News Article: Former NFL Scout on Alabama's AJ McCarron: 'He's Going to be a Backup in the NFL'

In a prospect profile for SportsOnEarth, Russell Lande - college scouting director for Montreal Alouettes and Big Ten Network - likes McCarron's pocket presence and his ability to go through his progressions. Sort of.

"In all the games I evaluated, I was really surprised because everything I had heard prior to watching him was he is a fundamentally sound quarterback that had great technique," Lande said in a radio interview Thursday on WNSP 105.5 FM in Mobile. "When I watched him, every few throws he would actually stride into his throws and get his foot pointed at the target. But way too often his feet were actually on the same yard line. He was almost trying to body throw. And when he did that, his accuracy suffered and his arm strength - which is adequate at best - looked even worse. The ball would tail off and he would really struggle to get the ball to the receiver properly."

Lande believed the former Alabama star will have a hard time adjusting to the NFL.

"He looks like a third-day guy, not so much based on the other quarterbacks, just based on I would not draft a player I think can only be a backup in the NFL. And that is what I view AJ as. He's going to be a backup in the NFL."

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Lande said McCarron's ability to go through his progressions, which many agree is a positive, can be a detriment.

"It's a very fine line," Lande admits. "In the NFL, you really want a guy to go through his progressions, make a decision and either throw the ball away, check it down or find an open receiver. That's what you teach.

"But one of the things you find over the years, sometimes its hammered into them so much 'don't make an error, don't make an error' that they are so quick to dump it off that they are rarely willing to expand the defenses and take shots down the field. ... That's the issue I have with him. He's so conservative that he would go through the progressions very quickly, make a decision, he would just throw it away or take a sack. I think he has to show a willingness to take some gambles, not a ton, but some if he's going to be productive at the next level."

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bamaslammer said:

Mechanics can be corrected. My question is that if McCarron has such blaring mechanical flaws why are these things not corrected his freshman season. we do have quarterback coaches right? If it's a time limitations thing then how do quarterbacks from back woods U somehow manage to show up in the draft with perfect mechanics and go in the first round.

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