Joe Flacco--merged Threads

[MDmid14]

I can't wait to watch him play, but you have to remember the other 1st round rookie QB we got with a rocket arm.

[Ravensfan23]

One of the main things that are often overlooked when talking about Big School vs Small School prospets and players is that more then 60% of the players draft come from Big School. Less then 35% of the drafted players per year actually pan out. So if u give a player higher grade or a better chance of making it to the HOF just because he went to a big school, then that wouldn't be accurate. Now i'm not defending big schools or small schools cuz i can care less. If u can play football u can play football and thats all that matters. But saying that a player is less of a player because he comes from a small school is just not right.

Just a quick comparison.

Big school

Kyle Boller

Joey Harrington

David Carr

Ryan Leaf

Chris Redman

Tim Couch

Travis Taylor

Robert Gallery

Mike Williams

Small School

Steve Smith

Chad Johnson

TJ Housh (all three went to junior college before transfering to Orgen st)

Tony Romo

Bart Scott

Just to name a few without doing any resreach. Anyway the point i'm trying to make is that football is football, if u can play that game then u can play it anywhere. It doesn't matter if u played in front of 70 people or 70,000 because the NFL is a different beast. IF u can tame that beast then u will have a successful career, and places like Tenn Miami or FSU won't help u any if u don't have what it takes. All they will do is help u build your resume, but when it's time to put up or shut up your school doesn't matter. Just the heart pride determination and passion will get u through.

[rayvenfan_52]

BUUUUUUUUUT.. Coming from Miami does help like.... a lot. Look at all the people that came from Miami that are really good. We currently have 4 in our team.. Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Willis McGahee and the rookie Tavares Gooden... Lets not forget about all the other Miami players around the league... Thats why Miami is called the U.

[#1 D]

BUUUUUUUUUT.. Coming from Miami does help like.... a lot. Look at all the people that came from Miami that are really good. We currently have 4 in our team.. Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Willis McGahee and the rookie Tavares Gooden... Lets not forget about all the other Miami players around the league... Thats why Miami is called the U.

Oh really? I thought it was called "the U" because their symbol looks like a "U."

[rayvenfan_52]

well they call other places the U for safties and all that... and yea ur right... The symbol is a big factor in it.

[neepo13]

Check out this video:

College QB Challenge with all the top QB prospects (Ryan, Flacco, Henne, Brannon etc). Flacco outplays everyone and throws a 74yd bomb that should've gone for 80.

Not a knock on Flacco but those drills mean nothing. A couple years ago Aaron Brooks won a similar NFL competition. Do you think he's a good QB?

[neepo13]

One of the main things that are often overlooked when talking about Big School vs Small School prospets and players is that more then 60% of the players draft come from Big School. Less then 35% of the drafted players per year actually pan out. So if u give a player higher grade or a better chance of making it to the HOF just because he went to a big school, then that wouldn't be accurate. Now i'm not defending big schools or small schools cuz i can care less. If u can play football u can play football and thats all that matters. But saying that a player is less of a player because he comes from a small school is just not right.

Just a quick comparison.

Big school

Kyle Boller

Joey Harrington

David Carr

Ryan Leaf

Chris Redman

Tim Couch

Travis Taylor

Robert Gallery

Mike Williams

Small School

Steve Smith

Chad Johnson

TJ Housh (all three went to junior college before transfering to Orgen st)

Tony Romo

Bart Scott

Just to name a few without doing any resreach. Anyway the point i'm trying to make is that football is football, if u can play that game then u can play it anywhere. It doesn't matter if u played in front of 70 people or 70,000 because the NFL is a different beast. IF u can tame that beast then u will have a successful career, and places like Tenn Miami or FSU won't help u any if u don't have what it takes. All they will do is help u build your resume, but when it's time to put up or shut up your school doesn't matter. Just the heart pride determination and passion will get u through.

Again, nobody is knocking anybody based on their school. 3 of the 5 examples you gave are average to slightly above average players in my opinion. None of them are sure HOFers. And none of them have won anything worth bragging about.

Tom Brady

Peyton Manning

Ray Lewis

Ed Reed

Adrian Peterson

Are all top 5 players at their position and 3 of the 5 have won superbowl's. Two of the five have been MVP. 3 of the 5 have been named offensive or defensive player of the year. None of the guys you named have done any of the above.

Again thats not a knock on small school guys and I am in no way saying, small schools dont produce great players its just not to the extent that big school's do. Another interesting fact. ALL four QB's that have started in the last two superbowl's, went to major college programs.

[Bullrush]

Not a knock on Flacco but those drills mean nothing. A couple years ago Aaron Brooks won a similar NFL competition. Do you think he's a good QB?

Calm down, nobody's saying that this proves Flacco will be a hall of famer.

And for every Aaron Brooks there is a Tony Romo, a Marc Bulger or a Drew Brees. It certainly doesn't hurt Flacco to look good in those drills.

[Slick]

Again, nobody is knocking anybody based on their school. 3 of the 5 examples you gave are average to slightly above average players in my opinion. None of them are sure HOFers. And none of them have won anything worth bragging about.

Tom Brady

Peyton Manning

Ray Lewis

Ed Reed

Adrian Peterson

Are all top 5 players at their position and 3 of the 5 have won superbowl's. Two of the five have been MVP. 3 of the 5 have been named offensive or defensive player of the year. None of the guys you named have done any of the above.

Again thats not a knock on small school guys and I am in no way saying, small schools dont produce great players its just not to the extent that big school's do. Another interesting fact. ALL four QB's that have started in the last two superbowl's, went to major college programs.

