Quarterback Mike Kafka impressed at least one former NFL scout during Northwestern's pro day on Thursday.
Gil Brandt, the longtime Dallas Cowboys personnel director who now writes for NFL.com, writes in his blog that Kafka followed up his "sensational" performance at last month's NFL combine with another solid workout in front of scouts from 25 teams.
Kafka threw to former Northwestern receivers Zeke Markshausen and Andrew Brewer and, according to one scout, missed only one throw.
b/c the stoops offense is not the same as the meyer offense. bradford took half his snaps under center...smith did not. he was also playing against actual defenses...smith was not.phinstd wrote:Explain to me how that isn't a spot on comparison.Cheddar Tom wrote:a far fetched comparison...if the rams pass on sam bradford b/c not all of his snaps were from under center they deserve another 1-15 record. that'd be dumb all the way around.phinstd wrote:I was talking to a buddy of mine, and it kind of occurred to me that this could end up being a lot like the Alex Smith/Aaron Rodgers draft.
am i the only one who thinks he could be a very good QB in the NFL? love that guy.Hungary Jack wrote:Maybe the Rams should draft Kafka...
Quarterback Mike Kafka impressed at least one former NFL scout during Northwestern's pro day on Thursday.
Gil Brandt, the longtime Dallas Cowboys personnel director who now writes for NFL.com, writes in his blog that Kafka followed up his "sensational" performance at last month's NFL combine with another solid workout in front of scouts from 25 teams.
Kafka threw to former Northwestern receivers Zeke Markshausen and Andrew Brewer and, according to one scout, missed only one throw.
Bradford did not take anywhere close to 50% of his snaps from under center, especially on passing downs. It is a spread offense, are you seriously going to argue that because it isn't the "same" offense as Meyer's (obviously), that it isn't a debate of a spread QB who will have to learn to read a defense, his footwork, and the nuances of a pro system. Yes, the Big 12 is definitely known for those great defenses. Ha.Cheddar Tom wrote:b/c the stoops offense is not the same as the meyer offense. bradford took half his snaps under center...smith did not. he was also playing against actual defenses...smith was not.phinstd wrote:Explain to me how that isn't a spot on comparison.Cheddar Tom wrote:a far fetched comparison...if the rams pass on sam bradford b/c not all of his snaps were from under center they deserve another 1-15 record. that'd be dumb all the way around.phinstd wrote:I was talking to a buddy of mine, and it kind of occurred to me that this could end up being a lot like the Alex Smith/Aaron Rodgers draft.
rodgers was seen as the more finished product...clausen is not. biggest difference between the two right there IMO. as i recall reading there are questins about clausen's footwork and the accuracy of his deep ball.
That isn't the debate, nor the comparison. I imagine Bradford will be better than Alex Smith, but the 49ers probably thought Alex Smith would be better than Alex Smith when they drafted him as well.Faceman wrote:Bradford will be so much better than Alex Smith.
I am pretty excited about him having a shot, but he's still a project. Most scouts say he doesn't have the arm strength to throw the deep out nor deep seam routes. While he is very accurate, he played in a spread offense against some slower defenses. The Auburn game exposed some of these shortcomings, but he did make some adjustments as the game went on.Cheddar Tom wrote:am i the only one who thinks he could be a very good QB in the NFL? love that guy.Hungary Jack wrote:Maybe the Rams should draft Kafka...
Quarterback Mike Kafka impressed at least one former NFL scout during Northwestern's pro day on Thursday.
Gil Brandt, the longtime Dallas Cowboys personnel director who now writes for NFL.com, writes in his blog that Kafka followed up his "sensational" performance at last month's NFL combine with another solid workout in front of scouts from 25 teams.
Kafka threw to former Northwestern receivers Zeke Markshausen and Andrew Brewer and, according to one scout, missed only one throw.
Now, let's look at Jimmy Clausen. It is pretty much a given that Clausen will be a first-round draft pick, but his arm strength is enough of a question mark to cause his predicted draft slot status to vary significantly. For example, Mel Kiper's initial mock draft has Clausen going to the Buffalo Bills at the No. 9 spot because he possesses "an NFL arm." Scouts Inc.'s Todd McShay, on the other hand, has Clausen going in the No. 23 spot (to the Seattle Seahawks) in part because "he doesn't have ideal arm strength."
The odd thing is that they both are on the money. After breaking down six of Clausen's 2009 game tapes (at Michigan, at Michigan State, vs. USC, vs. Boston College, vs. Connecticut and at Stanford), I found metrics and scouting notes to back both sides of that argument. For example, Clausen did a fine job on the 13 deep out passes he threw. Eleven of them were on target (on target being defined as landing within the catching frame of the receiver) and seven ended up being completed. He was also 2-for-2 on the comeback route -- which is a close cousin of the deep out -- so he was on the money on 13 out of 15 of the vertical outside routes.
Clausen also displayed superb accuracy on the long passes that require more arc than the deep out. He was one for two on the corner route and would have been two for two if not for a dropped pass. Clausen also completed the only deep post route he threw.
Throwing into high traffic areas also was an area of strength for Clausen, something that is evidenced by his seven completions in eight attempts on deep in passes.
For all of his vertical plusses from a metric perspective, the scouting eye indicated Clausen had some issues on certain types of throws. This was especially evident in the Michigan contest. In that game, Clausen had multiple occasions when he threw a low hard pass when a higher, arced passed would have been more appropriate. It almost looked as though he was trying to show just how hard he could throw the ball and was putting more mustard on passes than was necessary. That trend didn't show up later in the season, so it might have been an early season psychological issue he has since overcome.
If the game tape reviews showed both an upside and a downside in terms of Clausen's arm, they were perfectly clear about his ability to read a defense. He made only four bad decisions in 224 passes (a bad decision being defined as when the quarterback makes a mistake with the ball that leads to either a turnover or a near turnover). That equates to a 1.7 percent bad-decision rate, which is a mark that would usually rank among the top 10-15 quarterbacks if it were accomplished at the NFL level, so Clausen gets high marks here.
The Football Scientist Lab Result: Drew Brees and Philip Rivers have proven that the ability to read a defense is much more important than possessing a cannon for an arm. Clausen has displayed superb ability in that area, and when that is added to his more than adequate skill in placing accurate throws downfield, it equals a TFS seal of approval.
