Texas Tech Brought Down By Snobby Kid

For those of us that love the quarterback position and the passing game in general, yesterday was a very sad day.  Yesterday one of the most innovative minds in the game lost his job.

Yesterday, Texas Tech fired their coach Mike Leach after a player complaint was filed by sophomore WR Adam James, son of former NFL player and current ESPN analyst Craig James. The complaint stated that Coach Leach forced James to stay in a shed and an electrical closet during practice after James sat out due to a mild-concussion.

Scaredy-Colts

Gutless.

My initial reaction to yesterday's travesty is that the Colts are gutless.

Of particular note, Peyton Manning is gutless.

Maybe this feeling I have will wear off over time and I will be more forgiving. But for right now, gutless is the best I can do. I almost think I am being kind here because there is another word that I really want to use. As Naughty By Nature might say, it's another way to call a cat a kitten.

Why “The Wildcat” Might Be Here Awhile

It’s the latest fad. It’s the next “run and shoot”. Just another gimmicky offensive formation that will take some time for defensive coordinators to figure out before it goes the way of the old “single wing” or “wishbone”. The Wildcat offense is running rampant and we all just assume that it’ll only be a matter of time before it eventually goes away. But I’m here to tell you, it may be here to stay.

2010 NFL Draft QB Rankings Update #1

Updated QB Rankings for the 2010 NFL Draft

1st Level:
1) Ryan Mallet, Arkansas
2) Sam Bradford, Oklahoma

McShay Reads The QB Club

ESPN's Todd McShay fully supported Jimmy Clausen's entrance in this year's draft.

We have written some negative articles on Clausen here and here.

Yesterday McShay was on TV saying that Clausen has dropped because of potential leadership issues and whether or not he's a good teammate.  He had him going 23rd in his first mock draft.

Locker Stays In School; Clausen Giggling All the Way to the Bank

ESPN is reporting that Jake Locker has chosen not to take my advice and enter the 2010 NFL Draft.  Instead, he will return for his senior season at Washington.

An Inside Look at QB Rating

I have spent some time over the last few days trying to reconcile the true reasoning behind the stat that is know as “QB Rating” or “Passing Efficiency”. In most of sports, statistics have a pretty straight-forward, easy-to-figure-out meaning. But if you ask some true football fans how you calculate QB rating, you’re likely to get some dumbfounded looks or nonsensical explanations.

QB Stats... What Really Matters?

If you were to ask someone what the most important statistic for a Quarterback, you would probably get a number of different answers.  But out of all of the stats out there, which ones are truly important and which ones don't matter as much as you would think?

Are the Scouts Even Close?

As of today, the Top 7 QB's in terms of QB Rating in the NFL:

All Quarterbacks Watch Film

Watching film is an age-old study method for football coaches and players. Nowadays, it is often noted as a skill that is especially used by quarterbacks of elite stature. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady - if you listened to most analysts you would think these guys watch more film than Gene Shalit.

A message to football fans everywhere: All quarterbacks watch film.

With a Little Creative Writing, Clausen Becomes Good at Football

ESPN analyst / Jimmy Clausen propagandist Tom Friend wrote a glowing review of Jimmy Clausen's career at Notre Dame and his great expectations as a pro. He seemed to leave out or gloss over a few relevant facts. And we wonder why the news industry is going downhill. Below is a segment from his article along with corrections I might have suggested if I were his editor. I know it seems like I'm piling on Jimmy Clausen here, but this time I just couldn't help myself.

Locker Has To Go

Jake Locker has a tough decision ahead of him. The Junior QB from Washington sits atop most every mock draft and is staring a multi-million dollar payday in the face if he decides to forgo his senior season and head to the NFL. On the other hand, some say he's not ready. Washington's first year coach Steve Sarkisian has a knack for breeding NFL quality quarterbacks and perhaps Locker could use another year under his master's tutelage.

For those who had questioned Locker's readiness, he made a statement this past weekend against the #19 ranked Cal Bears. After upsetting the Trojans earlier this year, questions still lingered about Locker. That game saw the Huskies kick a number of field goals while it was their defense that held the Trojans to only 13 points. Though Locker did plenty to lead his team to victory that day, it was not necessarily an offensive explosion. Locker saved that for the Cal game.

Tebow's Flaw On Display

If you didn't watch a game and went by resume only, Tim Tebow would be the first pick of the 2010 draft with no questions asked.  Two national championships, a Heisman Trophy in a season where he rushed and threw for 20 TD's, an amazing 34-6 record over the past 3 seasons, and a record of upstanding citizenship and charity.  He's a model employee - the type of guy you wish there were more of in sports.