All that tells me is that more players in big schools get a look by draft agents and small school players are often overlooked because they don't go to a big school. I'd say a good reason for this is because most teams use the national scouting service unlike the ravens and select other teams, who build their own draft boards with their own staff. The national Scouting agencies are going to focus more on big schools because there are obviously more people attending, which means tougher competition to get a spot on the roster at the college level, which means that it's more likely that one of those players will actually be good. Kinda like quantity over quality, except that doesnt exactly apply in a literal sense. Small schools have less competition for the starting spot since there are fewer athletes attending them, and since more players try out at the large ones, im sure the agencies consider them more likely to be nfl-compatible.

if smaller schools became the focus of scouting im sure we'd see more small school players hit the big time, and that would only lead to those small schools getting larger until they, in turn, become large schools that churn out potential stars. its just how things have worked out. schools that have produced stars attract people who think they have what it takes to be stars. im sure if delaware started producing pro bowl QBs people would start attending there just in hopes of getting to be the next big thing out of it.

honestly, i, too, do not care what school a player comes from. if they can play they can play. its really that simple. if they have the physical, mental, and emotional capacity to stand up to the NFL then that's where they belong.

[neepo13]

All that tells me is that more players in big schools get a look by draft agents and small school players are often overlooked because they don't go to a big school. I'd say a good reason for this is because most teams use the national scouting service unlike the ravens and select other teams, who build their own draft boards with their own staff. The national Scouting agencies are going to focus more on big schools because there are obviously more people attending, which means tougher competition to get a spot on the roster at the college level, which means that it's more likely that one of those players will actually be good. Kinda like quantity over quality, except that doesnt exactly apply in a literal sense. Small schools have less competition for the starting spot since there are fewer athletes attending them, and since more players try out at the large ones, im sure the agencies consider them more likely to be nfl-compatible.

if smaller schools became the focus of scouting im sure we'd see more small school players hit the big time, and that would only lead to those small schools getting larger until they, in turn, become large schools that churn out potential stars. its just how things have worked out. schools that have produced stars attract people who think they have what it takes to be stars. im sure if delaware started producing pro bowl QBs people would start attending there just in hopes of getting to be the next big thing out of it.

honestly, i, too, do not care what school a player comes from. if they can play they can play. its really that simple. if they have the physical, mental, and emotional capacity to stand up to the NFL then that's where they belong.

So, Tony Romo, T.J. Houshmanzadah, Chad Johnson, Steve Smith and Bart Scott havent won any major awards because they are overlooked due to attending a small school? No, they havent done it because they are not extremely great players.

[Bullrush]

Why don't you mention, LaDainian Tomlinson (TCU), Jason Taylor (Akron), Brian Urlacher (New Mexico) or Michael Strahan (Texas Southern)? How about Terry Bradshaw, Jerry Rice, Walter Payton, Marshal Faulk and Randy Moss? It doesn't matter what college you went to. All it does is put additional pressure on you.

[Slick]

So, Tony Romo, T.J. Houshmanzadah, Chad Johnson, Steve Smith and Bart Scott havent won any major awards because they are overlooked due to attending a small school? No, they havent done it because they are not extremely great players.

Romo would probably earn super bowl mvp if he didnt choke long enough to win it.

Houshmandzadah and Johnson kinda cancelled each other out each year they played together.

Steve Smith is one of the few bright spots on his team, but he can't do everything by himself.

and Bart Scott is gonna have a tough time winning a defensive accolade considering he is surrounded by so many other names that all could potentially win such awards themselves.

Besides, I was talking about drafting and not end-of-year awards. All I meant is that because theres a higher volume of people in large schools, the competition for the starting job is more intense, there are larger crowds, and good players are drawn to big schools known to produce good players. Therefore, there is less assumed risk in drafting one of the players from a big school, so many small-school phenoms could be discredited just for the fact that they attend a small school.

[rayvenfan_52]

yea theres more competition in the bigger schools. but some of the best players in the NFL league as of today came from small schools. its just because they had to work harder to prove people they are better then what the critics say about them. I think the people the come from small colleges (as they say in the NFL) WANT IT MORE.

[neepo13]

Why don't you mention, LaDainian Tomlinson (TCU), Jason Taylor (Akron), Brian Urlacher (New Mexico) or Michael Strahan (Texas Southern)? How about Terry Bradshaw, Jerry Rice, Walter Payton, Marshal Faulk and Randy Moss? It doesn't matter what college you went to. All it does is put additional pressure on you.

I am mentioning the examples he gave.

[Ravensfan23]

I am mentioning the examples he gave.

The reason i didn't mention the greats like Payton and Rice or any of the other HOFers is because i didn't wanna run the risk of having the "different time, different era" thing come up. That would be a hold other discussion in it's self. The bottomline to the whole thing is it doesn't matter where u attended school. IF u can play football you can play football. The reason why Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, McGahee, Wilfork, Taylor and so many others from the U are great has nothing to do with them going to Miami. They would have been great players if they attended UTEP, the only differences is that playing for Miami put them in a position to showcase their talents on a brighter stage. Remember there are more then 50 players on a team. So for every Portis, Wayne, Shockey, and Winslow, there are about 25-30 kids at Miami that won't come close to playing in the NFL. Why? Because they simply didn't have what it takes.

[#1 D]

So, Tony Romo, T.J. Houshmanzadah, Chad Johnson, Steve Smith and Bart Scott havent won any major awards because they are overlooked due to attending a small school? No, they havent done it because they are not extremely great players.

True, but they still are a hell of a lot better than a lot of the division I-A football players. I think that was the main point of it. They've developed into superstars nonetheless, and you can never tell if a player is HOF-considered until he's over 32 or somthing. And I still think all those players still have a long career ahead of them.