GREAT ARTICLE on Andre

[BigBlue75]

http://www.nfl.com/draft/story?id=09000d5d808086fb&template=with-video&confirm=true&campaign=ec0005

NEW YORK -- Tom Brady (http://www.nfl.com/players/tombrady/profile?id=BRA371156) was drafted eight years ago at pick No. 199.
Andre Woodson went to the Giants on Sunday afternoon at pick No. 198.
Similarities exist in these sixth-round picks. Both are quarterbacks with big arms. Both possess superior football intelligence. Both found their college production relatively ignored.
And the major common element: Too many teams passed on these two snappy passers.



I am not saying that Woodson is Brady.

I am saying that Woodson was certainly not deserving of being the 12th quarterback taken in this draft. He deserved much more.
And I believe he will become the best quarterback in this draft.
Oh, he might sit awhile behind Eli Manning (http://www.nfl.com/players/elimanning/profile?id=MAN473170), who is just getting started, with a Super Bowl championship in only his fourth pro season.
But the Giants have a splendid backup they can groom for their own enjoyment or a commodity they could use for prime trade value. They have a quarterback who when he gains opportunities in preseason games or as a sub in real games will turn heads.

I see a star quarterback here.

"You can use late picks to develop quarterbacks, and with Eli here, we have an unusual chance to do that," Giants general manager Jerry Reese said. "His value was too good to pass up in the sixth round. He played at the highest level against major competition in the Southeastern Conference. We love his production."

[Blue_N_White]

I am not saying that Woodson is Brady.

I am saying that Woodson was certainly not deserving of being the 12th quarterback taken in this draft. He deserved much more.
And I believe he will become the best quarterback in this draft.


While this article and the opinions expressed by the author are probably over-optimistic....I agree with a few things here:

Woodson DEFINITELY deserved to be drafted much higher than the 12th QB taken overall....in the late 6th round.

He did deserve to be taken much sooner and much higher.

Having said that...I'm not sure he "will become the best quarterback in this draft". I think he has a chance to crack the top 5....but I'm not so sure he leapfrogs Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, Brian Brohm or Chad Henne. As for the others, though....yeah...I believe he should have been the 5th QB selected....and ultimately it could play out that he will be in the top 5 QBs from this draft class when it's all said and done.....

[DenCat]

Having said that...I'm not sure he "will become the best quarterback in this draft". I think he has a chance to crack the top 5....but I'm not so sure he leapfrogs Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, Brian Brohm or Chad Henne. As for the others, though....yeah...I believe he should have been the 5th QB selected....and ultimately it could play out that he will be in the top 5 QBs from this draft class when it's all said and done.....
The problem with a lot of QB's selected high in the draft is they are playing before they are truely ready. I know a little about Ryan and Henne, less about Flacco. Brohm has been groomed to be QB since birth. His football IQ is extremely high. The other guys will probably be thrown to the wolves, so to speak. They will be pressed into playing before they are ready. This will hurt them in the long run. I'm not saying Andre is going to be the best and I'm not sure going to the Giants is the ideal situation. But Andre has shown that he can do what it takes to be a top notch QB. Hopefully he can learn the pro game quickly and show people what they missed out on.

[johnkyblue]

..I'm not sure he "will become the best quarterback in this draft".I think so. He needs enough time to get a good idea of the speed in the NFL, learn the playbook and reads - it does take a little while - and that's about it.

[bret1555]

While this article and the opinions expressed by the author are probably over-optimistic....I agree with a few things here:

Woodson DEFINITELY deserved to be drafted much higher than the 12th QB taken overall....in the late 6th round.

He did deserve to be taken much sooner and much higher.

Having said that...I'm not sure he "will become the best quarterback in this draft". I think he has a chance to crack the top 5....but I'm not so sure he leapfrogs Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, Brian Brohm or Chad Henne. As for the others, though....yeah...I believe he should have been the 5th QB selected....and ultimately it could play out that he will be in the top 5 QBs from this draft class when it's all said and done.....

