Slow Surgeons Still Supreme

Steve Young was a scrambling quarterback that eventually found his way to the Hall-Of-Fame by distributing the football to his receivers more than his rambling runs around and through defensive secondaries.  Michael Vick looked like he might usher in a new wave of "Best Athlete On The Field" plays quarterback, just like in elementary school, but he derailed his career with prison stay.  Who knows what he may have been able to do after taking the Atlanta Falcons to the NFC Championship so long ago.  Vick's star barely has a glow left in it as he tries to make it back on the field following another concussion, the biggest concern coaches have with employing a mobile QB.

What hasn't changed in the NFL and isn't going to any time soon is that the slow-footed surgical passers are still what is going to win with regularity.  Tom Brady and Peyton Manning ran 5.0 forty yard dash times as they got ready to enter the NFL.  Neither has gotten faster over the years, but after a decade in the game, they stand far above the rest as the best the game has to offer.

Knowledge of the game and their respective offenses and getting the ball out of their hands and putting it into their receivers hands with great accuracy is what separates QB's in the NFL.  Fast quarterbacks that rely on their legs as much as their arms eventually have to make a significant transition in understanding how to play the game with their minds.  Vick has not been able to make that transition well enough to take the Philadelphia Eagles to elite status and it looks as if they will move away from him to their young pass Nick Foles, a significantly different style player.

The guy that might meld the two together the best is the up and coming Colin Kaepernick of the San Fransisco 49ers.  He can pass with great accuracy and is a very big man as well and won't get knocked around like Vick when he does choose to use his legs to his advantage, but in his short time as the starter in San Fransisco, he seems to run the offense and see the field very well for a young guy.  As he matures, keep watching those old guys carve up defenses and put their teams in position to win championships!

Concussion Weekend For QB's

Heisman Trophy front-runner Collin Klein of Kansas State didn't finish Saturday's victory due to an undisclosed injury, thought to be a mild concussion.  Sunday followed with multiple NFL QB's getting knocked out of their games with concussions, inlcuding Michael Vick's "significant" one. 

Alex Smith of the San Fransisco 49ers didn't make it to the finish line of his team's tie, the first tie in the NFL in a few years.  And Jay Cutler was also done early due to a concussion.

Vick has been on top of the list for starting QB's getting replaced each week, alongside Mark Sanchez of the Jets.  Vick's replacement Nick Foles looked pretty good in his stead and the Eagles need something to change, so this may give Andy Reid the breathing room to make the switch.

The Bears don't seem to be in as good a position on back-up QB, so they will be hoping Cutler gets back quickly.  On the 49ers watch, even though Alex Smith has resurrected his career with Jim Harbaugh and generally played well and kept his team at the top of the division, his huge back-up Collin Kaepernick is one to watch out for taking over that franchise in the near future!  Kaepernick seems to have it all, so even a small slip-up by Smith may give the feisty and firey Harbaugh a much quicker hook than would otherwise be warranted.  The NFL--Not For Long.