MathTeacherMike said:
concordtom said:
Oski87 said:
Strykur said:
MilleniaBear said:
He has a good chance. Shockingly the NFL is not good at rating QBs. Check out the last 4 or 5 drafts. Many busts or soon to be busts.
QBs drafted in recent years who did not have lots of playing time in college have busted spectacularly, the ones who have played lots of games (Jayden Daniels, Justin Herbert, Bo Nix, Jalen Hurts), have done much better. CJ Stroud has been the interesting outlier.
QB right now is much more about processing speed and toughness and much less about ability to throw and run. Of course you have to run and throw - and having a great arm and learning accuracy is super important. But playing and figuring out the game and understanding defenses is much more important. That is why Brady and Mahomes and Rodgers and Manning have been the best QBs for the past 20 years - they understand where everything is on the field and the defense and know exactly where to attack. And why lots of other people who have amazing arms fail.
It is yet to be seen how good Mendoza is at this but he seems to be getting better each week, which is the sign of a good professional. I expect him to be a very good NFL QB eventually. He has the attitude and the aptitude to make it work. I think if he continues on this trajectory - just like JG did - he will get a really good payday and play a while in the NFL.
This is exactly what I was thinking.
It's less about the running, the gun arm, or even prototypical size in the pocket as it is knowing what's what pre snap and the first second after snap.
Mendoza "looks" well enough the part to me. But I have no idea about his mental processing. So, we'll see!
You guys have got to be kidding. NFL quarterbacks have elite level skills - speed, escapability, arm strength, accuracy, size and decision making. To say that its "less about the running, the gun arm, or even prototypical size in the pocket" is absolute nonsense. There are countless first-round quarterbacks that have been selected in the first round solely on physical potential. I love Nando, but his NFL measurables and skills are ALL below average. Well below average in most cases. Relative to a starting qb in the NFL, Nando is slow with very poor escape-ability and terrible pocket "feel." He has below average arm strength, suspect accuracy and physically frail when compared to an NFL QB. He has show himself to be a very poor decisionmaker and has come up small in every one of our important games/drives this year. Virtually every game we have lost this year has come down to our offence making good on a critical drive - yet he has never done it. He is the 58th rated college quarterback as of today (argue with the metric - but it is what it is).
Nando looks to be a good kid, and the best we got, so I'll always be a fan of his. But to look at him and see a NFL level quarterback is delusional. Average college qb at best.
I think the chances you are right are greater than 90%, approaching 100%, but I would never write off anyone's dream and potential to improve if they show they are putting in the effort to learn and improve (what I haven't seen from Wilcox in his 8 years).
Fernando has already shown tremendous improvement from last year. He is no longer a turnover machine, in fact he is now the opposite (well until Syracuse). Many of the weaknesses you accurately cite (and more): his strength, his pocket awareness, his staring down primary receivers, his touch on short passes… all these things can be improved over the next two years. Many come with experience. Tom Brady evolved into a better QB than he was in college.
Moreover, in 4 of our 5 losses the issue was not that Fernando "couldn't" lead us to victory, the issue was that Fernando was already leading us to victory and the coaches took it out of his hands, running up the middle and playing for FGs.
Again, you are probably right, I agree with your present assessment but I would never write the kid off. But I also disagreed with the many fans who wrote off Sam Jackson last year after only 3 college starts and three wins. I see potential in Fernando and I am rooting for him. I also really hope we still land Sagapolutele. That kid is a stud.