2015 NFL draft quarterback comparisons

This is what I see when I watch the top quarterbacks in this year’s draft class. Marcus Mariota: Alex Smith. Why: Smart quarterbacks who dominated college football and don’t make many mistakes. Practically the same size – 6-4, 218 pounds. Fast runners, although Mariota is faster. Good passers, although neither has a cannon and neither has pin-point placement. Neither had to throw into tight windows, neither had to anticipate openings…

January 26, 2015
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Top-five QB prospects in the draft

Jim Harbaugh says David Fales is a top-five quarterback prospect in the upcoming draft. I agree with Harbaugh. Here is my full top-five list. Please leave yours’ as well. 1. Blake Bortles, UCF 2. David Fales, San Jose State 3. Teddy Bridgewater, Louisville 4. Derek Carr, Fresno State 5. Jimmy Garoppolo, Eastern Illinois

April 28, 2014
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Ted Tollner Q&A

I interviewed former USC and San Diego State head coach Ted Tollner last week. Here is the transcript. Q: Why do smaller schools like Fresno State and San Jose State have a pedigree for producing NFL quarterbacks, and bigger schools like Alabama and USC don’t? TOLLNER: You can recruit the most physical players in the country at some big schools. Other schools, you’re not going to get all of those…

April 28, 2014
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NFL draft prospects at QB shine spotlight on smaller schools

This is my feature on the allure of quarterbacks who went to non-major-conference colleges. For the past five years, every quarterback who was chosen in the first round of the NFL draft went to a major-conference college. Meaning a college in the Pac-12, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC or ACC. Forget that trend. Draft gurus expect three quarterbacks who went to non-major-conference colleges to get drafted in Round 1 this…

April 25, 2014
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NFL’s impressions of the top-50 draft prospects

One of the best reporters in the country, Bob McGinn, spoke off the record with NFL personnel executives and scouts and got their impressions of the top-50 prospects in the upcoming draft. Here is a brief excerpt about cornerback Bradley Roby from McGinn’s report: “When you talk about quickness, speed, athletic ability, change of direction, he’s got all that. Then he just gets beat every game. It’s mental.” To read…

February 23, 2014
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