The College HUNH QB and the NFL

Loam

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Oct 20, 2014
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Hurry Up-No Huddle-Up Tempo College Quarterbacks are quickly developing a bad name in the NFL and are getting a bad reputation that they cannot play at the next level. I think until we see real Up Tempo offenses in the NFL, that this will remain a trend.

One has to wonder how soon this will start effecting High School QB recruit decisions when deciding on where to go. Lets face it, these elite stars coming out of High School ultimately want to play in the NFL. And if these Up Tempo offensive College systems don't start developing NFL QBs soon, then something will have to give.

Are there any TRUE College Hurry Up/No Huddle/Up Tempo QB's playing and starting in the NFL right now and doing well? I cannot think of one........

And if Marcus Mariota fails in the NFL, then a lot of QBs coming out of High School might start seeing these fast paced Up Tempo College offenses as a curse and not something to be a part of anymore.

Could the College game be ruining QB's with these offenses when it comes to the NFL?
 
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Snuffy Smith

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Sep 12, 2012
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An NFL draft analyst was talking about this on Mike & Mike Monday. They were discussing whether JW or MM would be drafted first. His take was that JW would come out of college ready to play in the NFL while MM would take a couple of years to learn to run a pro style offense. Obviously that changes if the Eagles draft him [emoji6]

The one thing he has going for him is he seems to be more accurate than many of the HUNH QB's
 

Loam

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Oct 20, 2014
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In the end, who knows. But what I do know, is that if these College HUNH offenses don't start producing NFL QB's soon, that something has to give. Its great in College because you score a lot of points and win a lot of games. However, if that means you're not going to translate into an NFL QB, then why bother? Because some of the QB recruits coming out of High School might start avoiding these HUNH College teams after a while. Don't forget, their ultimate goal is the NFL. College is just a pit stop for them.
 

Tideflyer

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Dec 14, 2011
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It`s interesting to hear folks in the media who ostensibly know about football in general and the pro game in particular talk about this. It seems that the general consensus is that when all is said and done, to be consistently successful in the NFL you have to be able to throw from the pocket.
 

bamapuppy

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Mar 28, 2008
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I would like to give my opinion about the top offensive linemen. If I were a top tackle, I would want to play in a system that would prepeare me for the next level as well. I know that thay can adapt better than the QB, but the system is different still. THe NFL likes those big tackles that can protect that high paid QB.
 

Redwood Forrest

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With so man High Schools running HUNH what are the players supposed to do? Will Coach Saban, for instance, choose a HUNH QB and try to mold him to pocket passing?
 

tidefanbeezer

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I still think its too early to say that HUNH QBs can't play at the next level. So few of them are actually given the chance to play that it makes for a sample size that is to small to draw any conclusions from.

2011 was the first year that the draft included HUNH QBs. Here's the QBs that were HUNH style QBs in college (as best I can remember) that play in the NFL:

- Cam Newton (I don't think they played as fast as they do now, but they played quick) - AP Rookie of the year, 2x Pro-bowler
- Blaine Gabbert - straight up bust (like Cam, not sure that they operated at the speed they do now)
- Robert Griffin III - injuries have derailed him. Hard to peg his difficulties on the system he ran in college.
- Geno Smith - He's not great, but the team he is plays for is a hot mess
- Johnny Football - He's had one start. Lots of rookies struggle in their first season

I think that Mariotta will be the first HUNH QB that comes in as a pretty polished passer. I think he'll have an easy transition.

Plenty of pro-style QBs in college fail in the NFL running the exact same kind of offense. Bottom line: style of offense in college has only a minor impact on a QBs success at the next level (unless you are coming from a Paul Johnson offense, in which case, enjoy your life as an NFL RB).
 

theballguy

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Nov 5, 2012
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Here's the thing though... let's assume it's been proven that the HUNH will never work at the NFL level. The college teams who run pro-style offenses will still get the 4-5 star recruits who will do well with the pro-style game. The college teams who can't or don't get these guys will still adapt its style of play to the players they have. In most cases, it will be the HUNH offense or if they're really bad off in the recruiting arena, it will be triple-option.

I believe HUNH will still exist in college because if you're smaller, you can be more effective at HUNH than the 4-5 star guys who are still learning pro-style and then have to turn around and defend these gimmick offenses. I don't think it changes anything at the college level until there's a proven way to shut it down like the wishbone was shut-down.

I like what CNS, CLK and CKS are doing here. They're building something of a hybrid team. The Alabama offense is capable of playing HUNH and smash-mouth when it needs to and then turn around and defend both at the same time. I believe what these guys are doing will be something special and will be almost impossible for 95% of the rest of the field to emulate. Most of them won't have the personnel (coaches AND players) to pull this off. I still believe CNS's offensive approach (take what the defense gives you) beats Gus's (run it ALL the time). We will win less pretty over the next few years than we're used to but we'll still pile up the Ws like we're used to as well :)

Just my 2 cents.
 
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B1GTide

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Defenses still dominate the NFL because defensive players are just as fast as offensive players at that level. Also, the speed of the game is totally controlled by the officials in the NFL. So the speed of play isn't as important as the talent across the board in the NFL.

