I was on the field today for the Elite 11 QB finals. And here are some observations.
Taulia
-First thing I noticed was how much shorter, Taulia was tthan all the other QBs.
-The fact that he is pretty thick, well built, probably made him look smaller than he really is. Big calves.
-Taulia looked very intense, but friendly to the other participants. He was bouncing side to side almost non-stop, you could tell that he was confident, pumped up and in it to win it.
-He consistently threw the prettiest ball. He was definitely in the top 5 there. Ultra quick release, great balance and effortlessly stayed on top of the ball. No leaning back, like probably a 1/3 of the QBs out there. And always almost dead-on target.
-One of the drills concentrated on footwork while going through the passing progressions. He naturally looked good on his first rep. The coach told him to slide more with his footwork, no gallop. Next rep, he had the slide down nicely. Appears to be a great listener, very eager to learn, and can apply his learnings nicely.
-Can make all the throws, makes the field look small. Very little loop in his throws, but very catchable, not blazing hot ropes, that are too tough to consistently catch.
-like his brother appears to be good at anticipating the rush, and applying good balance under heat....as displayed in another drill.
-politely always wanted to be up for the next rep. If the guy in front of him didnÂ’t step up assertively during his time, he was ready to go. Seemed liked he got more reps than anyone.
-you can tell QBing and football is his passion, you can read it in his demeanor more than most the QBÂ’s out there.
-Certainly looked special, the only thing that stood out to the contrary was his size. But heÂ’s still young. I was his size exactly when I graduated high school (5-11.5), and grew to 6-1.5 by sophomore year in college.
Paul Tyson
-When I was walking down from the parking lot, one of the first passes I saw thrown was by a tall, almost perfect QB build and my assessment was how smooth his drop-back and release was. Kind of reminded me of a poor manÂ’s Andrew Luck when he was at Stanford. Turns out it was Paul Tyson I was watching.
-You could tell instantly that Paul did not get a Bama offer because of his legacy ties to the Bear. He has the potential to be an extremely good QB. Size, good footwork, throws a nice ball. Looks like he has humble confidence and poise, too.
Overall it was hard to compare Taulia to Paul because their styles, size, and bodies are so different. But they both looked very talented. It’s going to be interesting to watch them both go through Bama’s pre-season practices next year....and their development.
In terms of all the QBs, I would say that I could definitely see a tier right around the top 12-15 players. And then another handful that really stood out above the rest. Approximately 1/3 of the QBs seem to have weaker arms, looping mid-range throws. I’d say about 1/4 were far less accurate than the rest. Handful of the 6-3 to 6-5 foot guys had very polished games. Few of the 6-1 to 6-2 guys threw very compact balls, and looked like real gamers. It’s always difficult to evaluate QBs completely outside of live big time college live play, aka Blake Barnett and many others. It was amazing though the accuracy, trajectory, and timing of most of these guys on the 30 yard over the middle pass to the end zone. 10 or so of the guys looked like they could be big time college QBs right away, physically, mentally, and skills-wise.
Who’s going to win? Glad I didn’t have to choose, as that could be a tough one. I guess if you’re all day for three days with the players, that decision gets a lot easier.
This was held at the local high school in Redondo Beach, CA which has a weak football program, but amazing new facilities. Bunch of beach kids, that aren’t very tough, play ball for this school. Go figure they are ranked high nationally in beach volleyball. But amazingly enough, even though this is in the heart of USC/UCLA alum territory, I saw BY FAR the most Alabama gear worn by the spectators. Also saw bunch of large Hawaiian Samoans with Bama apparel on, seem to be routing for guess who. That’s it folks, the future looks solid for Bama at QB. I’ll be off to the beach tomorrow, so no further info to report. Hope you enjoyed, and Roll Tide!!
Taulia
-First thing I noticed was how much shorter, Taulia was tthan all the other QBs.
-The fact that he is pretty thick, well built, probably made him look smaller than he really is. Big calves.
-Taulia looked very intense, but friendly to the other participants. He was bouncing side to side almost non-stop, you could tell that he was confident, pumped up and in it to win it.
-He consistently threw the prettiest ball. He was definitely in the top 5 there. Ultra quick release, great balance and effortlessly stayed on top of the ball. No leaning back, like probably a 1/3 of the QBs out there. And always almost dead-on target.
-One of the drills concentrated on footwork while going through the passing progressions. He naturally looked good on his first rep. The coach told him to slide more with his footwork, no gallop. Next rep, he had the slide down nicely. Appears to be a great listener, very eager to learn, and can apply his learnings nicely.
-Can make all the throws, makes the field look small. Very little loop in his throws, but very catchable, not blazing hot ropes, that are too tough to consistently catch.
-like his brother appears to be good at anticipating the rush, and applying good balance under heat....as displayed in another drill.
-politely always wanted to be up for the next rep. If the guy in front of him didnÂ’t step up assertively during his time, he was ready to go. Seemed liked he got more reps than anyone.
-you can tell QBing and football is his passion, you can read it in his demeanor more than most the QBÂ’s out there.
-Certainly looked special, the only thing that stood out to the contrary was his size. But heÂ’s still young. I was his size exactly when I graduated high school (5-11.5), and grew to 6-1.5 by sophomore year in college.
Paul Tyson
-When I was walking down from the parking lot, one of the first passes I saw thrown was by a tall, almost perfect QB build and my assessment was how smooth his drop-back and release was. Kind of reminded me of a poor manÂ’s Andrew Luck when he was at Stanford. Turns out it was Paul Tyson I was watching.
-You could tell instantly that Paul did not get a Bama offer because of his legacy ties to the Bear. He has the potential to be an extremely good QB. Size, good footwork, throws a nice ball. Looks like he has humble confidence and poise, too.
Overall it was hard to compare Taulia to Paul because their styles, size, and bodies are so different. But they both looked very talented. It’s going to be interesting to watch them both go through Bama’s pre-season practices next year....and their development.
In terms of all the QBs, I would say that I could definitely see a tier right around the top 12-15 players. And then another handful that really stood out above the rest. Approximately 1/3 of the QBs seem to have weaker arms, looping mid-range throws. I’d say about 1/4 were far less accurate than the rest. Handful of the 6-3 to 6-5 foot guys had very polished games. Few of the 6-1 to 6-2 guys threw very compact balls, and looked like real gamers. It’s always difficult to evaluate QBs completely outside of live big time college live play, aka Blake Barnett and many others. It was amazing though the accuracy, trajectory, and timing of most of these guys on the 30 yard over the middle pass to the end zone. 10 or so of the guys looked like they could be big time college QBs right away, physically, mentally, and skills-wise.
Who’s going to win? Glad I didn’t have to choose, as that could be a tough one. I guess if you’re all day for three days with the players, that decision gets a lot easier.
This was held at the local high school in Redondo Beach, CA which has a weak football program, but amazing new facilities. Bunch of beach kids, that aren’t very tough, play ball for this school. Go figure they are ranked high nationally in beach volleyball. But amazingly enough, even though this is in the heart of USC/UCLA alum territory, I saw BY FAR the most Alabama gear worn by the spectators. Also saw bunch of large Hawaiian Samoans with Bama apparel on, seem to be routing for guess who. That’s it folks, the future looks solid for Bama at QB. I’ll be off to the beach tomorrow, so no further info to report. Hope you enjoyed, and Roll Tide!!
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