Mannion… reactions, info, discussion

I would have taken Brett Hundley, but I am going to trust the Rams brass. For me, I feel that Mannion could have made it to us in the next round

OK with Mannion there. You don’t wait around and hope he’s there if he’s your top QB left on the board. This was a real big need. I’m happy with what the Rams did here, and happy the Rams added some O-linemen, but worry that Havenstein will struggle against edge rushers.

Okay. zn asked if he could have his delivery sped up.

I can explain one way that’s pretty easy. In the vid above, it’s easy to see that Mannion holds the ball a bit loose and low for his carriage. That leads to a throw that has a longer, looping windup.

What he needs to do is tighten the ball to his body and raise the ball to effectively “cock” it. This will significantly shorten his release, improve his ball security and quicken his release.

Both Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are pretty tall QBs with extraordinarily quick releases and they are very much a function of excellent mechanics.

Mannion doesn’t require much adjustment to have significantly better results.

I like the pick. Big guy, strong arm, comes from an NFL pro system. You can see how he could become a starting NFL QB if he improves. Taking him with a second 3rd-rounder made that trade for an extra pick seem even better to me.

Brugler on Mannion:

6055|229 lbs|5SR Pleasanton, Calif. (Foothill HS) 4/25/1992 (age 23) #4 GRADE Priority Free Agent

MEASUREABLES Arm: 33 1/2 | Hand: 09 | Wingspan: 80 1/2

COMBINE 40-YD: 5.14 | 10-YD: 1.87 | 20-YD: 3.03 | VJ: 31 | BJ: 08’09” | SS: 4.39 | 3C: 7.29

PRO DAY N/A (positional drills only)

BACKGROUND: A four-star quarterback recruit out of high school, Mannion committed to Oregon State as a junior in high school because of the Beavers’ coaching staff and the offense was similar to what he ran in high school. After redshirting in 2010, Mannion beat out incumbent starter Ryan Katz (who later transferred) as a redshirt freshman, passing for 3,328 yards, which was third best in school history at the time. He showed improvement in 2012 as a sophomore, but missed a few games due to a knee injury and Cody Vaz did a nice job in relief and didn’t concede the job when Mannion returned healthy. However, Mannion beat out Vaz and was named the starter for the 2013 season opener and had a record-breaking year, passing for a Pac-12 record 4,662 yards with a 37-15 TD-INT ratio, earning All-Pac 12 Honorable Mention honors. With Brandin Cooks leaving early for the NFL Draft, Mannion’s production dipped as a senior in 2014, including a career-low 263.7 yards per start, 62.3% completions and only 15 passing scores. He won the 2014 Manning Passing Academy Air-It-Out Challenge in July 2014 and served as a counselor at the Nike Elite 11 quarterback Camp, winning the counselor’s challenge. He earned an invitation to the 2015 Senior Bowl.

STRENGTHS: Tall with an adequate build…keeps his shoulders square to the line of scrimmage with a natural over-the-top delivery…adequate arm strength when stepping into his throws, controlling his ball speed well…improved footwork and base to create the framework to get the most out of his arm…sees the field well to scan and make precise reads in his drops…accurate deep ball thrower with terrific touch on bucket tosses…not afraid to test small windows and gives his man a chance to attack the ball…tough and bounces back after hits…shy personality, but in full control of the offense…calm and always appears under control, getting his teammates lined up correctly and making checks at the line…develops strong chemistry and feel with his targets, which stems from his practice habits…son of a high school head coach and carries himself like a professional, leading by example with natural leadership intangibles…strong football résumé as a four year starter and first three-year captain in school history (43 career starts), owning 18 Oregon State passing records, including career touchdown throws (83)…holds the Pac-12 career record for passing yards (13,600).

WEAKNESSES: Struggles to consistently drive the ball if he doesn’t step into his throws or have a firm base, struggling to add juice or adjust his trajectory…improved footwork and pocket maneuverability but neither are a strength as he struggles to re-set his eyes once moved from his spot…experienced with his three, five and seven step drops, but sluggish with his depth…struggling to recognize the blitz and doesn’t do enough after the snap to evade pressure, failing to speed up his process…hesitant when the pocket shows cracks and looks like a deer in headlights…holds the ball too long with a suspect internal clock that can be read with a sun dial…tends to telegraph his throws, staring down his targets…pre-determines passes and makes puzzling decisions that end with too many defenders at the other end of his passes…doesn’t have the mobility to improvise or keep plays alive, needing to slow himself and set his feet before pushing the ball…load-up delivery isn’t a glaring issue, but he lacks an efficient release with small hands…lean with room to add muscle mass on his frame…loses confidence too easily, causing poor ball placement and keeping him from processing what he sees quick enough when things go downhill…not the same quarterback without Brandin Cooks as his safety valve…career 46.4% passer on 3rd down attempts with a 21-16 TD-INT ratio.

