Should teams beware of the QBs from the big 3…?

The War Room Detroit Lions — The Den
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Seems strange to say, but kind of hard to ignore what has happened the past 4-6 years and what it could mean next year and beyond.

Alabama- 7
Clemson- 6
Ohio State- 3

  • NCAA Playoff appearances

Starting year 2 of the playoffs…

Hurts, Tua, Mac Jones…. Young- Bama
D Watson, Kelly, T Lawrence- Clemson
Barrett, Haskins, Fields… Stroud- Buckeyes.

Hurts has been a pleasant surprise this year, but 16 TDs is hardly boast worthy…. Mac Jones was drafted to a Patriots team that about as QB friendly as a team can be.

I know Watson was performing quite well prior to the dumpster fire he’s currently in, but it doesn’t change the fact that the team that drafted him is now starting D Mills…

I’m pretty sure the Phins are about ready move on from Tua at this point.

Haskins is already washed out.

Fields has been awful.

I’m starting to wonder if Young has the size and arm not to e d up Tua 2.0…

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The truth is that Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State don’t win or lose football games based upon QB play. Those teams are stacked at every position that even an average QB will put up good numbers in those offenses. The best QBs in the draft are ones that carry their team or put up great numbers despite the fact that the team isn’t stacked at every position.

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His “I want out” situation is somehow Clemson’s fault?

Nick Young Reaction GIF

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I’m a little wary of the Bama and OSU types because you know there’s a consistent talent disparity between the guys they’re throwing to vs the talent of the guys covering them. CJ Stroud will never, ever, ever, ever throw to the talent he’s throwing to now, and the coverage talent will never suck worse against him, relative to that receiving talent. He’s throwing to high end NFL talent, being covered by mostly guys who will never be drafted. His job is multiple times easier than it will ever be in the league, based on superior talent than the competition, even without considering the increased difficulty inherent in the league. Osu is a top team, with or without him, which makes it hard to attribute success to him. They’ve actually performed poorly, relative to their talent level this season.

Now if you get a perennial mid conference team performing at that kind of level, you’ve got my attention.

I keep beating the Willis drum, but that team has no business being ranked, but they were briefly. There’s one NFL player on that roster(probably), and there’s no question why they’re punching above their weight. Put Willis at OSU and his job gets easier, and they score more touchdowns. Put Stroud on Liberty and you’ve probably never heard of him. Seriously.

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We need to stay away from CJ Stroud.

Yes, I’m being serious.

I agree with the talent differential thing. I thought Justin Fields had such good tools and was such a good athlete that it wouldn’t matter in the NFL, and that his athletic ability and raw talent would be enough to overcome that. His coaching, line, and injuries aren’t really helping us find that out thought right now.

Stroud isn’t Justin Fields as a football player.

I’m starting to get over the Alabama thing though. Mac has been great and Tua is getting a lot better. I don’t know how everyone, including myself, missed on Mac so badly. He has such a good processor and pocket presence.

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No he was obviously a bit flawed in the character and maturity dept it would appear. Haskins sure was.

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When a team gives you 156M in a state with no state income tax to play a game, and you demand out within a year of signing… yes a bit of a head case if you ask me…. The legal troubles only further that.

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All that was on display at the Senior Bowl. The 4 QBs drafted before him dazzled people with arm strength and the hope that they would develop the processing and pocket presence that Mac had demonstrated. Check out the Senior Bowl reports last January.

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Still think Anthony Richardson booms next year

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Yup! Great post

I know some are into those “tools” that Malik Willis has with 4.4 speed, and a rocket arm…. BUT when you play Old Dominion, UAB and “Campbell” I would expect more than 4.5 yards per carry….

His borderline 60% completions, marginal YPA, poor yards per rush, and terrible turnover margin are the opposite of what Trey Lance did against low level comp.

The QBs are just bad period. Jared Goff will be better than any of them the next 2 years….

Mac Jones had the size, an average or slightly above arm, the production against top comp, and the quick release and quicker processing of what’s unfolding around him.

He also went to a team that won 7 games last year with like 8 TD passes. I would predict that Mac Jone as a Jag may have faired better than Lawrence, but I wouldn’t bet by a ton.

Culture, talent, a run game etc all matter. Even if you have a QB with all the tools- see Stafford, Ryan, etc you don’t win without the rest.

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I don’t know a ton about him. What do you see in him?

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Nope, Cj Stroud and Young are studs.

