Note: The analysis you’ll find in blog posts on RB David Wilson, WR Kendall Wright, and my first post about Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill are merely snapshots of plays I have compiled from game study. These spotlights focus on a subset of the individual’s talents or deficiencies and are not an overall report on the player. My comprehensive analysis of the player will be available April 1 in the 2012 Rookie Scouting Portfolio – now in its seventh year of publication.
“If I worked out a quarterback for an NFL team, he’d have to show me 100 throws off his back foot.”
-Dan Marino
This is one of two statements about quarterbacking from Marino that football analyst Pat Kirwan shared in his book Take Your Eye Off The Ball that demonstrates the difference between the theory and practice of the NFL game for a pro passer. The second statement is about having a good internal clock – the awareness of the length of time a play should take, how long its actually taking, and what the defense is doing to add or subtract from that amount of time. Marino says a good internal clock “can be a quarterback’s most important asset.”
A player I’d like to watch with Dan Marino – alright, ONE of ANY player I’d like to watch with Dan Marino – is Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill. The 2012 NFL Draft prospect has good pocket presence for a college quarterback. In fact, against Oklahoma State in September, Tannehill put on a clinic of what defines good pocket presence. In the previous post of Managing the Pocket, I analyzed two plays of Tannehill’s that involved the subtleties of avoiding pressure. Today I’m featuring three plays that demonstrate two of Marino’s preferred traits of a quarterback and likely a third that I don’t have a quote from him about: managing adversity. Continue reading
