(04-16-2018, 09:10 AM)Jags02 Wrote:

(04-16-2018, 06:45 AM)TheO-LineMatters Wrote: To me, the mental aspect of the game is the single most important part of being a successful QB. You can get by on natural abilities for a little while, but if you don't grasp the mental nuances of the game and are able to understand the terminology and playbooks, you will eventually fail. Admittedly, I never saw Rudolph actually sit down and prove that he had a high football I.Q., but over the course of the past year and a half, I have read reports that he was a smart guy, who loved football and put in the work on and off the field to make himself a better player. I trusted what those reports said, but actually seeing the proof here, makes me even more confident that the kid is gonna be good pro QB and very coachable as well. I want this team to succeed so much and I believe we are really a QB away from being a football dynasty. Maybe it won't happen, but I'm praying we find a QB who can take us to the next level without having to have a near perfect defense.

I won't argue against the mental aspect being important, but I don't know about "single most important." Gabbert was incredibly smart posting a record-high mark on the Wonderlic with the ability to take in everything he was being told, but that never did translate to success on the field. 

When we drafted Gabbert, I knew he was not gonna pan out. That kid desperately needed to stay in school and he opted to enter the draft early. He didn't have a big arm, but that wasn't the problem. It was a combination of not having a big arm mixed with the fact that he constantly committed the mortal sin of following his target with his eyes. He tipped off his passes right and left. It drove me crazy! Sometimes a QB can get away with this if he has a big arm to rifle the pass in, before the defender can break on the ball, but that wasn't who Gabbert was. He did not know how to look off a defender to save his life and when he made his throws, he didn't have the power behind them to beat the DB's. To me, that was a mental aspect of the position that he simply couldn't grasp. While I maintain that having a high football I.Q. is indeed the most important, you have to have basic athletic ability as well and when you have a major hole in your game as Gabbert did, you need something special to mask that flaw.

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