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Many thought Tua was too.

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I didn’t. Neither did anyone I talk to…so carry on. Each qb is different. Stroud is a different person from TUA.

There is a reason there are professional scouts and armchair scouts.

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Freak athlete (near Cam Newton level) that can really spin it.

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Wow… just watched his highlights. It’s that type of guy who “can” be great. Will he propel Florida back to 10 plus wins next year? He’s clearly a freak, he attacks downfield, and can run.

Kind of the opposite of Malik who turned 200 Carrie into 800 yards and is 6’1

Do you like McCreary?

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Ya… those professional scouts mostly had his as a top 10 pick.

Pre hip injury, he was arguably the #1 pick. It didn’t matter that Burrow was bigger, stronger, and outplaying him in the same conference.

It was so burned into peoples brain that Tua would be “the guy,” that “Tank for Tua” posts even existed.

I didn’t love him being lefty, his overall stature, his demeanor, his injury history, and the significant injury he was dealing with even at draft time.

Let’s be super clear- you declaring Stroud and Young as future NFL studs at this point means very little.

As ZTonyG and LMP pointed out…. These 2 guys are playing with Olave, J Williams, Metchie, JSN, Harrison Jr, Billingsley, and a pair of 1300 yard RBs…. Not to mention with NFL OLs and typically playing with a big lead.

I’m not saying that one or both can’t be good. It’s just really hard to assess guys playing hold em with pocket Kings every hand.

Stroud is literally going from the best WR Corps in the nation to the best Wr Corps in the nation.

When you know you will have 3-4 shots a game where your guy will simply win big on his route and pop off for 50-70 yards… it’s easy to throw it away when it’s not there.

That’s why all the guys I’ve listed had ridiculous TD/INT ratios. They are usually winning, so pressing downfield into coverage isn’t necessary.

Tyler Huntley was trying to throw in tiny windows with Donald and Miller on his back…. Stafford was throwing to Kupp running around uncovered.

Stafford tried to see openings that weren’t there through 3 quarters, and it went badly. His guys had enough talent that eventually his arm and their routes won out.

Lawrence went from Tee Higgins A Rodgers, and a healthy Justyn Ross in 19’, to not much beyond Amari Rodgers in 20’…. Then he went to an aged Marvin Jones and no OL…

These guys should be improving their completion percentage, yards per attempt, td to int ratio every year. They are often playing as 19 year old and growing into men throughout their college careers.

We often get distracted by anyone who puts up video game numbers, and try to convince ourselves this will be different.

Last question————————————————

If Stroud balls out next year, and busts, he could… THEN can we never talk about another OSU QB again til one proves a playoff winning nfl QB?

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You sure do love your novels.

The media had him as a top 10 pick, first qb off the board. There were concerns about Tua in the scouting community. But regardless, these dudes make a living doing this and you have the luxury of it just being a hobby for fun where your lively hood doesn’t depend on it.

No shit, Sherlock. You don’t say. Thing is I am just a lot more succinct in expressing my laymen opinion.

Could care less about the stats…

Of course, he could bust, any qb could bust depending on alot of different variables. I will talk about any qb I think will succeed. I didn’t like Fields, I didn’t like Tua…I didn’t like Haskins. I have gone on record as saying 3 qbs will be studs in the past when they were all in college. They were Stafford. Mahomes…Josh Allen. I believe CJ Stroud is a stud and if Detroit has the capital they should use it to get him in the 2023 draft if they don’t think Goff is the guy. It’s not rocket science. You either have IT or you don’t have IT. I think Stroud has IT.

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Joe Burrow played at Ohio State, did that make him a bad QB? And you might say, well he spent his last two years at LSU… but if we’re knocking Ohio State (and Alabama and Clemson) QBs for having it easy because of the guys around them, no one played with better talent than Joe Burrow did at LSU.

Scout the player, not the helmet. These guys are five star recruits for a reason, one day one of them’s gonna boom and then we’re all gonna feel silly. People used to say Tedford QBs sucked until Rodgers, people used to say Air Raid QBs sucked until Mahomes. There are no hard and fast rules.

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Speak for yourself. We had many debates about Fields vs Jones.

No one beat the Mac Jones drum harder than myself. My reasoning on why he would be more successful than Fields was Jones ability to read defenses and his quick release.

You refused to believe that and argued how great Fields was at it while claiming that Jones was a product of the Alabama system.

Some people did see it coming.

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