[D. C. Bear]

...

Griffin may be a better pure passer than Andrew Luck. I think Matt Barkley of the University of South Central possibly is, too. But playing quarterback entails much more than throwing the ball. A quarterback has to read defenses at the line of scrimmage and read them again as the play unfolds. He has to call audibles. He has to manage the game. Somebody who can't do these things is not a quarterback, no matter how strong and accurate his arm, but just a thrower.

The Voldemort is supposed to go to the best player in college football. For a quarterback to win the award, he's got to do all the things I mentioned, and do them better than any other quarterback. You say it doesn't matter that Luck is brilliant at calling audibles. And that tells me that what you think is uninformed and unimportant.

The reason that it doesn't matter to me that Luck is brilliant at reading defenses with regard to the Voldemort race is that RGIII is also brilliant at reading defenses. I don't know if RGIII is a better pure passer than Luck, but I know that both of them are extremely good. I've watched RGIII do incredible things with a football, and you don't get projected as the first pick in the NFL draft as Luck did without being a wonderful "pure passer."

Briles' offense is not some kind of call-a-play-then-chunk-and-pray proposition. It is a very complex offense that requires a QB who can read the defense both before and after the snap and take what it gives. Against Texas, for example, on the second play of the game, Griffin had to decide post-snap whether to hand off the ball, keep the ball and run it himself, or throw the ball downfield. He chose wisely, and he usually did this season, and that is why he had a record-setting QB rating--because he did it better than anyone else in the country this year.

He was in the same "system" last year, with many of the same players. His QB rating then was a comparably paltry 144.2. He got that much better. His deep ball accuracy improved. He sees the field better than he did before. This year, he did it with a defense held together with duct tape and baling wire. None of this takes anything away from the greatness of Andrew Luck.

RGIII is not Luck, but he isn't lucky, either, and he is not the product of a system that would make a Voldemort candidate of Nick Florence, as some seem to imply. With RGIII, you get a combination of high intelligence, incredible athletic ability, a work ethic equal to anyone and near-flawless execution. He got his numbers the old fashioned way.

To those who asked why I was posting here I like lively, friendly football discussion with intelligent commentary. On the Baylor board, pretty much everyone will be in agreement that RGIII deserves the Voldemort. I'm not interested in "convincing" anyone, just having some friendly discussion. As I said from the start, we all view these things through glasses tinged with our own school colors. As for "pretty douchey and condescending," it seems pretty "pretty douchey and a bit condescending" to me to imply that RGIII lacks the intelligence to be a real quarterback.

[D. C. Bear]

...

Griffin may be a better pure passer than Andrew Luck. I think Matt Barkley of the University of South Central possibly is, too. But playing quarterback entails much more than throwing the ball. A quarterback has to read defenses at the line of scrimmage and read them again as the play unfolds. He has to call audibles. He has to manage the game. Somebody who can't do these things is not a quarterback, no matter how strong and accurate his arm, but just a thrower.

The Voldemort is supposed to go to the best player in college football. For a quarterback to win the award, he's got to do all the things I mentioned, and do them better than any other quarterback. You say it doesn't matter that Luck is brilliant at calling audibles. And that tells me that what you think is uninformed and unimportant.

The reason that it doesn't matter to me that Luck is brilliant at reading defenses with regard to the Voldemort race is that RGIII is also brilliant at reading defenses. I don't know if RGIII is a better pure passer than Luck, but I know that both of them are extremely good. I've watched RGIII do incredible things with a football, and you don't get projected as the first pick in the NFL draft as Luck did without being a wonderful "pure passer."

Briles' offense is not some kind of call-a-play-then-chunk-and-pray proposition. It is a very complex offense that requires a QB who can read the defense both before and after the snap and take what it gives. Against Texas, for example, on the second play of the game, Griffin had to decide post-snap whether to hand off the ball, keep the ball and run it himself, or throw the ball downfield. He chose wisely, and he usually did this season, and that is why he had a record-setting QB rating--because he did it better than anyone else in the country this year.

He was in the same "system" last year, with many of the same players. His QB rating then was a comparably paltry 144.2. He got that much better. His deep ball accuracy improved. He sees the field better than he did before. This year, he did it with a defense held together with duct tape and baling wire. None of this takes anything away from the greatness of Andrew Luck.

RGIII is not Luck, but he isn't lucky, either, and he is not the product of a system that would make a Voldemort candidate of Nick Florence, as some seem to imply. With RGIII, you get a combination of high intelligence, incredible athletic ability, a work ethic equal to anyone and near-flawless execution. He got his numbers the old fashioned way.

To those who asked why I was posting here I like lively, friendly football discussion with intelligent commentary. On the Baylor board, pretty much everyone will be in agreement that RGIII deserves the Voldemort. I'm not interested in "convincing" anyone, just having some friendly discussion. As I said from the start, we all view these things through glasses tinged with our own school colors. As for "pretty douchey and condescending," it seems pretty "pretty douchey and a bit condescending" to me to imply that RGIII lacks the intelligence to be a real quarterback.