Most impressive rookie QBs so far.....

[FUNBUNCHER]

I was wrong about Gabbert and his downfield accuracy. He looks like a stud in the making.

Dalton is going to be a solid pro. Cam has no problems hanging in the pocket and doing work.

Mallett should have been the first QB taken or at least in the discussion.

All these guys look like QBs teams can build offenses around for a decade, based on early impressions IMO.
With the level of QB play in the NFL ascending, what's going to separate all these franchise type guys??

Winning. Championships.

In five years, I think there will be more good to great QBs than at any other time in the modern history of the NFL. I know it sounds crazy, but I've never seen this much potential league wide talent at the position.

Forget the truly elite guys, count how many QBs are simply 'good' to 'very good'.

[Matthew Jones]

In order of how much they impressed me:

1. Jake Locker

2. Ryan Mallett

3. Christian Ponder

4. Blaine Gabbert

5. Cam Newton

6. Andy Dalton

7. Colin Kaepernick

8. Ricky Stanzi

[FUNBUNCHER]

Locker was impressive too, forgot about him(!!).

[descendency]

Cam Newton impressed me in what little I saw. I think he would benefit tons from a real offseason.

Mallett and Locker both looked like top notch QBs.

[SeanTaylorRIP]

I would start Newton over Clausen right now w/o hesitation. Newton's intermediate-mid range accuracy is a work in progress however he can throw a pretty deep ball and can hit his tight ends and check downs so given he has Steve Smith for the deep balls and Olsen and Shockey underneath with the monster duo run game he can do well even as a rookie. Between Naane and LaFell one should take that #2 spot as that big underneath WR. Also didn't they sign Darvin Adams? He should have a good rapport with Cam.

[jrdrylie]

Looks like people are really jumping to quick conclusions, especially with Mallett. These guys have gone through a week of practice and about a quarter of play, yet we are already saying they are going to be solid pros who you can build around for a decade.

As for Mallett, did he put up great numbers? Of course. But he did it against a 3rd string defense. And theye weren't third-stringers from a good defense. They were third-stringers from on of the five leadt talented defenses in the league.

[SeanTaylorRIP]

Originally Posted by jrdrylie

Looks like people are really jumping to quick conclusions, especially with Mallett. These guys have gone through a week of practice and about a quarter of play, yet we are already saying they are going to be solid pros who you can build around for a decade.

As for Mallett, did he put up great numbers? Of course. But he did it against a 3rd string defense. And theye weren't third-stringers from a good defense. They were third-stringers from on of the five leadt talented defenses in the league.

True but there are certain things about players that we wanted to see in a real gave environment for example Gabbert's deep ball, Locker's accuracy, and for Cam even coming out of center. True no one should be making any sort of assumptions off of preseason ball especially for guys like Ponder who was the 3rd QB off the bench, however we can infer based off the small things we see. The only 2 things I feel confident in making assumptions with this early on is that Kaep is in no way ready to be an NFL QB anytime soon, and the Bengals will have a lousy year with Dalton who will fail to utilize AJ Green to his full potential.

[shylo3716]

What about Tyrod, no love?

[M.O.T.H.]

Newton is obviously a work in progress, but he looks like he'd be fine playing as a rookie. He just really needs to work on that footwork. The majority of his bad throws came when he was tossing it off his back foot, or when his feet were just in an awkward position. His release point also suffered, which lead to some low throws.

I just hope he doesnt forget who he is exactly...I mean, he looks the part of a pocket passer, he stands tall in there and he has a rocket arm. But this is a player who ran for 1400 yards and 20 Tds last year. It didnt look like he had any interest in escaping the pocket in this first game. Maybe that was by design or order, but he should play into his strengths.

But yeah, they're going to have to find him some WRs in the long run, but I think he's going to be just fine. That said, dude is a major douchebag. lol. His post game interview with Rachel Nichols just further supported the fact that he's an ass. And his sideline antics dont help matters. But I love the talent and I do believe he's willing to put the work in to get better.

[General Zod]

Frazier said Ponder going to get some time with the 2nd string next week, and then with the starters the week after. So Im going to hold off any real judgement till I see more. But overall considering he was running for his life on every play, he didnt look to bad at all.

