Awesometrax
New member
Basically nailed it. Mechanically speaking.. this picture shows what concerned scouts. Notice where he is holding the ball as a QB in college:
And notice it in the pros:
Major difference. Rodgers gets the ball out quicker with the pro delivery and is less susceptible to passes being knocked down as he is allowed to get more velocity on the ball. Not to mention if a blitzing DE or LB comes around, it's much easier to knock the ball out of his hands if it's up near the ear as opposed to around the chest.
So there was that concern. There was the concern he was more of a system QB, especially given how bad other Tedford QB's had flopped up until Rodgers (Trent Dilfer, David Carr, Akili Smith, Joey Harrington, Kyle Boller). There were concerns he wasn't a starter long enough at Cal (he started just under two full seasons at QB).
In the end though, Alex Smith was just as much a risk as Rodgers.. if not more. As Smith played in a very unorthodox offense as opposed to Rodgers playing in a Pro-Style attack. Supposedly both players were impressive in their workouts, but the Niners liked Smith a little bit more because they felt he was a bit more polished than Rodgers coming out of school.
Obviously they probably want that pick back, just like mostly everyone else in need of a QB with the opportunity to take him probably does.
I think you hit the nail on the head with that... plus didn't Rodgers say something along the lines of expecting to be the number one pick before the draft, and teams took that as being too cocky for their liking, so they put a red flag on him? Or am I off base with that?
