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Originally Posted by DJ's left nut
Russell Wilson and John Elway spring immediately to mind. Then some busts like Drew Henson, Kaepernick, Chad Hutchison and Brandon Weedon.
But most were pitchers. Elway was an OFer, IIRC so he wouldn't have had that flick release that infielders learn. Wilson's the only other infielder I can think of but I'm certain all those premier athletes also played something on their off days growing up. Most of the time your best pitcher will also play some OF or 3b; SS isn't as common.
He's absolutely right, though. I played SS as a kid and to this day I can throw a ball nearly as accurately from damn near underhand as I can straight over the top. And from a bunch of different arm angles. It's just what you get used to because your body can take you in a bunch of different angles and you need to be able to throw quickly from all of them.
So that's a pretty genuine comment, IMO. If a guy's spent a lot of time on the infield, he's gonna have a variable arm. That said, I disagree with the idea that he doesn't need to fix his feet or even some of his release. That kind of stuff is fine as a necessary option, but there's less margin for error on those throws. If your release point is off by much at all, you've gone completely heywire whereas a normal release is usually only off in a single direction.
Mahomes absolutely has to realize that any time he CAN set his feet and fire conventionally, he should. He doesn't seem to understand that right now or at least consistently practice it. He does some things that are just a little lazy and if he does them often enough, that's trouble. He can't just take a sidearm flip if coming over the top with a solid base is available to him. And no, his feet aren't right nearly as often as some are saying - they're really really bad. Like, arguably the worst in the draft bad. He has to fix that and quickly because if your platform isn't sound, you can never be confident where the ball is going, especially under duress.
But that's okay - if the dude has the right footwork already, he'd have gone #1 overall. The warts are why we were able to get him. It's just important that we not ignore them because we want this guy to succeed. The only way he WILL succeed is if the coaching staff fixes those faults.
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Agree with you on everything. Pat would have gone #1 overall if he had good footwork and mechanics. It's a blessing in disguise that he had these flaws because now he is in the hands of a proven QB whisperer who will hopefully get the most out of him. They have a lot of work to do and now we just have to see how it all plays out.
Believe I read somewhere that Aaron Rodgers was a shortstop in Little League and it has definitely helped him as a quarterback to make those throws in scrambling situations.
Also will point out Kaep was nowhere near as accurate in college as Mahomes. You can see why Harbaugh wanted Kaep. 38 on the Wonderlic, 95 mph baseball arm, 4.5 speed in the 40, etc. But it turned out his accuracy problems and inability to read defenses limited his effectiveness in the NFL.
Weeden never showed an ability to throw on the run. He had a big arm but he was a 100% pocket passer and he was also surrounded by some big time talent like Justin Blackmon. Weeden was also ancient in terms of age for a college QB. That limited his upside in a big way compared to a guy like Mahomes who does have that unique accuracy/velocity in scrambling situations and is a true junior at 21 years old. Weeden was 28 years old on Draft Day 2012.
Pat has a ton to learn and fix in his game, but that also means the upside potential is very exciting if the coaches can help him fix some of his issues.