Quote:Aikman makes a valid point about more open-mindedness about quarterbacks that can run the football. Yeah, but Johnny Manziel is a heck of a passer. I don't want to draft a running quarterback because they don't last.

 

If Johnny Football had calmed down this year and shown some sort of maturation as a passer sans rushing the football, what NFL team wouldn't realize it?

 

The time to eliminate the tendency to rush instead of remain in the pocket is in college. NFL teams traditionally don't like running quarterbacks. Coordinators have about four to five receiving options on every single passing situation. Having a quarterback that bolts is actually a sign of weakness. 

 

I don't see a dual-threat mesh guy kind of quarterback maintaining the rushing part of it and having any kind of sustained NFL success. It's ironic that the damage is done in the period of converting the running man to the preferable pocket passer. 

 

Also, over the course of a season, a college quarterback might see three things that he will have to become accustomed to and adjust his game accordingly.

 

The pro game is by far more sophisticated whereas the young quarterback will see three things all on the same play, and three totally different things on the next play. If you consider this faithfully, then Gabbert's struggles begin to make sense. Eli Manning has more Super Bowls wins than his brother. Yet, nobody ever thought twice about which of the two was better. Eli is simply smarter and that allows him to play on the ropes better.

 

Bill Walsh said the most important thing he needed to see in a quarterback was what he called "spontaneous genius". 

 

"The single trait that separates great quarterbacks from good quarterbacks is the ability to make the great, spontaneous decision, especially at a crucial time. The clock is running down and your team is five points behind. The play that was called has broken down and 22 players are moving in almost unpredictable directions all over the field.


This is where the great quarterback uses his experience, vision, mobility and what we will call spontaneous genius. He makes something good happen. This, of course, is what we saw in Joe Montana when he pulled out those dramatic victories for Notre Dame." - http://www.nfldraftscout.com/members/DS9...lsh2qb.htm

 

In that regard, the head of the quarterback class this year is Johnny Manziel. But the QB rush might prohibit him from having sustained success.