Cerberus
In Dog We Trust
Jake Locker could be the third quarterback taken in the draft. He seems high for the Titans at No. 8 or the Jaguars at No. 16, but Tennessee needs a QB badly and Jacksonville is overdue to develop one.
A trade down or a second-round pick certainly mean he’s potentially in play for either team.
Here’s an excellent feature on Locker from Seth Wickersham, who wonders if Locker, widely regarded as the No. 1 overall pick if he’d come out in the 2010 draft, has changed or if it’s the way evaluators are looking at him?
“…Locker isn't really to blame for this downward spiral. He's a victim of a very subjective science: quarterback evaluation, which often reveals as much about the evaluators as it does about their subject. Because while scouts analyze every trait imaginable, from leadership to arm strength, final grades are based on an individual's beliefs about what matters most. That's why three football men can watch the same player during the same game, sometimes the same throw, and derive three different assessments.
“To prove it, The Magazine visited an offensive coordinator for an NFC team and two directors of college scouting (one each from the AFC and the NFC) and watched as each broke down Locker's best game from last season: a 35-34 double-overtime win over Oregon State in which he completed 21 of 35 passes for 286 yards and five touchdowns. These experts identified a variety of flaws, and their evaluations are critical: Overvaluing a QB could cost their team millions of dollars and set the organization back years in terms of development. So scouts tend to view perceived weaknesses in absolute terms, assuming a QB's flaws in college always carry over to the NFL -- and they cover their butts by telling their bosses as much. Which brings us back to Locker. Hell-bent on proving he can overcome any perceived shortcomings, he has armed himself with a brain specialist and a QB coach in preparation for his NFL career. We visited with them, too.”
You’ll find quality, behind the scenes insight here. If you’re like me you’ll come out of it liking Locker as a prospect more than you did before you read it.
A trade down or a second-round pick certainly mean he’s potentially in play for either team.
Here’s an excellent feature on Locker from Seth Wickersham, who wonders if Locker, widely regarded as the No. 1 overall pick if he’d come out in the 2010 draft, has changed or if it’s the way evaluators are looking at him?
“…Locker isn't really to blame for this downward spiral. He's a victim of a very subjective science: quarterback evaluation, which often reveals as much about the evaluators as it does about their subject. Because while scouts analyze every trait imaginable, from leadership to arm strength, final grades are based on an individual's beliefs about what matters most. That's why three football men can watch the same player during the same game, sometimes the same throw, and derive three different assessments.
“To prove it, The Magazine visited an offensive coordinator for an NFC team and two directors of college scouting (one each from the AFC and the NFC) and watched as each broke down Locker's best game from last season: a 35-34 double-overtime win over Oregon State in which he completed 21 of 35 passes for 286 yards and five touchdowns. These experts identified a variety of flaws, and their evaluations are critical: Overvaluing a QB could cost their team millions of dollars and set the organization back years in terms of development. So scouts tend to view perceived weaknesses in absolute terms, assuming a QB's flaws in college always carry over to the NFL -- and they cover their butts by telling their bosses as much. Which brings us back to Locker. Hell-bent on proving he can overcome any perceived shortcomings, he has armed himself with a brain specialist and a QB coach in preparation for his NFL career. We visited with them, too.”
You’ll find quality, behind the scenes insight here. If you’re like me you’ll come out of it liking Locker as a prospect more than you did before you read it.