As to the ongoing discussion of college QB's "padding" their stats with short completions - they all do it. Luck, Foles, Jones, Griffin, etc. All of them take the underneath passes if that is what the D is giving them.

FWIW, Barkley plays tonight on ESPN.

Saturday at noon you can watch Griffin go up against Tannehill at noon on FX.

In the evening you can watch Luck and Jones carve up two horrible defenses and pad their stats even further.

hahahahahahaha ROFL

Take this for what it's worth from a Mel Kiper chat yesterday.


Jim (Minnesota)
What is keeping Matt Barkley from being a top 5 pick?

Mel Kiper (1:03 PM)
First of all, he doesn't have elite skills. He doesn't have the big time arm strength. He doesn't have the wow you over ability. He's a traditional pro style pocket passer. He can throw on the move. But he's not a scrambler. He won't wow you over. He's not 6-4. Elite skills is what he's lacking. But he's a good QB. He'll be a mid first rounder.

also later on....


danilo (boston)
Mel, do you see Landry Jones as a top 10 pick? When I watch him he doesn't seem to go through progressions and looks flustered when pressure is in his face.

Mel Kiper (1:12 PM)
Yeah, I do. I think he goes in the top 10. I have him No. 4 overall on the Big Board right now. He's a junior right now and he has some options. Jones won't be the No. 1 pick and he knows that. If he wants to be the No. 1 pick, he goes back to Oklahoma for another year. Robert Griffin III at Baylor debuts at 19 on my Big Board this year and he could go back again.

The fact that he made it his first post ever on the Planet makes it all the better. I know I'm a "newbie" here, but holy crap... First impressions are the one's that stick...

... back to pondering what the hell that "something else" is exactly...

How would you rank the top 5 qb's in regards to strongest arm...or most accurate deep ball, I guess.

I am going to assume that something else is code for he has herpes in the ear.

Watched a part of last night's USC game and just rewatched the clip of Matt Barkley above.

Yeah think I see what Mel Kiper says in that his tools are just average. Not elite.

I've seen so much of RG3 this year, seeing one of his competitors was a little shocking. Matt flat out doesn't have the tools RG3 has.

After going through Trent Green (who was a good QB but didn't wow you with his throws) and Matt "noodle arm" Cassel, it would be nice to for once have a QB that scared the D a little knowing they have to defend every part of the field.

RG3 is going to make defenses respect the pass about as much as Barkley. The only difference is that they will also have to defend him running.

You are getting carried away with the numbers. Barkley plays in a pro style offense, RG3 plays in a spread. RG3 isn't going to turn the Chiefs into a down field threat. He, too, doesnt have that cannon for an arm.

People were getting all wet over Collin Kaepernick last year. He has that cannon for an arm. Where is he now? Backing up Alex Smith in SF because he's an awful NFL QB. Now, I'm not saying that RG3 is Kaepernick, I'm saying ignore the numbers.

Right. I'm not focusing on the numbers. I've pointed out in the past the 80% completion percentage because I was trying to point out that this isn't just another scrambling QB who can't pass. I think clearly he can.

But I'm not getting too caught up in that number. Ultimately #s in college doesn't mean much. See Colt Brennan.

I'm talking pure tools. I think when you compare the two, Barkley & RG3, I think it's hands down RG3. Not saying RG3 has a cannon. But it appears to be plenty strong from what I see. Barkley is projected to be a mid 1st right now while RG3 is mid 1st at very best. Probably late and possibly 2nd. For my money? I'll take RG3 over Barkley right now.

I wasn't big on the Kaepernick bandwagon but I'll say this. I think to say he's back up Alex Smith in SF because he's an awful NFL QB is pretty short sighted.

He's a 2nd round pick rookie coming from a spread offense. You can't call him awful because he doesn't have that job yet. You have to give him time.

And I wouldn't expect RG3 to be the day 1 starter for us next year if we were to draft him. He's going to need a little time to learn the NFL game.

RGIII has a better arm than Barkley from where I am sitting. He consistently puts better velocity on his passes.

I agree. I don't see a weak arm from Griffin.

I also think it's asinine to write off Kaepernick at this point.

Kaepernick is not starting because they don't need him to start right now.

The SF starting job was up for grabs before the season started. They drafted a QB because they needed one. Alex Smith won it because he is hands down a better NFL QB. He's always had talent but people never gave him a chance behind one of the worst offensive lines throughout his career and a different OC every single year. The guy just put up the single best game of the year in the QBR with a 98.2 against Tampa. If Kaepernick ever takes a snap as a starting NFL QB, outside of some injury to the #1, I'll be shocked.

Kapernick is not starting because he was nowhere near ready to start. Alex Smith play just made sitting Kapernick on the bench until he's ready an easier decision.

I got a few opportunities to see him play in the preseason. Saw some good things from him, but he clearly wasn't used to the NFL speed yet.