However, Tebow's chances of success at the quarterback position in the NFL do not seem very good.  As you scan the rankings of the "draft experts" and look at the random Mock Drafts out there, you will notice that Tebow's name is mostly left out of early consideration.  There is even some talk of him playing another position at the next level (as if the Scott Frost, Eric Crouch and Matt Jones experiments worked out so well).

Drew Brees - Best Game Ever?

Read this article by SI's Kerry Byrne about how Drew Brees may have had the best game by a QB ever.

While I agree that certainly Brees was very impressive, I liked this one by Joe Montana in Super Bowl XXIV on 1/28/90. The Super Bowl is a little bigger stage than Monday Night. Just a little.

Kiper's Big Board Not So Big With Clausen

Mel Kiper's Big Board experienced some changes this past week. As I am still not an ESPN Insider, I was only able to read a small amount of commentary and see his Top 5.

I was astounded to see Jimmy Clausen leap ahead of Sam Bradford, projected at the #4 overall pick. I just don't understand the love affair with Clausen! He is getting a free pass when it comes to all of the losing that has been done in South Bend the past 3 years. Notre Dame lost a lot of close games this season, and many of those saw Clausen with the ball late in the 4th quarter, only to be unable to score. This kid had two of the most talented WR's in college football in Tate and Floyd and couldn't pull out enough wins to keep Coach Weis around.

To Stay or Go

It's about time that this year's crop of juniors (and one Sophomore) to decide whether or not they intend on entering the 2010 NFL draft. So... who should stay and who should go? Here is my analysis:

Sam Bradford - Go

Max Hall - No Need to Apologize

I read this story earlier today about Max Hall, the BYU QB issuing an apology to Utah.

It seems like after beating the Utes this past week, Hall commented:

"I don't like Utah. In fact, I hate them. I hate everything about them. I hate their program, their fans. I hate everything," Hall said Saturday. "It felt really good to send those guys home."

ESPN Insider

For years I have gritted my teeth every time I clicked on a story on ESPN.com and got the "This story is only for 'INSIDERS'." My thinking was always "Why would I pay for information that I can probably get from other webpages if I just spent the time to look for it?".

Now that I started and am in the process of developing The QB Club, one of the main focus points will be the NFL Draft. And like it or not, agree with them or not, Mel Kiper and Todd McShay get a lot of publicity for their draft rankings. They are privy to information I do not necessarily have and most likely have inside sources that I will never get.

So... I am contmeplating doing the unthinkable and paying to become an Insider. This goes against every fiber of my being. I feel like an intervention is necessary. Somebody stop me!

Eli Manning Overpaid?

I thought this was a great article by Allen Barra wondering why the Giants paid Eli Manning so much money.

Eli no longer has Plaxico Burress, leaving an unproven crew of receivers - Steve Smith, Mario Manningham, rookie Hakeem Nicks, Kevin Boss, and Domenik Hixon. Keeping this in mind, I thought he was having his best year.

Regardless, he still is nowhere close to guys like Brees, Brady and his brother Peyton and I can't understand why the Giants would pay-up like this. What happens when Brady and Peyton Manning become free agents and rightfully demand more money than Eli?

Perhaps that was the Giants motivation all along - to take the bullet and force the Patriots and Colts to overpay for their star QB's so they couldn't fill out their rosters w/ as much depth as they've had in years past. From a Public Relations standpoint alone, neither of those teams could afford to allow their star signal-callers to depart via free agency, so they'll have to pay up. Assuming some form of salary cap is maintained, this would reduce the chance of one of those teams making a splash in free agency at other positions.

Preliminary 2010 QB Rankings

First Level:
Ryan Mallett, Arkansas
Sam Bradford, Oklahoma

Second Level:
Tony Pike, Cincy
Colt McCoy, Texas
Jake Locker, Washington
Jimmy Clausen, ND

I can't figure these guys out:
Tim Tebow, Florida
Armanti Edwards, Appalachian St

Others:
Case Keenum, Houston
Christian Ponder, Florida St
Max Hall, BYU
Sean Canfield, Oregon St
Zac Robinson, Oklahoma St
Darryl Clark, PSU
Thaddeus Lewis, Duke
Jevan Snead, Mississippi
Dan LaFevour, Central Michigan
Tim Hiller, Western Michigan
Rusty Smith, Florida Atlantic

What happened to these guys:
Matt Grothe, S Florida
Riley Skinner, Wake Forest
Todd Reesing, Kansas

November Reading

I read this book a while back, but had to pick it up again since many of the recruited players in this book are now coming to priminence (Golden Tate, Joe McKnight, Jevan Snead). It's even better the second time around.

TheQBClub.com

So I started this site and made a pretty cool logo. I linked up my twitter page and now I just have to decide exactly what I want to do with it all.