QBs could go one-two
3/7/05 By Vic Ketchman, jaguars.com senior editor
Aaron Rodgers led Cal to a 10-1 regular season record and a berth in the Holiday Bowl. Two West Coast quarterbacks will tempt teams in need of a franchise passer to spend an early pick on the position in this year's NFL draft. Cal's Aaron Rodgers and Utah's Alex Smith could, in fact, become the first two players selected.
San Francisco and Miami have the first two picks of the draft and those destinations would accommodate Rodgers and Smith's talents, which would seem to favor warm weather or domes. “They are not northeast quarterbacks,” said Tony Pauline, publisher of TFY Draft Preview. For the second consecutive year, Pauline will assist jaguars.com in grading the NFL draft crop.
Rodgers, 6-2, 220, played for coach Jeff Tedford, who also produced Akili Smith and Joey Harrington at Oregon and Trent Dilfer at Fresno State. Is that a commendation or condemnation?
This much we know about Rodgers: He's the only quarterback to have beaten USC in the last two years, and he almost did it twice.
Rodgers is very accurate and has great timing in the short passing game. He's done a great job of commanding an offense that didn't surround him with great talent. Rodgers is a top competitor who has great intangibles. He's not real big and his deep-arm accuracy is marginal, which means he's not a typical, cold-weather pocket passer. Rodgers is more of a “West Coast offense” rhythm quarterback. He might be perfect for the 49ers, who invented the position.
(Additional discussion regarding other QB's omitted - editor)
1 comment:
It's unfair that Rodgers is getting a bad rap because Tedford's other QB's haven't done so well. If he should get a bad rap it's because of his performance in the bowl game.
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