Quote:
Originally Posted by Arky
Depends on the QB. Plenty of pass-happy small school QB's have made the transition to the NFL. Certainly, Garoppolo (Eastern Illinois) looks promising.
One could see the price of Mallet going down when Garoppolo got drafted in the second round. The Texans, waiting for this to hit rock bottom, is the "penalty" that the Texans will pay getting him up to speed.....
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I totally agree it depends on the QB. Small school QBs can succeed, big school guys can fail. Spread guys can succeed, pro style guys can fail. All of that is true. I'm not saying he CAN'T do it in the NFL because he's a small college spread guy. I'm saying he doesn't look like the same guy in the NFL because he is no longer at a small college running the spread.
If a small school guy succeeds in the NFL, it will be because he has the traits an NFL QB needs. Those are not necessarily the same traits that a QB needs to succeed at UH (or any other college). So the reason NFL Keenum doesn't resemble UH Keenum is because he is playing a game that is different on almost every level.
Just mentally, the ability to get to the line quick in college and let your OC call a play from the sideline and signal it to your offense after the OC reads the defense is much different than the ability to make a complicated play call in the huddle, go to the line, read the defense yourself, check the protection/audible/check with Me's/etc... and get it all done before the snap while the defense is constantly shifting presnap. So Keenum might have a great mental makeup for the college game but not have it mentally in the pros (probably why he gets buried by the blitz). Being confident and completing %70 in college does not mean you are capable of doing that in the NFL.