Skills of modern quarterbacks

Celtsfan1980 · Post #1 » by **Celtsfan1980** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 12:53 pm

It seems to me like a lot of throws are basic 4 or 5 yard passes with today's "good" quarterbacks. Any person 6 ft. 2 who has any ability to throw long passes and can handle pressure can become a very good quarterback in today's NFL. Probably the reason there's so many good ones. The skill gap between Romo, Ben, and Eli(if there is one) is small. The skill gap between Romo and Peyton Manning is also small. Compared to other professions(a dancer, for instance) do you think being a good quarterback requires much skill?

El Turco · Post #2 » by **El Turco** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 2:01 pm

assuming peyton is done for, there are only 2 elite qbs in the league. so yeah, 2 out of hundreds that play the position tells me it is pretty damn difficult.

RavenMad31 · Post #3 » by **RavenMad31** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 3:04 pm

Does playing NFL quarterback require much skill? Is this a serious question? There are about 15-18 of them in the world that do it well enough to be considered good at their job. I'm not even going to go into dissecting the actual things they have to do in order to be good. That should be obvious to anyone interested enough in football to be posting on a message board about it.

therealbig3 · Post #4 » by **therealbig3** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 3:07 pm

The intelligence required to play QB in the NFL is unparalleled by any other position. Not to mention the arm strength, the vision, the accuracy, and the pocket awareness you need to have. Being mobile is becoming more and more emphasized as well. And you have to have great leadership qualities as well.

It's probably the most difficult position to play at a high level in the NFL. That's why they get paid the most.

LAKESHOW · Post #5 » by **LAKESHOW** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 4:25 pm

wait a minute, your name is celtsfan 1980, and you left out "YOU KNOW WHO" from your list? As vince Lombardi once said, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOIN ON AROUND HERE?"

Post #6 » by **bwgood77** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 5:03 pm

Celtsfan1980 wrote:It seems to me like a lot of throws are basic 4 or 5 yard passes with today's "good" quarterbacks. Any person 6 ft. 2 who has any ability to throw long passes and can handle pressure can become a very good quarterback in today's NFL. Probably the reason there's so many good ones. The skill gap between Romo, Ben, and Eli(if there is one) is small. The skill gap between Romo and Peyton Manning is also small. Compared to other professions(a dancer, for instance) do you think being a good quarterback requires much skill?

Considering there are only about 20-25 good nfl quality qbs in the world, yes, I'd say it requires quite a bit of skill.

Higga · Post #7 » by **Higga** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 5:43 pm

Playing any sport at a professional level requires incredible skill. Clown question bro.

Celtsfan1980 · Post #8 » by **Celtsfan1980** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 6:24 pm

The "compared to other professions" part of my question is being completely ignored. I hear of swimmers, gymnasts, and figure skaters practicing very long hours on a regular basis. Do quarterbacks do the same? Most people are not 6 ft. 2 and therefore are at a big disadvantage.

Post #9 » by **Worm Guts** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 7:35 pm

The big challenge of being a QB is understanding your offense and opposing defenses. The ability to know what you need to do and then do it within 2-3 seconds you have.
I don't know that QB's need to spend a lot of time practicing or working out, relatively speaking, they need to a lot of studying though.

cl2117 · Post #10 » by **cl2117** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 7:48 pm

Celtsfan1980 wrote:The "compared to other professions" part of my question is being completely ignored. I hear of swimmers, gymnasts, and figure skaters practicing very long hours on a regular basis. Do quarterbacks do the same? Most people are not 6 ft. 2 and therefore are at a big disadvantage.

Of course they practice for long hours on a regular basis. Those that don't flame out. It's probably at least on par with any of the other athletes that you've mentioned.