[NIN1984]

Mallet looked good. I bet Pats will end up getting a high draft pick for him in a year or two. Locker looked solid too.

[Babylon]

Originally Posted by General Zod

Frazier said Ponder going to get some time with the 2nd string next week, and then with the starters the week after. So Im going to hold off any real judgement till I see more. But overall considering he was running for his life on every play, he didnt look to bad at all.

I thought he looked good but it will be a year sitting behind the starter and that's probably a good thing. They all need to slow the game down a little and eventually working with the first stringers should help in that department.

I like the thread but wouldnt form too many impressions just yet, either way.

[bucfan12]

Listen, Mallet looked phenomenal and talent wise, yes he should have been in the discussion for the top pick. He has the makings to be top starter in this league, comparable to Drew Bledsoe, only with a stronger arm. However, his character was and is a big concern. If it's just maturity, then Belichick can mold him into a leader, but I remember in pre-draft workouts, GMs and coaches all said he's all about him and cocky.

Listen, some of these guys look good right now, but throw Cam Newton in there week 1, it's going to be A LOT different. Teams aren't throwing there defensive packages, blitz, zone coverages, and all of that crap at ya. Why do you think Rex Grossman looked so good? The Steelers weren't showing or doing anything that they normally would throw at ya.

It's preseason, and the only thing I look for is how the first/2nd team units of each team perform.

[wordofi]

Originally Posted by bucfan12

Listen, Mallet looked phenomenal and talent wise, yes he should have been in the discussion for the top pick. He has the makings to be top starter in this league, comparable to Drew Bledsoe, only with a stronger arm. However, his character was and is a big concern. If it's just maturity, then Belichick can mold him into a leader, but I remember in pre-draft workouts, GMs and coaches all said he's all about him and cocky.

Listen, some of these guys look good right now, but throw Cam Newton in there week 1, it's going to be A LOT different. Teams aren't throwing there defensive packages, blitz, zone coverages, and all of that crap at ya. Why do you think Rex Grossman looked so good? The Steelers weren't showing or doing anything that they normally would throw at ya.

It's preseason, and the only thing I look for is how the first/2nd team units of each team perform.

I feel sorry for Colin Kaepernick then.

[wordofi]

Kaepernick looks like a disaster in the making. He holds on to the ball way too long. There were times when there were multiple open targets (right in front of him), and he just wouldn't throw them the ball.

[bucfan12]

It's his first career game ever. He's got the smarts and physical tools to be a starter in this league. He's just a guy that needs time to adjust.

[proshoota25]

honestly, we need more games to start forming opinions. if these guys can succeed in preseason game 3, then we may be able to hype them up. but for now, against backups and bland base defenses, they honestly should be doing "somewhat" well

[ElectricEye]

Locker looked quite good. The throw down the field was a gusty, quick read and a real well positioned ball on a play that should have been dead to rights. He stayed with it and made something great happen with his athletic ability. Put the ball right in the place where it needed to be too. His best throws still came outside of the pocket, but Vick and Aaron Rodgers showed that you can do that in the NFL these days. He still needs some work as far as ball placement goes, but he lead his receivers to the ball pretty well last night, with the exception of the throw Cook(I think it was Cook, anyway) had to go up and get.

Mallet did well. Extremely poised and confident within the pocket. The defense even forced him to move his feet a little bit and he was able to avoid the rush, which was a big time knock on him coming out. I still find the guy hard to root for for a variety of reasons, but he looks like he has more than a fair shot to be a starter for someone down the road.

Gabbert looked pretty average. I think there's a lot he needs to work on from a footwork perspective and learning to play within the pocket. He made a few nice throws down the field early, but after some early success he looked content to check it down. The number one thing I picked up though is that he HAS to get the ball out quicker than he does, especially against the blitz. He left some easy completions on the field if he had reacted quicker to what was happening. I'll give him a bit of a pass given how young he is and how it appears that the Jaguars were just giving him two read plays to get him comfortable, but he doesn't have the look of an NFL starter right now. That's fine given that it's like two weeks into training camp and the first pre-season game.

