dougthonus wrote:Hold That wrote:Understanding the playbook is a major reason why you’d prefer your QB to sit.
So if you trade for Tom Brady should you sit him so he can learn the playbook?
Tom Brady is an NFL vet and knows a plethora of defensive coverages and has seen almost every defensive coverage the NFL has to offer. He’s not a rookie having to learn both the offense AND defensive coverages so it’s not really comparable. Brady also has a long NFL tenure where he can confidently add in what he was doing in NE under a different play call and not exactly start from scratch like a rookie. He did that in TB.
You will do this better by not playing with your 1st team offense or in game conditions?
I think it’s more about confidence. Making mistakes in practice won’t be as detrimental as being in game when NFL is a game of inches and every possession matters. Of course it’s always good getting first unit reps but it’s not necessary in your first couple of weeks of development. First and second unit WR are running the same routes so it’s not that much of a difference. The only difference is the first unit runs cleaner routes and has better hands. They are still running the same exact route tree.
Again, you will do this better by not getting game reps? You are more likely to get rusty at this than improve IMO.
I don’t think it will be that much of an issue as you might think initially. You can learn the playbook and the routes with the second unit and that’s the primary focus right now. You don’t need to do that with the first unit. Once he has that down pat, then you can press to get him in with the first unit.
Fields is likely fundamentally going to be different than either Foles/Dalton regardless.
That’s really irrelevant when it comes to QB meetings. Most of them are about defensive coverages and what you’re looking at before the snap. So yes him getting insight from Dalton and Foles will do wonders from him. He doesn’t have to be like Foles or Dalton he’s in those meetings trying to learn what the defense is showing him and how to properly respond or audible.
You'll get picked on whenever you are learning eventually.
This is true, but let’s say we’re three weeks in and fields has more picks than TDs.. the media will surely call him a bust and revisit all the critiques they had of him that caused him to fail. You want him to be in the best possible situation to learn and grow. You want to make sure everything is covered before just tossing him out there. We have the luxury of having two great backups in Dalton and Foles there’s really no reason to start him week one. Most teams don’t having the QB depth we have right now.
I don’t think you can blanket statement sports and try to liken it to being an NFL QB.
I don't think people can make blanket statements about how much it helps their playing ability to not play while also not having experienced being an NFL QB.
This is also true but this is why we can look back in history and see what has worked vs what hasn’t worked when developing a QB. History tells us that it’s best to start the QB off with a clipboard
How many are thrown into the fire? How many guy whom weren't thrown into the fire still went on to suck?
Nothing is a given or guarunteed in sports. I think most organizations go with whatever usually gives you the best results in most cases, and typically having your rookie QB sit for a couple of weeks before tossing him out there is usually garners better results than throwing him into the wolves week 1.
Why do you think you're going to learn all of those things while not playing? You can literally just analyze game film against your teams offense from the day you are drafted for 4-5 months before stepping on the field. You could watch literally every offensive play and what the opposing defense did 100x in that length of time. You can study the playbook day in and day out. All of the things one could do by sitting, can be done every single day from the moment you are drafted until preseason. Day 150 of studying film and the playbook so valuable compared to days 1-149 vs the 16x a year you can actually experience what it's really like?
I’m willing to bet that fields will get first unit reps no later than week 2 maybe 3. He won’t get all the first unit reps but something around 30%.. it’s not like he’s going to be sitting on his but for weeks on end not playing in practice. He’ll get plenty of reps. I get what you’re saying there’s no better experience than actual IN GAME experience. At the same token he will be building chemistry with the second unit and some of the first unit especially if Dalton plays like Andy Dalton and Foles is the same ol Foles.
