A system guy in college football refers to the option, spread, and the Run N Shoot which those 3 do not normally become great QB's in the NFL.

That's what always irritated me about Trent Green's detractors, throwing the "system" label on him like it was a bad thing, or some type of weakness of his. I'll take a "system" QB that throws for 4,000 yards and 20+ TD's on a yearly basis over a guy who can "do it all".

I think when they say system QBs, they're talking about how particular colleges rely on the shotgun or unusual formations that you don't see in the NFL, and that these formations will generally be pass-friendly and kind to his numbers, making the prospect look a lot better on paper and in the field than he will in the NFL.

Like, look at Hawaii. They run out of a shotgun every single play, with zero running game. That makes Brennan's numbers great, making him a system QB.

I'm interested in hearing why you think Montana was not a system QB.

Montana won many, many games on the strength of his ability. There is a lot more to being a quarterback than how far you can throw a ball.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't that when this phrase (system QB) started? Was with Montana and the Bill Parcels dubbed Bll Walsh ran West coast offense.

Trent Green. Yes, Joe Montana was a west coast system QB.

I agree completely. The thing that Walsh was so great at was taking advantage of the QB's ability, then game planning and putting that together then creating situations to be succesful.

Now, was it all the system? of course not. But he did benifit greatly from it.

To me when someone says a college QB is a "systems QB" it is a negative way of saying the coaches built a limited offensive playbook around the QB that didn't require the QB to do all of the things an NFL QB is needed to do. It also tends to inflate a college QB's stats. Often it utilizes a shotgun formation and spread offense (like Brennan and/or Woodson in this years draft or Leftwich from years ago). Those QB's will have a more difficult time in the NFL taking snaps from center and their accuracy may not be as good as what in college because in college they had 4-5 WR's going up against inferior defensive talent.

David Klinger, Andre Ware, etc. were system quarterbacks. That is why they couldn't cut it in the NFL. You could have put Montana in any system and he would have looked good, because he was good.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a system QB. As long as he's playing in the right system.

You can be a Montana fan and still acknowledge he was a system QB, probably the best system QB to ever play the game.
Do you think Montana would have won as many games as Favre or Elway if he had played on the teams either of those had; teams that required the QB to carry the game in many of their seasons?

BTW, I'm not saying 'system QB' is a negative, I don't think it is at all. I consider the term to mean the QB has mastered the offense and runs it at top capacity.

it's only bad if you have your QB in the wrong system.

EVERY quarterback should be a system QB for YOUR system.



it's just an excuse for coaches who don't know how to really teach a QB how to play.

Yep.. that term always angered me. Of course Alex Smith and Tim Tebow are both QB's who made it in Meyer's "system". Maybe some truth to the Smith thing though.

Either way, we should definitely never draft system qb's until we get an actual system.

Amnorix, everyone knows that Matt Ryan is wicked awesome. Now clean that sand out of your gina. ;)