[descendency]

In regards to Gabbert, something to consider: The patriots did NOT play starters on defense save Brandon Meriweather and Patrick Chung, but neither of them played in coverage on people Gabbert threw at.

Gabbert abused an abortion of a corner in Darius Butler.

Yeah, Mallett beat up bad 3rd stringers, but Gabbert played against 2nd stringers for the most part.

[nepg]

Lol at everyone that was hating on this qb class. Best one in years. Could end up being next-best after 1983.

[Halsey]

I still say Newton is the favorite to win ROTY. Can you really keep a talent like that on the bench for Jimmy Clausen? Carolina has a chance to be competitive this year. This year could be a chance to get some positive buzz and momentum going in that organization's favor.

[FUNBUNCHER]

Originally Posted by nepg

Lol at everyone that was hating on this qb class. Best one in years. Could end up being next-best after 1983.

Yeah it's early, but I think this will be QFT.

You have to realize NONE of these guys had OTAs or minicamps, so for most of them to even look competent in their first preseason game is a huge positive sign. Many of them looked better than competent, and you could easily see most of them being given the starting reigns early in the season.

You can question maybe some of Gabbert's decisions on where to go with the ball, but the dude has accuracy more than 15+ yards downfield. IMO he's nearly pinpoint, which is a huge shocker to me.

About Cam, I've always said he was a pocket passer born in the body of a freak athlete, and pragmatic college coaches simply chose to exploit his physical gifts. Jake Locker is even faster than Cam, but you didn't see Sarkisian running the triple option at U Dub. People stereotyped Cam as a runner because he was so good at it, but if you looked at his HS tape, the dude RARELY ran the football and never had a season where he rushed for more than 500 yards.
People wondered about Newton's passing instincts, if he had the hardwiring to make plays within the pocket. I was sold early on that he would prefer to make plays with his arm instead of his legs.

Mallett looked like a first team QB playing against backups, which is an indication that a rookie is 'special'.

None of these guys looked scared, or were spraying the ball wildly all over the football field. There was a level of control and confidence for nearly all the top guys I found surprising.

Not to 'jack this thread, but the buzzword in D.C. about Grossman is 'maturity' and the genius offensive system of Kyle Shanahan. The league is starting to figure out Pittsburgh struggles to defend spread passing attacks, they don't have the corners and their big LBs can be gassed forcing them to cover play after play out in the flat.


I think Dalton and AJ Green only need to develop better timing, Dalton has enough ability to get AJ the football over the top of a defense.

[JBCX]

Originally Posted by nepg

Lol at everyone that was hating on this qb class. Best one in years. Could end up being next-best after 1983.

This is the most blatant example of "jumping to conclusions" that I've ever seen on here.

There is *nothing* you can say about this QB draft class until at least two years have passed, minimum. You can't even begin to make sketchy assumptions until 2011 season is 10 Weeks into the regular season.

[nepg]

Originally Posted by JBCX

This is the most blatant example of "jumping to conclusions" that I've ever seen on here.

There is *nothing* you can say about this QB draft class until at least two years have passed, minimum. You can't even begin to make sketchy assumptions until 2011 season is 10 Weeks into the regular season.

Yes there is.

The QBs in this draft were an amazing bunch from a physical, athletic, and experience standpoint. They were elite talents and most of them showed great leadership skills in college. Locker, Gabbert, Mallett, and Newton are 100% legit Franchise QB prospects (in any year, by any definition...these 4 are legit guys). And they all had the same thing to work on going into the NFL...footwork - an easy fix. And all 4 look to have significantly improved in that area already. Ponder, Kaepernick, Dalton, and Stanzi all have potential to get to that level (though I don't see it with Dalton).

I had 4 going in the Top 5 of my "what teams should do" mock (5 in the Top 20)... And I wasn't that high on Ponder (he looks like he might prove me slightly wrong) and really low on Dalton (still had both in the early 2nd round). I had 8 QBs in the Top 50. Teams ****** up. Bad.

[DoughBoy]

Originally Posted by nepg

Lol at everyone that was hating on this qb class. Best one in years. Could end up being next-best after 1983.

Glad to see no one is jumping to extreme conclusions after the first preseason game.