I am simply not sold on any of the above QBs. . . Ryan makes a LOT of bad decisions. People got on his bandwagon big time after the come from behind win at VT, but they were so far down at least in part because he threw some terrible picks. Flacco has not performed against the same level of athletes as Andre', who produced against the closest thing to NFL talent that college football can produce. Brohm could be solid, but I really don't see him being anything more than that -- I really don't think he is that much better than Chris Redmen. Henne has never performed very well under pressure.

[bret1555]

I had another coach tell me today that Woodson's "decision making" scared a lot of teams off. To which I said, "he three 153 straight passes w/out an interception." He made a statement about Andre' playing in a "single read" passing game, which I think is a fair point.

I was just wondering if there are any other coaches/fans who have a reaction to this. I was wondering what RV, in particular, might have to say, though everyone is certainly welcome to contribute.

[Buck_Naked]

I had another coach tell me today that Woodson's "decision making" scared a lot of teams off. To which I said, "he three 153 straight passes w/out an interception." He made a statement about Andre' playing in a "single read" passing game, which I think is a fair point.

I was just wondering if there are any other coaches/fans who have a reaction to this. I was wondering what RV, in particular, might have to say, though everyone is certainly welcome to contribute.

I don't think that's an unfair assessment, but I'm still more inclined to believe that his plunge in the draft had more to do with his mechanics/delivery than his decision making.

As for his spot in the draft; there may not have been 10 or 11 QB's "better" than Andre in this draft, but there may be nearly that many closer to being ready for the NFL game than he is.

There's no doubt that stats draw the Scout's attention, but in the end it comes down to abilities and preparedness. I believe the further away a team thinks a QB is from being "ready", the further down the draft he'll sink. Yeah, there are exceptions both ways -- and scouts/teams can get it wrong from time to time (think Ryan Leaf), but in general I think you'll find that this is the "formula". I also don't think they put as much stock in the Conference the QB comes from as the fans/pundits do. If they did, we wouldn't see the likes of Brett Favre or Ben Roethlisberger -- or Walter Payton and Jerry Rice -- succeeding in the NFL.

[bret1555]

I don't think that's an unfair assessment, but I'm still more inclined to believe that his plunge in the draft had more to do with his mechanics/delivery than his decision making.

As for his spot in the draft; there may not have been 10 or 11 QB's "better" than Andre in this draft, but there may be nearly that many closer to being ready for the NFL game than he is.

There's no doubt that stats draw the Scout's attention, but in the end it comes down to abilities and preparedness. I believe the further away a team thinks a QB is from being "ready", the further down the draft he'll sink. Yeah, there are exceptions both ways -- and scouts/teams can get it wrong from time to time (think Ryan Leaf), but in general I think you'll find that this is the "formula". I also don't think they put as much stock in the Conference the QB comes from as the fans/pundits do. If they did, we wouldn't see the likes of Brett Favre or Ben Roethlisberger -- or Walter Payton and Jerry Rice -- succeeding in the NFL.

One would think that they would put a little more stock in Andre's pre-snap read & game management ability.

[TransientAlum]

Brohm is a good QB, no one denies that. He could have a great future and surely everyone would wish him well.

Ryan is way overrated. He had either a minimal course load or had already completed all course work towards his degree last fall and had much more time to prepare for his games. Definitely not a level playing field.

Ask Brohm or Andre how much better they would have been had they not had classes or had an entire course load that was pass/fail last fall.

[westtncat]

Nothing to do with anything I guess but I finally feel somewhat important as I work with Jerry Reese's mom. Im not a Giants fan but she did bring me back a nice Giants t shirt this year.:icon_mrgreen:

[crazzedcats22]

I think Andre has a chance to be a good NFL quarterback. I am sure the NFL coaches can get his mechanics/delivery worked out.

I think Brohm will be the best of the bunch, Ryan is overrated, Flacco could be really good-he has great size and strength, Henne should have done more while at Michigan-not sure he will ever amount to much in the NFL.