pehawk":22yyiuji said:
Of course there's more to it. But, by all accounts Geno's going to end the year with a very RG3 feel to him - sans some of the intangibles. His measurables may end up being better as well, right? And, I dont see Barkley being RG3's Luck. Do you?
I like Geno and was talking him up prior to last season - but there are several things that make me temper expectations. For starters, his system is the same as Brandon Weeden's. I've talked about that scheme a lot when studying Weeden and don't want to go over it all again now, but it's incredibly prolific and the same as the old Texas Tech scheme under Leach. Now, Smith is better equiped than Weeden because all BW used to do was take a seven step drop from the gun and rely on a fastball to make throws from way behind the LOS - the field almost doubled and it was pretty easy to find a guy as good as Justin Blackmon on a crossing route in this system. Smith is so much more technically better. BUT - he still benefits from the same concepts of doubling the field, deep drop, extreme spread, crossing routes etc. So I'm sceptical, because he'll learn a totally different offense and it will challenge him much more (no change for most rookies, but it's a harder transition for me).
Physically he's above average in every area and not great at any. He has decent arm strength, good athleticism and decision making is generally good. But I'm telling you - the guy will have an off day soon. We've seen it before. It may only be one off day, it could be two or three. But when it happens, you'll check the hype a little. He's a R1-2 talent for sure, but I do think he'll drop away from #1 contention eventually. We'll see. I'm not the oracle, I might be wrong, I've been wrong many times before.
And I don't think Barkley or Geno are on the level of Luck or RGIII. But right now people are thinking too much about a lousy day for USC overall at Stanford and not enough about that insane performance against Oregon last year. Or the way Barkley outshone Luck vs Stanford. Or the way he finished last year in general and may still finish this year. Barkley is technically superb and will show it. And quarterbacks go early, and it's looking like these two guys will be the early picks. And if they'r close, it'll be a pick your poison type thing that could go any way. Lot's of teams would've taken Gabbert over Newton, this is closer to that battle in terms of grade if not talent than Luck vs RGIII where there was always a defined #1 in Luck.