Quote:
Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy
I'm not sure how since he wasn't exactly a great college QB. I would feel more comfortable with a guy that did it in college and has the tools like Bradford did his entire career and Ryan did his senior year.
I just didn't see a great QB when I watched the MU games, but I really didn't see a great QB when I watched Freeman at KSU either and he worked out pretty well so far. Freeman has been a better pro then college QB so maybe Gabbert will surprise me and do the same.
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I think, like with Freeman, it was more of a reflection of the school than the player. Put him in the right situation, with some good coaching and quality players, and I think he has all the attributes to thrive.
This is an outside opinion, of course. I'm not a big 12 guy, and I don't follow Missouri any more or less than I follow anybody else in the NCAA. I've seen him play probably a dozen times over the last couple of years, and what I saw was a guy with prototypical size who has a rocket launcher attached to his shoulder. He'll play hurt, he's played in high profile games, and he's won games at a school that traditionally doesn't with what I consider to be high second tier talent, although to his credit I think Pinkel has turned them into a winning program. In any case, I can see why Harbaugh wanted him at Stanford.
On the flip side, he does play out of a spread, but these days who doesn't? That's just a risk you have to take (same risk Bradford had - plus Bradford missed virtually an entire year to injury...).
All that said, I do not think he's a top-5 or even top-10 calibre pick. But I do think he's a first round calibre QB. Others will argue this (much like they did with Sanchez), but I'm not somebody who likes the idea of a project early. And Gabbert is, in my mind, a project. But the upside on him is through the roof.
As far as Newton goes, he's the latest product of the hype machine. I don't care how athletically gifted he is (and there's no debate about that...), the fact is he's a junior with one year starting experience on an utterly loaded team. I wouldn't touch him with a twenty foot pole. He has disaster written all over him.
Mallet has top pick talent with a UDFA brain. For years I waited for him to grow into what I thought he could be when I first saw him at Michigan, and he never did. He'll look like Joe Montana with Dan Marino's arm grafted to his shoulder and then all of a sudden just do something that leaves you scratching your head.
In the end, I don't think any of these guys are really worth discussion as far as the Chiefs goes. I think this franchise is way, way more likely to go for a game manager the likes of Greg McElroy. I'm not saying I like that, or that it's what I want, just that that's the kind of player I think they'll go for.