QB position in 2026

Someone <snip> like FormerScribe would point out that the Browns got a Pro Bowl QB in the 5th round last year.

Mod Edit: Let’s not do that.

 

You probably know this from my posts on the old board:

1. Accuracy
2. Processing speed
3. Decisionmaking
4. Arm strength
5. Mobility

In that order....

 

I believe that NFL teams get it backwards far too often. I do not think that it is as hard as they make it out to tell guys that are NOT going to succeed in the NFL. But NFL coaches or GMs or somebody are big enough believers in themselves that they consistently believe they can "fix" guys.

But, most of the time, they can not. You have two ends of a spectrum. One side is all physical freaks that don't have the mental side for the position like Richardson and Fields. I do not think it is all that hard to project that they were not getting fixed. The other side is the all mental guys with physical deficits. It also isn't hard to see that they won't be able to make up the gap. I do not want to restart a debate by naming one of the latest in a long line of examples.

The challenge for the NFL and everyone else is finding the guy that is the right blend of the two. Rodgers doesn't work to fix his mechanics and who knows how his career goes? I remember reading that Mahomes would never work in the NFL because he was too much of an Air Raid gunslinger. I (and others) totally wrote of Josh Allen after his first couple of seasons...but that was way wrong.

Personally, I find it almost impossible to believe that there simply is no way of knowing how a kid will respond to coaching and all that. We can measure just about everything else in every facet of life. I am not saying that there is some test or metric that will get it perfect....but I think that if NFL teams reoriented their approach and rethought how they scouted QBs....they could greatly increase their success rate.

 

I think the biggest issue is probably that there aren't enough humans that can play QB in the NFL. And doing well in college doesn't seem to be correlated to doing well in the NFL. I think the super-human decision making ability required to consistently make good passes at the speed of the NFL just isn't something that people can scout. But it's very obvious when a QB has a super-fast 40 time.

So I don't know that it's necessarily hubris (although I guess that's required to be an NFL HC - or player). It's kind of "let's take our best shot here". Or "we need to field a team and maybe I can construct an offense around a superior athlete because there aren't enough guys who can be above average at passing".

 

Yep. I think we've had discussions kind of like this before.

I like your list. I think that processing speed / decision making are similar.

And personally, I'd probably put processing speed above accuracy (although I think both are very important).

I think coaches can do things to affect accuracy re: footwork and release etc.

I think processing speed is just something guys have or they don't. I think the inability to process and make decisions at an NFL level is why most QBs fail.

But I agree with you that that accuracy is also critically important. NFL QBs can't wait until guys are open to throw the ball. And they need to fit it into tight windows.

They won't have the benefit of throwing to a future NFL'er who's being covered by a guy who isn't even going to be on a practice squad like they do in the NFL.

 

That is as good an explanation as any and very likely the case.

We can see in other sports that the people making the decisions are often very slow to change and hold on to outdated/incorrect beliefs for a long time. I just wonder what the NFL holds to be true that is actually contributing to the whole "no one knows anything about QBs" issue?

I have no idea what it is...

But I often wonder if some of this is the negative side of the NFL being basically a closed loop. All this talk of coaching trees...if you look at it from another angle is really just saying that there are a small handful of philosophies about pro football and they just get repeated over and over again with new faces. Innovation is really criticized in the NFL and most teams are too risk averse to even try it. Usually only out of desperation to save jobs. Then look at how many places people are playing organized football at the non-NFL level. Hard to believe that there are so few new ideas and innovative strategies out there.

 

I hear you, and pretty much agree.

 

I would agree if you were correct but you are not

First off he did not string them along last year both sides had an agreement long before he actually signed

I explained that repeatedly last year

Second the Steelers have not offered him a contract for this year so how can he be at it again this year

Please do your homework and stick to facts not

 

I would go ...
1. Process speed/Decision-making
2. Accuracy/timing
3. Arm Strength
4. Heart
5. Willing to learn, and see their own deficiencies.
6. Mobility
JMO

 

AR knows he is getting a offer , AR knows he is coming back ..It's all gamesmanship and smart at that ..No need to tell the NFL that the Team is out of the QB market .. If another Team likes a QB they may move up in front of them and let a higher level prospect get closer to the Steelers..Or some Team may simply pick a QB in front of us for fear we will take them..

No need to give up any info until the draft is over..

 

A valid point here but I'm thinking the opposite. If the Steelers had the intention of wanting to draft a QB this year wouldn't you want AR to declare before the draft? Teams might then view the Steelers as out of the QB market at least for the first few rounds and thus the Steelers target may slip to them later.

 

Yes it would be if the QB market was strong ..In a weak class Teams are going to reach only a few with forced first round grades it helps the Team to still appear to be in the market...Plus Teams know we have a history or reaching at the QB spot..

 

Do you really think having AR puts us out of the QB market

 

DOBBS

 

To some extent, I think processing speed can be developed. But the college game doesn't always do that for QBs, not to the level required in the NFL. I think the Arena league really helped develop it for Kurt Warner. You need to practice something on a regular basis to get better at it.

 

Steelers will be in the market until they find their guy.

 

Exactly

 

What do you think... Does the Steelers refusal to offer Skylar Thomson a future 2026 contract mean they are 100% sure going to take a QB in the draft?

Right now they only have 2 QBs under contract. You need to take 4 QBs to camp, and you really don't want to take 5. If they are assuming Rodgers is coming back, that gives them only one place to fill.

Before Skylar Thompson's injury I had Skylar making the 53 man roster as QB #3, so I don't under stand why the Steelers have not signed him to a Future/Reserve contract yet.

 

Boy needs to learn to fight.
Paddy kicked Skylar's arse I tell ya
He got his world SHAMROCKED!

 

Again, for me, Beck and Allar are the only two QBs worthy of being drafted for they adhere to the criteria that successfully translates into the NFL. It is as follows:

1. Watch their heads when they are holding the ball in the pocket. Are they going through their progressions or not? Does it look like they are actually moving their heads and reading coverage post-snap, and are able to look at two or more of their targets regularly when dropping back? One of the skills NFL quarterbacks need to have is the ability to make two or more reads.
   
   
2. Are they getting the ball out of their hand quickly? With the kinds of speed pass-rushing demons screaming off the edges in today’s NFL game, it’s vitally important that college quarterbacks show the ability to get the ball out of their hand in a timely fashion. The NFL range for NFL QBs time to throw in 2025 was between 2.56 seconds and 3.24 seconds per Next Gen Stats.
   
   
3. Accurate throws. Watch the throwing locations. Is the quarterback you’re watching able to deliver the ball in a spot that puts the receiver in the best possible position to pick up yardage after the catch?
   
   
4. Keeping the ball out of harm’s way is extremely important. This is also referred to as “ball security.” Do they have the ability to keep defenders from touching their passes? I don’t just mean interceptions either. I also mean PBUs (passes broken up). I personally chart PBUs during college quarterback game film study.
   
   
5. How well can they adapt to the flow of the game post-snap?

These five factors translate very well into the NFL. If you have these five things in your QB and if said QB can do all five on a consistent basis, you truly have something great to work with. As far as I am concerned, Beck and Allar are the only two that fall under this criteria.