| 22 June 2009
Ready for the option offense again in the 'Shoe? What about Oklahoma running the wishbone again? Think that is too far fetched? Think again.
Graham Harrell from Texas Tech threw for 5111 yards and 45 touchdowns and only 9 interceptions last year in 13 games. He had a quarterback rating of 163.04. He hit on 71.5 of his passes and averaged 395.6 per game. He was the nations top ranked passer. Chase Daniel from Missouri was ranked #3 overall. Neither were drafted. I am not offering this as the basis for an argument that numbers don't matter. They are perfect examples of what is happening to quarterback play. Over the last few years talent scouts at the NFL level are lamenting the fact that the spread offenses are not preparing quarterbacks for the NFL level. Graham Harrell and Chase Daniel only fit one style of offense. They do not have the arm strength to make the throws that a pro-set offense needs a quarterback to make. They have great quarterback skills but if they cannot make the throws then it really doesn't matter how well they see the field and that they would make the right decision on who to throw the ball to. The creation of the spread has everything to do with Ohio State and Michigan and USC and Alabama, the traditional powers. Smaller schools knew they could not line up and play at the line of scrimmage with the traditional powers so they spread them out and used small quick undersized players. The same thing happened with the quarterbacks. You are not throwing the ball down the field. Don't need a big armed kid. This is not just an NFL problem. I run into it with trying to evaluate players coming out of high school. Offensive linemen and quarterbacks are the players most wanted at camps and combines. So many OLs never play against someone who can stand up to them so they dominate. Get them out there against someone of equal caliber. With quarterbacks it is about getting them into camp and seeing if they have the arm strength. The problem has been exacerbated by the spread running like wildfire through the high school ranks in recent years.
This is a problem. There are never enough quarterbacks to go around as it is. Now we have more colleges going to a system that does not develop quarterbacks. I think it is going to get worse before it gets better. We are seeing the option again and the development of the read option at the college level. The Wildcat, a direct snap to a back, has even made it to the NFL level. It is not just about arm strength. The spread does not demand that quarterbacks learn to read the defense beyond the most rudimentary level. That we are seeing it all over the high school ranks means there are less kids prepared to take the reins of a college offense. The less schools teaching quarterbacks to be quarterbacks is not in the best interest of the sport.
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