Martz on Goff and Wentz (audio: 4/26, article: 5/15)

from off the net

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ramsman34

He said he actually worked them both out months ago. Likes where Goff is develomentally but says Wentz should get there pretty quickly. Commented about Goff under duress as impressive and that Wentz hasnt faced as much pressure but is like big Ben in how he stands in and takes it or takes off and runs

Says both are worthy of the 1st & 2nd picks

wv wrote:

I dont think i understand what role he
was playing there.

Well, what he said was, he knew the agent, and the agent wanted his opinion.

It was a matter of prepping them for the draft, knowing what the agent had, what teams would say about them, and so on. Just being prepared.

He did it as a favor for his agent/friend.

Martz compares Goff, Wentz to Rams legend Warner

Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/martz-compares-goff-wentz-to-rams-legend-warner/article_10dec867-6349-5e01-b1fb-06dd8befd506.html

During the predraft process, longtime college and NFL coach Ted Tollner helped quarterbacks Jared Goff and Carson Wentz get ready for the pro game. His son, Ryan Tollner, is their agent.

One day, long before the NFL Scouting Combine, Ted wasn’t available to guide the highly-touted prospects through their workout. So the Tollners called an old friend to take over for that day: Mike Martz.

On a field in Orange County, Calif., about an hour north of Martz’s home in San Diego, the former Rams coach put Goff and Wentz through the paces.

“I spent about two hours working them out, and spent about an hour with them in the classroom,” Martz said.

He came away highly impressed with the quarterbacks, who ended up going first and second overall in the NFL draft last month.

“Carson Wentz, I’ve never seen anybody throw the ball like that,” Martz said. “Ever. I’ve never seen that kind of arm strength on anybody, and still be able to throw a touch ball and all those things. And he was just a sponge to everything you said.”

Wentz, who went No. 2 overall to Philadelphia out of North Dakota State, had some problems dropping back from center according to Martz. Martz recalled making one correction with Wentz, and Wentz picked it up right away.

“Which shocked me,” Martz said. “It was like talking to Kurt (Warner) when Kurt first came in. He just wanted to get better.”

As for Goff, Martz said the California-Berkeley product “was a little bit more stoic and quiet. But he was really good on the deep ball, I remember that part.”

After the workout and classroom session, Martz looked at tape of Goff and Wentz on his own. What impressed Martz about Goff was his ability to stand firm in the pocket under pressure, absorb a hit, and keep firing away.

“He’s pretty special,” Martz said. “He has what Kurt had, and I hadn’t seen anybody like that necessarily for a long time. He will stand in there and make throws under duress like I haven’t seen anybody else do since Kurt, really.”

When Martz returned to St. Louis as offensive coordinator prior to the ‘99 season following a two-year stint in Washington, then Rams head coach Dick Vermeil asked him to take a look at Warner’s NFL Europe tape with the Amsterdam Admirals.

Martz came away amazed at how Warner took a beating, but unfazed, continued to stand tall in the pocket.

Martz said Goff showed enough mobility to extend plays as well.

“Now he made some bad plays, but the (good) plays that he made are plays that only an elite player can make,” Martz said. “I think he could be just ‘stupid’ good. He gets rid of the ball so quick.”

Looking at tape of Wentz, Martz said the speed of the game in the NFL will be an adjustment after playing in college at the FCS (or Div. I-AA) level. Martz also thinks Wentz showed a tendency to leave the pocket too soon.

“He’s gonna have to stand in there and make throws,” Martz said. “(The Eagles) have to really put their thumb on him about that. He can win with his legs on some plays, like a Russell Wilson kind of deal. But he can’t turn down throws in order to run it.”

Martz’s work with quarterbacks in the NFL basically is beyond reproach. Warner came from nowhere to league MVP, Super Bowl MVP, and Pro Football Hall of Fame candidate. Marc Bulger, who entered the league as a sixth-round draft pick by New Orleans in 2000, blossomed into a two-time Pro Bowler in St. Louis.

Martz even squeezed back-to-back 4,000-yard passing seasons out of Jon Kitna as Detroit’s offensive coordinator in 2006 and ‘07.

With that track record in mind, his assessment of Goff and Wentz carries some weight.

“I think they’re both franchise quarterbacks,” Martz said. “I’d be amazed if these two guys don’t have terrific careers. They’re of the quality where you can build a whole franchise around them.”

As for the Rams trading six picks to Tennessee as part of the trade up to No. 1 overall from No. 15, Martz said, “They did the right thing to move up to get Goff, I can tell you that.”

Conversely, Martz was surprised that Cleveland traded out of the No. 2 spot (with Philadelphia), thus backing away from Wentz. While realizing the Browns are building and picked up a bunch of extra draft picks, Martz said you just can’t pass on a chance at a franchise QB.

“Because they do not come along very often,” Martz said. “These two guys are very special, and for Cleveland to hop out of it — I don’t care how many good players they have if they don’t have a quarterback. When’s the last good quarterback they’ve had?”

The Browns did draft Southern California quarterback Cody Kessler in the third round, and Martz thinks Kessler has starter’s potential. But he doesn’t think he’s in the class of Goff or Wentz.

wv wrote:

Course its not really Brady’s ‘quick release’ that makes
that offense so deadly. Its the whole damn thing: Brady,
The OC, the coaching, the scheme, the brains of the WRs…

Its some sort of weird Patriot-synergy.

Goff’s been a great college QB. Quick-minded, a magician in the pocket,
very accurate, nice touch on the ball.

I think we can all see why Martz would be intrigued by him.

He’s still a gigantic question mark.
Moreso than Gurley was, I’d say.
The rams have taken chances the last two
first round picks. Gurley with the knee,
and betting Goff is worth all those pix.

w
v

No I would argue it IS Brady.

Last year the Patz OL had Rams-level OL injury issues. Yes, THAT bad.

And they made it work for much of the season because Brady has that combined pre-snap read ability, good eyes, and quick release.

When they finally met a defense capable of demolishing that, however, the fairy tale ended. Reportedly Denver hit Brady more times in that game than any qb got hit at anytime during the season.

Subtract Brady, which Denver DID, and all the other things Brady makes look really good (including the coaches and scheme) suddenly did not look so good.

Anyway, I am willing to venture that Goff is not a GIGANTIC question mark. To me the questions are only these: HOW good will he be, and how soon.

I don’t think there;s any bust potential there. Or even any “turns out just to be average” potential there.

I think that qbs with those combined traits come along rarely. So I know he will be good…I just don’t know how good or how soon.

I don’t care about the picks. A good 12-15 year qb is worth whatever number of players they WOULD have gotten. If you heard that in 2004, SD, NYG, and Pitt gave up that many picks for Rivers, Eli, or BR, would you doubt the value of it? (And actually the Giants did trade a lot for Eli.)

Now of course this is all just “where I stand” and “how I see it.” It’s opinion, but one I have confidence in. Years from now, if it plays out like I think it will (with Goff being AT LEAST good), only then will I consider punishing posters who disagreed.

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wv wrote:

zn wrote:

No I would argue it IS Brady.

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Well you are wrong. Just substitute
any other Hall of Fame, Multiple MVP QB,
and the Patriot Offense would be fine…

…I dunno If I’d agree that there’s no chance
Goff could be bust. Too early for me to be sure
about him. I preferred him to Wentz though.

w
v

Well, I understand. As a Seattle fan, you can’t afford to be objective about any of this.

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