain an advantage they'll do it. As part of the media, they're not going to sit on a big potential story that can get a lot of people talking/people listening to their content. 

Guess I'm just saying that most fans/people know these types of stories get leaked and for what reasons. If a teams dumb enough to fall for it in their several years of evaluation of the kid with never hearing/seeing this, then that's on them imo. 

[jrry32]

1 hour ago, Xenos said:

Ted Nguyen with a breakdown of Zach Wilson. He feels he is a top 10 pick but seemed to have come away disappointed with Wilson. There are some legitimate concerns and he feels that Wilson needs a year to sit in order to improve his technique and mental processing.

https://theathletic.com/2473447/2021/03/31/zach-wilson-film-analysis-the-byu-qb-has-plenty-of-strengths-but-is-he-a-day-1-starter-in-the-nfl/

They all sound like pretty typical critiques of a top college prospect. 

[BRANDON26841X]

The comments on Fields from Orlovsky were pretty interesting (but this sort of thing seems to happen every single year). I've got to say, I've never heard anything but praise about Field's work ethic in his 2 years at Ohio State. Quite possibly manufactured bullcrap from a team hoping he'll fall, but who the hell knows. You didn't really hear anything bad about Dwayne Haskins when he was there either *shrug* so...

The range of opinions on this guy are crazy (top 3 - 4th round) but understandable. The talent is undeniable and I wouldn't be shocked at all if he burned everyone and ended up having a Justin Herbert like rookie season, but having watched every single snap of his the past 2 seasons I still don't know what to think. My gut feeling says he's got a lot of work to do. Everything with Fields just felt like it was in slow motion at OSU. I honestly felt better about Haskins chances (yikes) but that Clemson beatdown won me back over just a bit, where he again flashed the crazy upside. 

Edited March 31, 2021 by BRANDON26841X

[Xenos]

1 hour ago, jrry32 said:

They all sound like pretty typical critiques of a top college prospect. 

It seems that Nguyen saw more of these problems than he would like. He still thinks he’s top 10. But probably not #2 overall.

[jrry32]

10 minutes ago, Xenos said:

It seems that Nguyen saw more of these problems than he would like. He still thinks he’s top 10. But probably not #2 overall.

That's one man's opinion. All of them sound like fixable and typical issues to me. Ain't many QBs who enter the league who don't sometimes stare down WRs, show inconsistencies with moving to backside progressions, and have some footwork flaws to iron out.

[49ersfan]

3 hours ago, goldfishwars said:

 

I find it interesting that most teams are lower on Fields than the fans/media

I've also heard Chris Simms & Greg Cosell were not too impressed with Fields

[Rich7sena]

My issue with Fields is he plays slow. For a guy who allegedly ran 4.4 he look nearly that fast and he seems slow-twitch. I also don't love his arm. He can throw it far just fine but I don't see the ball drive that I have seen from the other top 3 guys (Lawrence, Wilson, Lance).

[Xenos]

1 hour ago, jrry32 said:

That's one man's opinion. All of them sound like fixable and typical issues to me. Ain't many QBs who enter the league who don't sometimes stare down WRs, show inconsistencies with moving to backside progressions, and have some footwork flaws to iron out.

It may just be him nitpicking. It sounds like some of the same “flaws” that Mahomes had coming out. Perhaps that’s where the whole sitting for a year comes from. Though if he gets drafted by the Jets, that’s obviously not going to happen unless they hang onto Darnold.

[AkronsWitness]

4 hours ago, .Buzz said:

Of course it is. It is every year. Just like the people who floated that out about Myles Jacks knee. Pretty sure Schefter and pretty much all of the big time insiders were in on that one.

Unfortunately that's how this league/most sports leagues are. If someone can go through the media to help get someone to drop/gain an advantage they'll do it. As part of the media, they're not going to sit on a big potential story that can get a lot of people talking/people listening to their content. 

Guess I'm just saying that most fans/people know these types of stories get leaked and for what reasons. If a teams dumb enough to fall for it in their several years of evaluation of the kid with never hearing/seeing this, then that's on them imo. 

