My QB rant continued:

[Charged up]

So, previously I posed the question about having a bad year to get into the QB lottery for the 2014 draft. The majority spoke and many of you were passionately against it.

Fine.

It was a rhetorical question.

But.... As I watched the games yesterday a very important aspect became apparent to me yesterday. Immobile (pocket) QB's simply have to processes information much much more quickly and accurately to be efficient.

Mobile QB's have the luxury of extending plays by 1 to 2 seconds by drifting out of the pocket. Those extra seconds will allow WR's to come free and also allow the QB spread the field even farther. Watching Luck, Kaepernick, Manuel, Geno, hell even Pryor utilize their legs to take advantage of 15 yards of open field in front of them or drifting towards a sideline waiting for a WR to come free was very noticeable to me.

IMO the days of the pure pocket passer are numbered. I love PR and he was simply outstanding for a few years. But his mobility and movement is quite honestly painful to watch and easy to game plan for. Push the pocket up front. Flush him from the pocket and you'll most likely win the down.

I guess I'm the guy that drives down the road with a nice, relatively new Cadillac that slows down, stares, and daydreams at the lot full of BMW M5's and M3's.

Tonight with the Texans pass rush we'll see if I am on par or not.

Human Torch: "FLAME ON!"

[richpjr]

Mobility is a nice bonus but it sure didn't seem to affect Manning and his 7 TD passes last Thursday...

[BoltBacker]

So, previously I posed the question about having a bad year to get into the QB lottery for the 2014 draft. The majority spoke and many of you were passionately against it.

Fine.

It was a rhetorical question.

But.... As I watched the games yesterday a very important aspect became apparent to me yesterday. Immobile (pocket) QB's simply have to processes information much much more quickly and accurately to be efficient.

Mobile QB's have the luxury of extending plays by 1 to 2 seconds by drifting out of the pocket. Those extra seconds will allow WR's to come free and also allow the QB spread the field even farther. Watching Luck, Kaepernick, Manuel, Geno, hell even Pryor utilize their legs to take advantage of 15 yards of open field in front of them or drifting towards a sideline waiting for a WR to come free was very noticeable to me.

IMO the days of the pure pocket passer are numbered. I love PR and he was simply outstanding for a few years. But his mobility and movement is quite honestly painful to watch and easy to game plan for. Push the pocket up front. Flush him from the pocket and you'll most likely win the down.

I guess I'm the guy that drives down the road with a nice relatively new Cadillac that slows down, stares, and daydreams at the lot full of BMW M5's and M3's.

Tonight with the Texans pass rush we'll see if I am on par or not.

Human Torch: "FLAME ON!"

Yeah, judging by Peyton Manning, pocket passing is dead. Keep telling yourself that.

[SFW]

I agree with you that the QB position is changing in the NFL. As you say the days are numbered for pocket passer types like Rivers and Manning. Phillip Rivers days are numbered regardless of the coming change to the style of QB play. Let us ride him out until he is no longer productive, whether it be 1 or 5 more seasons (whenever it comes).

This might be a deep QB college class coming but as you said, the position has changed and there will be many quality athletic QB's coming from college for years to come. We don't need to be a in a rush to get one this year and jettison Rivers out there door until his play dictates that. Just in the last couple seasons Newton, RG3, Kaepernick, Wilson, Smith, Luck and others have entered the league with many more along the way (Bridgewater, Hundley, Winston etc).

[Bolt-O]

I would expect that you won't see many of the run-option QBs have long careers. Accuracy goes down when you move, also, and NFL QBs can't expect receivers to be wide open. Good pocket passing QBs throw to spots, anticipating routes. Now, if the QB is accurate when moving, that's always a positive. Its just been very recent with the batch of guys coming out in the last few years, especially since there are fewer 'pro' systems out there in college.

[Coachmarkos]

Especially with the rule changes, you can't hit a qb low, you can't hit him high, if he starts to slide you cant touch him...if he's going out of bounds you can't touch him.

And, when you consider that the QB touches the ball every play...and that person has to be treated with kid gloves by the defense, it just makes sense we'll see more mobile qb's.

Doesn't mean the pocket passer is dead. If you can protect them, and combine them with an efficient running attack, good Pocket Passers will survive.

[SDFan]

remember the last wave when large (mostly) mobile QBs would change the game forever? Air McNair, Dante Culpepper, Donavan McNabb, Michael Vick- how many Super Bowls between them?

[SFW]

remember the last wave when large (mostly) mobile QBs would change the game forever? Air McNair, Dante Culpepper, Donavan McNabb, Michael Vick- how many Super Bowls between them?

Those are 4 QB's drafted over a six year span, I wouldn't really consider that a very big wave.

[Coachmarkos]

remember the last wave when large (mostly) mobile QBs would change the game forever? Air McNair, Dante Culpepper, Donavan McNabb, Michael Vick- how many Super Bowls between them?

This is true.

But the rules are different now.

And Culpepper, McNair, and McNabb all got a bit lengthy in the waist, and weren't able to run as well.

[QSmokey]

I don't necessarily see the need for a QB to be running around like a chicken with his head cut off all time. However...I do believe it is important for QB to have some sort of 'slippery-ness' in and around the pocket. A guy like Aaron Rogers, IMO, is really the prototype. He's a pocket passer, first and foremost, and only moves around after his first, second (and maybe third) options are not available. He can also scamper for a critical 1st down, if he has to. But I doubt they design any specific plays - aside from the very occasional naked bootleg (like yesterday...and he might have called that on his own) - into a typical game plan.

The irony about Rogers is that, year in and year out, he seems to be right at the top of the list when it comes to number of times sacked. That has always baffled me about him.

[TTK]

A pocket passer won the Super Bowl last year as well.

My ideal QB would be a Rodgers/Luck type. Guys who are true pocket passers and have the mobility to move around if needed but not having to design running plays/read option offense around him.

Brady isn't a mobile QB but he slides around in the pocket so well to buy an extra second or two just like a mobile QB.

Mobile QBs are fun to watch and you can make all the rules to protect them but they're still going to take big shots running (See Clay Matthews nailing Kaepernick yesterday).

[Charged up]

Mobility is a nice bonus but it sure didn't seem to affect Manning and his 7 TD passes last Thursday...

I knew that the Manning comparisons would come out. Not many QB's can do what Peyton does. Again he is a part of a dying breed. That being said create direct pressure in front of him and you'll have the advantage. I've seen it and we've done it against him.

Especially with the rule changes, you can't hit a qb low, you can't hit him high, if he starts to slide you cant touch him...if he's going out of bounds you can't touch him.

And, when you consider that the QB touches the ball every play...and that person has to be treated with kid gloves by the defense, it just makes sense we'll see more mobile qb's.

Doesn't mean the pocket passer is dead. If you can protect them, and combine them with an efficient running attack, good Pocket Passers will survive.

A few maybe. Defenses know that to win the game against a classic pocket passer simply collapse the pocket. They don't need a spy or worry about scrambling. Collapse the pocket will equate a win more times than not. I think the bubble they are creating around QB's is a joke. It's football and they are a part of a contact sport. I agree with you the rule changes are going to enable mobile QB's.

I just want to see a bright future for our Chargers. 2001-'10 were good years probably the best stretch in the Chargers history. I would like to see that continue. I just don't want to see us ride an aging PR into the sunset.