Bens Successor Draft Thread

I agree with that last bit. I worry that he's a little too tough for his own good, but it did seem as if his only shot to make plays much of the time was to use his legs either to buy time or to take off down the field.

 

Other than Detroit and Carolinia who else do you see that needs a qb. I am betting Seattle moves ahead of Carolina to take Willis, hoping to get another Russell Wilson (Not)

 

This is a good explanation of what worries me about Willis.

 

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.c...-draft-fmia-peter-king-2022/?utm_int=Edge1248

Peter King has the Steelers taking Pickett over Willis with both guys still on the board at 20. Most importantly, he is saying that he heard that the Steelers think Pickett is more likely to succeed in the NFL than Willis. That's what I heard, too, but I have a lot more faith in his sources.

 

That's the thing. I think Pickett has the better chance of competing with the big guys, too. All Willis has that truly stands out is the arm. Sure, it's a great arm, but he has shown zero ability to read progressions and his pocket presence sucks. Think back to Kordell Stewart. Much of that athleticism goes to waste if the guy doesn't have a great feel for the pocket. i really think that is Willis's upside, Kordell Stewart, but Stewart was a lot more polished when he got to the NFL.

This idea that Pickett gives them less of a chance of having a top quarterback is nonsense. He may actually be as good of a runner as Willis. Remember, weaker competition actually made Willis look like a better runner than he will be against the pros. (Again, check out the Simms video. He explains it well.) His arm isn't as strong as Willis's, but he's got an NFL arm. He has a tremendous feel for the pocket. He buys time and makes some fantastic throws on the run. He is more accurate than Willis. He has shown a much better ability to read through progressions. He has shown that he might be able to process at the speed needed in the NFL. Willis didn't even really get the chance to show that in college. He didn't even do it against weak competition.

 

F....Simms. He got one freaking Qb correct....now He's a guru. LoL. What about all the Qbs He's been wrong about.
Judging a Qb by arm strength, and speed is like judging a boxer by how hard they hit the heavy bag, and how fast they work the double end.
I can't sleep , and I'm bored...so I'm following everyone around. LoL.
I picked up My guitar, but that just makes me less sleepy. Going 2 be a long day tomorrow.

 

I know you posted it, but you seemed to miss parts of it. Simms also pointed out that Pickett and Corral could have looked better as runners, too, if they had faced the lower-level competition Willis did. I'm not sure Willis is really going to be much more effective than Pickett as a runner, and when it comes to moving in the pocket, Pickett is the vastly superior player.

Assuming Willis can do any of those things is a huge reach. Simms also pointed out that Willis often failed to make even the simple reads the Liberty offense asked of him, holding the ball too long even when his primary receiver was open. At least initially, he is going to turn easy plays into sacks with his inability to make quick reads. That's a huge problem. If things were too fast for him at Liberty, how the hell is he going to process on the NFL level? This assumption that NFL coaching is going to fix him is dubious at best.

The thing about Pickett is that despite the limitations Simms talked about, he was outstanding in making off-script plays. He just has to do it with more fundamentals. No, he's not going to be Mahomes, but not every elite quarterback makes throws from weird angles. What he does is move well in and out of the pocket, getting his body in the proper position to throw even when things break down. You hope Willis can make special plays under pressure against quality competition. We know Pickett can do it.

Carr isn't a bad comp for Pickett, but I think Carr can be shaken more easily by pressure. Pickett seemed to have overcome that issue by his final season at Pitt.

 

What he said was that Pickett and Corral could have done the same things as Willis as a runner against Liberty's schedule. He pointed out that it is tough to gauge just how good he really is as a runner because so much of the film shows him against weaker competition and he didn't look so dominant running the ball against better teams.

Your last comment is misleading and disrespectful to those who think Pickett is the better option. I don't care where Pickett went to school and I don't think he is comparable to Marino, with the possible exception both having small hands. Marino had a better arm, one of the best I've ever seen. Pickett is much more athletic. They are very different players.

Pickett is at least as fast as Willis. He is comparable in size. He may actually be as good of a runner. He is better throwing on the run. He has a better feel for the pocket. We at least know he can go through progressions and make good decisions under pressure, something we haven't seen from Willis. There are talents other than arm strength. You don't seem to get that.

 

I don`t follow college much, but geez, that Steeler Depot comment about one read-then run, if true Willis would be garbage as QB in the NFL.

 

I have not kept up with the draft speculation Just how many teams have great need to pick a QB in the 1st round ahead of us? Sounds like just Seattle and Eagles are among the desperate.

Funny thing is I will be watching with rapt attention in the first round, hoping and praying we DO NOT take any QB, LOL.

 

That's why most people expect Willis sit this season and learn.

 

Colbert or Tomlin made an interesting point, forget which one exactly said this. But one of them said, we like people that don't run away from competition. Could Willis transferring from Auburn to Liberty be contrived as running from competition, and could it also be applied to someone like Jurkovek who went to BC from ND? Transfer portal is definitely changing the CFB game as far as people transferring for PT. This may be a reach by me, but trying to grasp their mindset.

 

Actually, dismissing it as Pitt fanboy stuff is worse than saying you are too enamored with one part of a guy's game to see the entire player clearly.