It's not just about being tall, there are plenty of QBs who aren't 6'2 who have been tremendously successful. It takes an incredible amount of skill and awareness to be a QB. Not only to be able to make all of the throws physically, but to read defenses, understand where the ball needs to be, hold up under pressure in the pocket, make decision at the line of scrimmage. It's incredibly hard and they work incredibly hard to get there. It's not just about putting in time on the field and in the weight room, they have to put in hours and hours breaking down film and studying. To suggest that it just has to do with height goes to show you don't realize what it actually entails to not just be a QB, but to be one of the few that are actually good at that level.

Current QBs 6ft and under: Brees, Wilson, Vick, Manziel (although he's been ****). NFL greats: Dawson, Tarkenton, Theisman and my personal favorite Doug Flutie.

Higga · Post #11 » by **Higga** » Tue Sep 15, 2015 8:33 pm

Celtsfan1980 wrote:The "compared to other professions" part of my question is being completely ignored. I hear of swimmers, gymnasts, and figure skaters practicing very long hours on a regular basis. Do quarterbacks do the same? Most people are not 6 ft. 2 and therefore are at a big disadvantage.

Yes.

Being among the best QBs in the league means you're in the top 1% of the top 1% of a very exclusive field. It requires an insane amount of work.

Yoshun · Post #12 » by **Yoshun** » Wed Sep 16, 2015 3:26 am

A lot of people on RealGM seem to really downplay football and what it takes to play it. I'm not really sure I understand why.

Celtsfan1980 · Post #13 » by **Celtsfan1980** » Wed Sep 16, 2015 1:04 pm

Romo and Eli are two quarterbacks who frequently make bad decisions that even a 12-year old could figure out they should not have thrown the football. Peyton's horrible pass vs. New Orleans in the Super Bowl, and O'Donnell doing it twice vs. Dallas. How much intelligence can they possibly have?

Using Vick and Manziel as two of your quarterbacks 6 feet and under doesn't help your case. Vick is a mediocre quarterback who is lucky he was signed by anyone. You can succeed when you're shorter but it's much more difficult.

RavenMad31 · Post #14 » by **RavenMad31** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 4:28 pm

Celtsfan1980 wrote:Romo and Eli are two quarterbacks who frequently make bad decisions that even a 12-year old could figure out they should not have thrown the football. Peyton's horrible pass vs. New Orleans in the Super Bowl, and O'Donnell doing it twice vs. Dallas. How much intelligence can they possibly have?

Using Vick and Manziel as two of your quarterbacks 6 feet and under doesn't help your case. Vick is a mediocre quarterback who is lucky he was signed by anyone. You can succeed when you're shorter but it's much more difficult.

I question your intelligence since you aren't able to differentiate between a 12 year old watching on TV, in his living room with the benefit of hindsight. How well do you think that 12 year old would do if he were in the position to have to execute those plays? You know what? I'm just going to stop here. The fact I even have to explain this shows you don't belong in this conversation.

cl2117 · Post #15 » by **cl2117** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 5:03 pm

Celtsfan1980 wrote:Romo and Eli are two quarterbacks who frequently make bad decisions that even a 12-year old could figure out they should not have thrown the football. Peyton's horrible pass vs. New Orleans in the Super Bowl, and O'Donnell doing it twice vs. Dallas. How much intelligence can they possibly have?

Using Vick and Manziel as two of your quarterbacks 6 feet and under doesn't help your case. Vick is a mediocre quarterback who is lucky he was signed by anyone. You can succeed when you're shorter but it's much more difficult.

Honestly you can't imagine how difficult it is to make those decisions sitting in the pocket until you have actually tried to.

It's not like Madden. It's not as easy to read what defensive scheme they're running. They can show you one thing and drop into an entirely different coverage. It could look like man and be zone, it could be cover 2 and they drop into cover 4 etc. etc. You've got to take into consideration blitz coverages and check downs. All that before you even snap the ball.

Then you've got to diagnose it as it happens, while trying to feel the pressure without actually looking at it, and then make the throw putting it in the right spot.

It's crazy difficult.