SUMMARY: Mannion has an attractive résumé as a four-year starter with impressive production in a pro-style offense. He has adequate arm strength and accuracy, but isn’t above average in either category as the ball doesn’t shoot off his hand. Mannion is too methodical with his movements and tends to deteriorate when the pocket crumbles, struggling with his pocket awareness, internal clock and improvising skills, which is a recipe for disaster in the NFL. He is a high character human being with exceptional make-up and intangibles – teams will never have to worry about him off the field or not putting in enough work. Mannion has shown promise over his career, but tends to be too careless with his decisions and lacks the consistency against pressures to be a consistent NFL starter. If he can learn how to speed up his process for the NFL level, Mannion can carve out a Shaun Hill type of career, but if he doesn’t, his career will likely follow a Tony Pike-like path.

Ourlads on Mannion:

Four-year starter. Plays both under centre and in the shotgun formation. The strong armed senior carried the team in 2013 with his pinpoint passing and good decisions. His feature target was New Orleans Saints standout Brandin Cooks. He leaves the Beavers as the Pac-12’s all-time leading passer with 13,600 yards and 11 team passing records. The Pleasanton, CA native was also elected three times as team captain. A prototype NFL drop back pocket passer, he has the tools and intangibles to be a primary backup or a future starter. He completed over 60% of his passes all four years and finished with a career 64.6 completion percentage. The angular right handed passer played in Mike Riley’s pro style passing offence and demonstrates good touch and timing. Very accurate in the short and medium zones. Throws a variety of screen passes, tunnel screens, slants, and hitches. A rhythm type passer who has overall consistency in his game. What you see is what you get. Reliable and dependable son of a coach who loves the game and works hard on and off the field to improve his game. Collapse of the pocket was problematic in 2014 when he hung strong in the pocket but flushed he did a nice job of just throwing the ball away. When throwing deep at times the ball just exploded off his hand. Has one of the strongest arms in this year’s draft. Good overhand delivery. Touch and ball placement are good. Slides easily in e pocket. Has the size and presence of an NFL pocket passer. Below average escape ability form pressure. A solid leader with good game management skills. Mentally prepared to p,as on Sunday. Former NFL assistant Johns Garrett helped clean up his footwork in 2014. A limited ceiling type player. 2014 stats: 282/453, 3164 yes, 62.3%, 15 TD, 8 INT. Ball Velocity 57 MPH. OSR:13/14. Fourth/fifth round. (A-33 5/8, H-9, SS-4.39, VJ-31).

Lots of folks say “ignore the Pro Day”. I disagree with that.

The Pro Day is a day to see if a player has taken the initiative to clean up or improve anything, gotten healthy, or learned something new.

And Mannion’s mechanics really looked much better at the Pro Day. And that’s important. It means that he can be coached up regarding mechanics.

It doesn’t hurt that he looked like a trim Ben Roethlisberger and delivered the ball like him, too. Damn, the ball just came out effortlessly.

He’ll have to adjust to the speed of some of our guys… because Tavon, Gurley, Mason, Britt, Quick (if healthy) and Bailey are ALL faster than everyone he’s played with except Cooks. But that’s just an adjustment and he’s shown he can make those.

I’m very enthusiastic about this pick.

Then again, I think Foles has got to be LOVING this draft. Teams are going to have to absolutely dig trenches to stop our running game, so when Foles gets to throw, he should be able to be in a situation much closer to 2013 where the run set up the pass and he just lit up the league.

If Foles is even 85% of THAT guy and Mason and Gurley are 90% of what they should be… This Rams team will be just damned hard to beat (and they’ll be twice as tough as they were last year on O).

I liked Mannion better than any QB in this class.
He is better than Foles. imo
I am drafting Cook in 2016. 😉

Like Cosell says, it is all projections. Historically the success/fail on QBs drafted in the first round is 50/50. Polian is the only guy who seems to beat the odds. Until we can see them perform in the NFL, we can’t say anything for sure. So much of a QBs performance is intangibles that you just can’t positively predict their how they will do. You just keep trying until you find one. imo

Big 6’6″ qb, born in San Jose and played locally in Pleasanton…. what worries me is that Mannion threw a ton of picks in college…..

zn wrote:

InvaderRam wrote:

after all this offense is going to be built around the running game.

Ah but.

To me, running game or not, if the qb ain’t clutch, you don;t get that much.

The classic Oakland Raiders were a running team too, but, Kenny “The Carnivorous Reptile of the Suborder Serpentes” Stabler was clutch, and that was all the difference.

Me? I keep whoever is clutch. Even if he’s a klutz for the other 3 1/2 quarters.

..

Sounds like you might have been a Jake Plummer fan