I said this a week ago, but I wasnt lying when I said that it felt like Fields was being picked apart a LOT more than the other prospects. That reason for that Im still trying to figure out unless its just all a smokescreen from teams trying to get him to drop so they can draft him.

I mean, people are dissecting Fields who has 2 years of game film and 2 Playoff trips more that they are Trey Lance who only has 1 year of college football experience against inferior competition.

[AkronsWitness]

4 hours ago, BRANDON26841X said:

The comments on Fields from Orlovsky were pretty interesting (but this sort of thing seems to happen every single year). I've got to say, I've never heard anything but praise about Field's work ethic in his 2 years at Ohio State. Quite possibly manufactured bullcrap from a team hoping he'll fall, but who the hell knows. You didn't really hear anything bad about Dwayne Haskins when he was there either *shrug* so...

The range of opinions on this guy are crazy (top 3 - 4th round) but understandable. The talent is undeniable and I wouldn't be shocked at all if he burned everyone and ended up having a Justin Herbert like rookie season, but having watched every single snap of his the past 2 seasons I still don't know what to think. My gut feeling says he's got a lot of work to do. Everything with Fields just felt like it was in slow motion at OSU. I honestly felt better about Haskins chances (yikes) but that Clemson beatdown won me back over just a bit, where he again flashed the crazy upside. 

You need to go watch some highlights then because Fields in the last 2 years made about 50 throws that Haskins could never dream of making lol

I understand the whole slow motion thing you referenced but I think that is fixable. I also think a large part of Fields holding onto the ball and hanging in the pocket long is because thats what the offense called for. OSUs offense is built around long developing deep bombs that require the QB to buy buy buy time in the pocket before unleashing. 

Also, I think its because since he stepped foot at OSU, he didnt want to be labeled a scrambling QB. Ive noticed so many times in the last 2 years where he could easily take off and run, but he didnt. He almost backed up into the pocket again and forced himself to make a throw. I think a lot of that is him wanting to prove that he was a legitimate QB, not a athlete playing QB. I dont want to go full galaxy brain on it, but there was something there with him almost refusing to take off and run unless it was designed. 

There is some stuff to clean up for sure, but I think the pros outweigh the cons.

[ronjon1990]

6 hours ago, AkronsWitness said:

I said this a week ago, but I wasnt lying when I said that it felt like Fields was being picked apart a LOT more than the other prospects. That reason for that Im still trying to figure out unless its just all a smokescreen from teams trying to get him to drop so they can draft him.

I mean, people are dissecting Fields who has 2 years of game film and 2 Playoff trips more that they are Trey Lance who only has 1 year of college football experience against inferior competition.

I'm not even a huge Fields fan (mostly because we don't need a QB and aren't getting him anyway, and because I harbor some animosity towards Ohio State for other reasons), but yes, it absolutely does. 

Wilson was a 1 year wonder who essentially played a SunBelt schedule and looked very average in his big game against the mighty mullets of....Coastal Carolina.

Lawrence, imo, never blew me away this year. He was statistically worse and, in my eyes, feels like he hit a bit of an early wall. 

Not to say either is any more or less likely to bust or that they're not worthy of their draft status, but I've noticed that even remotely questioning either is dang near blasphemy regardless of the validity of said questions/critiques. 

My guess is someone else noticed the Lawrence/Wilson/Lance love fest going on and realized that Fields may just wind up not too out of reach despite being a clear 1B not long ago. 

[AkronsWitness]

3 hours ago, ronjon1990 said:

I'm not even a huge Fields fan (mostly because we don't need a QB and aren't getting him anyway, and because I harbor some animosity towards Ohio State for other reasons), but yes, it absolutely does. 

1) Wilson was a 1 year wonder who essentially played a SunBelt schedule and looked very average in his big game against the mighty mullets of....Coastal Carolina.

2) Lawrence, imo, never blew me away this year. He was statistically worse and, in my eyes, feels like he hit a bit of an early wall. 