In college, the HUNH is used to help teams with a size or talent deficiency level the playing field. That just isn't possible at the next level. But a great QB is a great QB, and will do well in the NFL if given a chance on a team prepared to win. But, again, in the NFL the entire team has to be good for a QB to succeed. Some very good QBs have looked terrible because of their team.
 

tidefan39817

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Running an offense is about the only thing he does right.
he reminds me a little bit of Jamarcus Russel. big strong athletic and Jimbo never could coach those 2 to 3 int's per game out of him, and could run an offense pretty well as long as the offense was 3 or 4 plays. I think the results might be similar at the next level for Winston.
 

gtgilbert

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Aug 12, 2011
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First - I think it's inaccurate for the comparison to be HUNH versus traditional speed. We could run our pro-style offense as a HUNH and prep a QB perfectly well for the NFL. Really all that is is getting to the line faster, like we did this year. There is a minor difference in that the QB probably isn't making quite as many pre-snap reads since the OC is doing that for him from the sideline, but the mentality is the same.

The real comparison is for the Zone-read, dual-threat running QBs and how that translates to running a pro-style offense. These guys are the ones having a really hard time. Their passing isn't the same as passing from the pocket. To the list above add Kaepernic and Russell wilson. They did well for a while, but two things have happened:
1. The NFL seems to have figured out how to handle the dual threat nature and contain it somewhat
2. injuries to many of the dual threat QBs have added up and kept them from being effective after a season. NFL LBs and S are ready to put a big time hurt on anyone downfield and it's a liability to have the QB running around too much. Owners invest way to much $$ in these guys to have them risk injury to that degree.

Newton is the only one so far that's been able to morph into more of a pocket passer
 

DzynKingRTR

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It wasn't that long ago when the talking heads were all saying that these types of QBs were "changing the NFL". Now they all want drop back passers again.
 

B1GTide

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Apr 13, 2012
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First - I think it's inaccurate for the comparison to be HUNH versus traditional speed. We could run our pro-style offense as a HUNH and prep a QB perfectly well for the NFL. Really all that is is getting to the line faster, like we did this year. There is a minor difference in that the QB probably isn't making quite as many pre-snap reads since the OC is doing that for him from the sideline, but the mentality is the same.

The real comparison is for the Zone-read, dual-threat running QBs and how that translates to running a pro-style offense. These guys are the ones having a really hard time. Their passing isn't the same as passing from the pocket. To the list above add Kaepernic and Russell wilson. They did well for a while, but two things have happened:
1. The NFL seems to have figured out how to handle the dual threat nature and contain it somewhat
2. injuries to many of the dual threat QBs have added up and kept them from being effective after a season. NFL LBs and S are ready to put a big time hurt on anyone downfield and it's a liability to have the QB running around too much. Owners invest way to much $$ in these guys to have them risk injury to that degree.

Newton is the only one so far that's been able to morph into more of a pocket passer
That is a totally different discussion, but I agree. Running QBs have had success in the NFL, but only one has won the Super Bowl - and that only happened last year. Every other running QB failed once he reached the SB. Even Elway failed to win a SB as a scrambler - he didn't win one until he was older and no longer a scrambler.
 

Bama Czar

1st Team
Sep 1, 2010
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First - I think it's inaccurate for the comparison to be HUNH versus traditional speed. We could run our pro-style offense as a HUNH and prep a QB perfectly well for the NFL. Really all that is is getting to the line faster, like we did this year. There is a minor difference in that the QB probably isn't making quite as many pre-snap reads since the OC is doing that for him from the sideline, but the mentality is the same.

The real comparison is for the Zone-read, dual-threat running QBs and how that translates to running a pro-style offense. These guys are the ones having a really hard time. Their passing isn't the same as passing from the pocket. To the list above add Kaepernic and Russell wilson. They did well for a while, but two things have happened:
1. The NFL seems to have figured out how to handle the dual threat nature and contain it somewhat
2. injuries to many of the dual threat QBs have added up and kept them from being effective after a season. NFL LBs and S are ready to put a big time hurt on anyone downfield and it's a liability to have the QB running around too much. Owners invest way to much $$ in these guys to have them risk injury to that degree.

Newton is the only one so far that's been able to morph into more of a pocket passer
Close to completely agreeing with you here, and & I think you hinted at this in your post... THE HUNH IS NOT AN OFFENSE! The spread / read option is an offense. The HUNH is entirely a gimmick to snap the ball before the defense is set & have made their defensive calls / adjustments, and then catch the defense unprepared for ANY play that is / was run by the offense. That is why Alabama ran some HUNH this season....because they can run their mostly "pro-style" offense & utilize the HUNH as well.

I think the question we are getting to is "Can a spread / read-option type QB succeed in the NFL?". IMO, it is very difficult for a QB with that spends 3-4 yrs in college running that scheme to transition to an NFL team that has any kind of "multi-progression read" passing game. Typically these spread / read-option team QBs really only have to make one "post-snap" read to know where to go with the football. Very rarely do they run through 3 or more "post snap" options / decisions / reads on a given play. When these QBs get to the NFL level, I believe (& see) that they struggle with "reading" a defense & quick decision making because they have done exactly the opposite as they matured as a QB for the last 3-4 yrs.
 

GrayTide

Hall of Fame
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The point about zone read, dual threat running QBs coming out of high school and then to college is spot on. Take a moment and try to name all the successful college wishbone QBs who made it big in the NFL.
 

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