In “The Xs and Os,” Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar is joined every week by the great Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup. Greg has been with NFL Films since 1979, and he and Steve Sabol invented the concept of putting game tape on television with the Matchup show in 1984, so who better to get intricate with the game than Mr. Cosell himself?
Doug and Greg will be discussing all kinds of football things throughout the year, but as the draft is just around the corner, it’s time to discuss the ideal paths for NFL success for the top four quarterback prospects in this draft class: C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young, Anthony Richardson, and Will Levis. Not just where they are right now, but what kinds of offenses their coaches will need to construct at the next level to maximize their attributes, and minimize their liabilities.
You can catch this week’s episode of “The Xs and Os” right here.
C.J. Stroud needs to be quick, but not to hurry.
At his core, C.J. Stroud is a pocket passer with some movement skills who has the best ball placement of any quarterback in this class. He must be in a system that continues his development toward staying within himself, and avoiding negative freneticism.
Greg: “I think that his ability to work in contested pockets — I’m not talking about leaving the pocket; I’m talking about when there’s bodies around you, which will happen far more in the NFL than it did at Ohio State… will he hurry himself? Will he stay poised and composed? Will his echanics and fundamentals remain the same? Or will he hurry himself, and there are always issues when quarterbacks do that.
“I think in some ways, and this will sound bold and controversial, but it’s not to me — but you could make the argument that Stroud is an equal prospect, and just as good as, Trevor Lawrence when he came out of Clemson. But this is where coaching comes into play. The things that Doug Pederson and his staff did really helped Trevor Lawrence, and I think that’s critical. They speeded him up. He was very deliberate in everything he did. It didn’t really come out at Clemson; you had to dig deep to find that when he was under duress, he would rush himself and hurry himself, and he became wild high. He became a little scattershot.
“It’s the old John Wooden maxim: ‘Be quick, but don’t hurry.’ I think you’ll have to do that with Stroud a little bit, as well.”
Bryce Young needs to be Steph Curry in a Sean Payton-style offense.
Bryce Young is a smaller quarterback who has transcended that outlier liability with a very good (if not generational) arm, effective and efficient mobility, and a head for the game that had his coaches giving him full command of the playbook on the field. Young also has an amazing feel in the pocket, and you blitz him at your peril. He’ll need to be a point guard at the next level.
Greg: “Ultimately, you want him to be a timing and rhythm player. You want the ball to come out. He’s not going to be a ‘Sit on his back foot, sit in the pocket, and drive the ball’ kind of quarterback. That’s not what he’s going to be, and he wouldn’t sit there that long, because in some ways, he’s very much like Patrick Mahomes in his sense of spatial awareness — his understanding of where his people are, and where the defense is. He’s not going to be a late-in-the down pocket thrower with bodies in his face.
“He has a Ph.D in the subtleties of the position, beginning with the pre-snap process. You need to win mentally, and Young can do that. He has a good arm, but he doesn’t have a big arm, or a power arm. If he’s forced to sit in the pocket, and his balance isn’t perfect, there are certain throws he’s not going to be able to make. He’s going to need a team that’s… almost like Drew Brees. When you think of the Saints, and you think of what Sean Payton did with the center and the guards, the center and the guards control the depth of the pocket. He needs the depth of the pocket controlled. He needs to be able to see, and to be able to step into throws. I’m not making an apples-to-apples comparison with Young and Brees, but with him, you need to make sure you control the depth of the pocket.”
Anthony Richardson needs to be the epicenter of his offense from the run game out.
Anthony Richardson brings a toolkit to the quarterback position that we’ve never really seen at the NFL level. He’s built like an edge-rusher, runs like a track star, and his arm is pure howitzer. But his inexperience, and developmental nature as a passer at this time, could prevent him from NFL success if he’s put in charge of the wrong offense.
Greg: “When I watched Richardson and thought about his transition, to me, you have to run the Eagles’ offense. You need an offense in which the quarterback run game, which is going to be significant with Anthony Richardson, dictates how the defense has to play. The Eagles had two top wideouts, and a top-5 tight end, and that obviously helped, but the Eagles’ passing game functioned really, really well because of what they knew they were going to get from the defense because of the run game element. Jalen Hurts was everything in the Eagles’ offense. He was the system.
“I talked to a coach at the combine who was with the Eagles, and he told me that the number of pass-game concepts they had was relatively limited, because they didn’t need more. They could master those concepts, and then when you had really good players, which Richardson may or may not have wherever he goes, the passing game didn’t need to be so multi-dimensional. You get certain things that have to happen defensively because of the run game element that Hurts gives you, and that Richardson can give you.”
Will Levis needs an NFL-style passing game, and a very specific one.
Will Levis is a big, tough, mobile quarterback with a great arm, toughness on the field, times where he’ll blow you away with splash plays, and more times where he’ll frustrate you with the incomplete and inconsistent nature of his accuracy and field-reading. He needs things to be defined for him, especially when he gets to the NFL.
Greg: “I think if you go back to 2021, that’s when [offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach] Liam Coen was there. In 2021, he was a really comfortable player. The Kentucky passing game was built on NFL formations and NFL route concepts, and Levis understood the progressions that come from those concepts. In 2022, Rich Scarangello was there, and he’s an NFL guy as well, but for whatever reason, and we don’t know why because we weren’t there, it just wasn’t comfortable for Levis. Levis was not as rhythmic and efficient.
“He needs an offense like the Rams, like what Liam Coen did. [Coen was with the Los Angeles Rams from 2018 through 2020, and again in 2022]. He needs an offense that features conventional play-action, which is play-action from under center. He needs more defined reads and throws. Less full-field reads that demand higher-level processing traits. Maybe with more experience, he’ll get to that level, but I think that 2021 gives you a much better feel for how he could transition to the league.”