Not to say either is any more or less likely to bust or that they're not worthy of their draft status, but I've noticed that even remotely questioning either is dang near blasphemy regardless of the validity of said questions/critiques. 

My guess is someone else noticed the Lawrence/Wilson/Lance love fest going on and realized that Fields may just wind up not too out of reach despite being a clear 1B not long ago. 

1) Agree, Wilson played really well last year, but are we going to disregard that he was a pedestrian QB each of the 2 years before in his Freshman + Sophmore years before bursting on to the scene in a Covid struck year? I feel like hes getting a lot of benefit of the doubt because he can make some highlight Patrick Mahomes type throws. Seems like none of the other stuff matters.

2) Agree again, Lawrence felt like he coasted a little bit this season. He got destroyed in the playoffs and really looked like he couldnt handle throwing when he gets pressured. OSUs front 4 showed him something I dont think he ever saw before in that playoff game. Fields outplayed him H2H, but this never gets mentioned.

3) Im completely unimpressed by Lance. Ive watched his highlights and every play is just him rolling out of the pocket and launching deep balls while yelling "500!" to wide open WRs because NDST was playing against UC Davis. I see no ability to actually QB a offense with Lance and have serious questions if he can make reads, go through progressions and/or be efficient with short/medium throws.

Random notes:

-Fields is by far the best deep ball thrower of any QB in this class

-Fields is the best duel threat QB of any QB in this class. Which means a LOT in 2021 NFL.

-Fields took the least amount of RPOs and Screens of any QB in this class, showing he has a lot more experience in a drop back, make reads and pass offense than the other QBs.

-Fields played the hardest defenses of any QB in this class. Average defensive rank he faced in the country was 24th. People want to knock him for having a bad game here or there, thats because hes playing FAR better defenses than some of the other prospects in this class on a weekly basis.

 

Edited April 1, 2021 by AkronsWitness

[BRANDON26841X]

10 hours ago, AkronsWitness said:

You need to go watch some highlights then because Fields in the last 2 years made about 50 throws that Haskins could never dream of making lol

I understand the whole slow motion thing you referenced but I think that is fixable. I also think a large part of Fields holding onto the ball and hanging in the pocket long is because thats what the offense called for. OSUs offense is built around long developing deep bombs that require the QB to buy buy buy time in the pocket before unleashing. 

Also, I think its because since he stepped foot at OSU, he didnt want to be labeled a scrambling QB. Ive noticed so many times in the last 2 years where he could easily take off and run, but he didnt. He almost backed up into the pocket again and forced himself to make a throw. I think a lot of that is him wanting to prove that he was a legitimate QB, not a athlete playing QB. I dont want to go full galaxy brain on it, but there was something there with him almost refusing to take off and run unless it was designed. 

There is some stuff to clean up for sure, but I think the pros outweigh the cons.

The big worry with Haskins I had was the depth of his targets. Even J.T. Barrett threw downfield more often than Haskins did. It was basically nothing but short crossing routes to K.J. Hill and Parris Campbell where they would then rack up a bunch of YAC. But he seemingly got better each and every game and the arm talent was intriguing. I thought he'd be a solid QB to be honest. Talent certainly isn't the issue. 

Agreed that Fields was often stubborn in the pocket... the internal clock just didn't seem to be there and he was always trying to make the big play. Obviously that pays off at times and burned them at other times. The processing, the delivery, the reads... they just felt so slow, and I understand that could have been (and it seems like it probably was) the design of the offense. That offense seemed to have very little short to intermediate routes built in... seemed like it was mostly slow developing deep shots. It was frustrating at times. 

At times I felt like Fields could eventually be a Deshaun Watson-like QB and that might end up being the case... I just think there's some obvious risk (but potentially reward). I mean, read scouting reports on Herbert pre-draft. They were 50/50 at best. 

Edited April 1, 2021 by BRANDON26841X

[THE DUKE]

I'm pretty sure Orlovsky is getting played by someone who wants Fields to fall.  Literally heard nothing like that the past two years about Fields and have seen guys unprompted talk about how he set the tone and did the work.

[goldfishwars]