Quarterback prospect accuracy
 

I think it was Bill Polian who once said that, when you scout a Quarterback, the accuracy you see today is the same accuracy you’re gonna see in five years. That’s why a lot of people are skittish about drafting the Richardson kid from Florida.

I mean, I get that. But…. How do you factor in the ability of the people he was throwing to? How do you factor in the play of the Offensive Line. Prospects like Stroud or Bryce Young were given all the time in the world to set up and find their targets. They were throwing to the likes of Marvin Harrison Jr and Jayson Smith-Njigba. Richardson’s best receiver was Justin Shorter, the 300th ranked prospect in this year’s draft.

To give you an idea of the quality of Ohio State’s Receivers, NJigba was this year’s 10th ranked prospect. Next year’s draft early projection have 2 of Stroud’s receivers…Harrison and Emeka Egbuka…hearing their names called within the first hour of the draft.

This isn’t simply about Richardson. It’s a problem endemic to scouting Quarterbacks with untalented or young receivers. Those guys have small catch radius’s they drop catchable balls, they run the wrong routes. When the difference between completing 60 percent of your passes and 50 percent is 3 or 4 extra catches a game, every drop counts.

The QB still has to throw the ball to the right spot. Try hitting a moving target with a football. It's not easy.

Give me the most accurate QB 10 out of 10 times and I will end up with the best QB more often than not.

And to be clear, when I say most accurate QB, I mean the QB with the best ball placement on NFL caliber throws, not the one with the highest completion percentage.

That's why you have to watch the tape. You can't go on stats, stats are generally BS, especially in college, where most throws are less than 10 yards down field.

A catch on a throw goes for 10 yards, was caught by the receiver, but he had to slow down to make the catch on his back shoulder, had the throw been in front of the receiver and caught in stride, could have gone for 20 yards or more. This is what accuracy should be based on, not having to have elite receivers to make circus catches. Have you put the ball in the right spot for the receivers you have on your team. The ability of your team mates, their speed etc are things that the QB needs to adjust to and be on the same page, this comes through practice and is what truly separates the elite QB's.

I don't know whether Anthony Richardson's completion percentage is lower, but is based on an overall deeper throw than Levis' who could be all short passes, i haven't watched their tape to be able to evaluate that properly. This is what scouts are paid to do.

Making the correct reads is actually the biggest asset of a QB for me, with accuracy a very close second. If you can't read a defence, you can throw the ball exactly where you wanted it to go in regards to where your receiver is going to be located, but if a defender is now in front of your receiver, that is utterly pointless.

Yes, college stats are pretty fucked. Accuracy is the premier physical trait for a QB, no question. Aaron Rodgers might not rank as high in intangibles, but because he's the most accurate passer ever, he'll go down as a top-5 QB all-time.

Explain Jalen hurts then Bill….

The game has long changed since he was a GM, your QB is basically a RB now

The two best QBs in the NFL would beg to differ. Neither Patrick Mahomes nor Joe Burrow is "basically a RB".

Mahomes had 44 yards rushing in the Super Bowl, Hurts was the leading rusher in the game, Burrow was the leading rusher in the AFC championship game.

The game has changed, QB has to run or atleast threaten the run 5 to 10 times a game

a qb doesn't have to run to be successful. that said, it has always been the case that a qb that could get a couple first downs a game with his feet were always valuable.

just because there seems to be more athletic qb's coming out of college doesn't equate to "qb's are rb's now"


nobody wants their qb's taking a lot of hits

QBs are gonna take hits it’s football, sliding is always an option

well thats not the point

as you well know. qb's aren't rb's now.

Right QBs have to be athletes now, the pocket passer days are over

QB has to be able to create yards with his legs

The days of handing off to a RB 30 times and hoping to win are dead

The more deadly a QBs legs are the more respect they instantly command from a defense

i don't believe this to be true at all.

a pocket passer can win for sure. good pocket presence is still all you need. a bonus is qb athleticism and really opens up the offense.

Mobility in the pocket is essential, being able to extend a play by that extra second, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, have been some of the best of the best, all of whom in the recent years of the NFL, none of them were ever a threat to take off and win with their legs.

I will add Philip Rivers to that list as well.

No traditional pocket passers were even in the playoffs last year. 3-5 seconds isn’t enough time for guys to get open in the playoffs a lot of times

Pocket presence requires an elite Oline which very few teams have outside of Philly and they still utilized a running QB

Again the game has changed since any of these guys were successful… the fact you added Matt Ryan makes me sick

Young and Stroud are basically pocket passers. Stroud can run, but he really prefers not to.

That said, running does hurt a defense. With so many cover 2 looks now all over the league. A running QB forces defenses to play single high bc they have to spy the QB. That then opens up those passing lanes for deep throws. Something Steichen exploited a lot with Hurts last year.

How narrow is our definition of "pocket passer"? If Joe Burrow doesn't fit, then it's not the definition I'm using.

Also, just because a guy can get a first down with his legs if things open up doesn't mean he's now a "running QB." Luck was a pocket passer.

However you wanna put it, all I’m saying is the QB has to be able to get yards running so yea if that’s the case every QB in the league is now a “running QB”

The days of a guy sitting in the pocket and falling down to take a sack are long gone. Colts unfortunately waited a few years too late to find this out

Mahomes - Pocket passer, who can really scramble and extend plays
Hurts - true running threat
Burow - Pocket passer with some scrambling ability
Allen - true running threat
Herbert - A pocket passer with some ability to move around
Lawrence - The very definition of a pocket passer
Tagovailoa - A guy who stays mostly in the pocket, but can move around
Goff - The very definition of a pocket passer
Smith - true running threat
Prescott - Pocket passer with some scrambling ability
Brady - The very definition of a pocket passer
Jackson - true running threat
Fields - true running threat
Rodgers - A pocket passer with some ability to move around
Purdy - Haven't seen enough of him to form an opinion
Murray - true running threat
Cousins - The very definition of a pocket passer
Daniel Jones - true running threat
Tannehill - true running threat
Pickett - The very definition of a pocket passer
Carr - The very definition of a pocket passer
Dalton - The very definition of a pocket passer
Stafford - The very definition of a pocket passer
Darnold - Pocket passer with some ability to move around
Mariota - true running threat
Mac Jones - The very definition of a pocket passer
Russell Wilson - true running threat
Watson - A pocket passer first, who is also a true running threat
Heinicke - Haven't seen enough of him to form an opinion
Ryan - The very definition of a pocket passer
Mills - The very definition of a pocket passer
Zach Wilson - Pocket passer with some ability to move around

There are a lot of guys who are current starting QB's who predominantly play from within the pocket.

What? This couldn't be further from the truth. His one saving grace is his athletic ability. Without it, he'd be a colossal bust already.

He is not exactly dynamic out of the pocket. Yes he can move around a little, but i am not considering him to be a threat to the defence in the running game that i am having to especially gameplan for.

He isn't dynamic in the pocket. His best strength as a passer is buying time for the coverage to break down and throwing wide open passes to an athletic Zay Jones who had 6-7 seconds to lose his man.

Lawrence had 350 yards rushing followed by 250 yards rushing in a season, I’d say he runs.

For a fair comparison to a true “pocket passer” Kirk cousins has avg about 50 rushing yards a year for a total of 900

Lawrence nearly has that beat already

So a fair comparison to Lawrence would be Jim Harbaugh, who often exceeded or was averaging around 350 yards rushing in a 16 game season.