Quote:What exactly do people mean when they say a quarterback is raw, anyway?

I'd define it as a QB who has great physical attributes, but for some reason the mental aspect of the game isn't there yet. Could be that he only started for one year, or played at a lower level of competition and hasn't been tested against top-flight defenses, something like that.

 

When I think of "NFL-ready" QBs, I think of Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck. I also, however, think of Andy Dalton and Alex Smith. An NFL-ready QB in the draft could easily be taken to mean someone who can be a mid-level starter in the NFL on day one, and they'll spend the next ten years as a mid-level starter before rounding out their career as a backup. Drafting a game manager like Dalton is no bueno, but none of the likely first or second round QBs really strike me as the career game manager type. Something about Dalton just screamed "mediocre" from the very beginning, and I doubt that the Jags want any part of that.

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