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Big Arm QBs with Poor Decision Making (1 Viewer)

E

Eminence

Footballguy
It seems that in the league there have been many players that come in with large cannons (Jamarcus Russel, Rex Grossman, etc.) and have tiny spurts of success. Only to falter, explode, and leave the league in a big mess because they do not have the mental wit to play at the NFL level. Has there ever been an NFL QB who has failed not because he couldn't handle the mental aspects of the game... but because he failed at the physical aspects? IE: Not having a strong enough arm; but being decisive enough to make the correct reads.

Someone who pops into my head is Chad Pennington; however I haven't seen him play much and this is going off the what I've heard about it.

Have there been any other cases like this?

 
Chad Pennington is the definition of this. Mark Brunell and Troy Aikmen also come to mind.

Other than that, I'd say pretty much the majority of backup QB's in the league presently fit this bill. Good enough for an emergency fill in when needed due to their smarts and accuracy with a paired down playbook, but not enough upside to invest as your franchise starter.

 
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Eminence said:
It seems that in the league there have been many players that come in with large cannons (Jamarcus Russel, Rex Grossman, etc.) and have tiny spurts of success. Only to falter, explode, and leave the league in a big mess because they do not have the mental wit to play at the NFL level. Has there ever been an NFL QB who has failed not because he couldn't handle the mental aspects of the game... but because he failed at the physical aspects? IE: Not having a strong enough arm; but being decisive enough to make the correct reads.

Someone who pops into my head is Chad Pennington; however I haven't seen him play much and this is going off the what I've heard about it.

Have there been any other cases like this?
Click to expand...
Jay Fiedler.Chris Simms

 
Another question. Has there ever been any QB's that have a moderate arm, was half german, half spanish, had questionable ability to read the defenses, AND could run 4.4 or better. Plus likes soup for dinner as well.

 
Pennington and Gannon are first 2 that came to mind.

Phillip Rivers doesn't look to have much of a strong arm either and he consistently puts up monster #s.

 
Eminence said:
It seems that in the league there have been many players that come in with large cannons (Jamarcus Russel, Rex Grossman, etc.) and have tiny spurts of success. Only to falter, explode, and leave the league in a big mess because they do not have the mental wit to play at the NFL level. Has there ever been an NFL QB who has failed not because he couldn't handle the mental aspects of the game... but because he failed at the physical aspects? IE: Not having a strong enough arm; but being decisive enough to make the correct reads.

Someone who pops into my head is Chad Pennington; however I haven't seen him play much and this is going off the what I've heard about it.

Have there been any other cases like this?
Click to expand...
To answer this part of your question, I think there will be a lot fewer of these types of players, simply because scouts will have a much easier time weeding out QBs who don't have the arm strength to make the NFL, no matter how good their decision making is. However, I'd say Pennington is the poster child of QBs who were hampered primarily by a lack of arm strength, but Carson Palmer is quickly approaching that level.
 
Wuerrfel is a great call.

FTR, I wouldn't say that Pennington "failed" in the NFL.

He won Comeback Player of The Year twice, and led the NFL in passer rating in'02.

As far as smart QBs who failed in the NFL because they didn't have the superior physical tools, theres' been tons.

 
Ken Dorsey? The Browns kept him as their 3rd or 4th string QB for a number of years solely based on his mental approach to the game and to mentor the young guys, but he could never get it done when we had to start him due to his substandard physical tools.

 
offdee said:
Chad Pennington is the definition of this. Mark Brunell and Troy Aikmen also come to mind.Other than that, I'd say pretty much the majority of backup QB's in the league presently fit this bill. Good enough for an emergency fill in when needed due to their smarts and accuracy with a paired down playbook, but not enough upside to invest as your franchise starter.
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When did Aikman's arm become poor?
 
Jeff Garcia would be another solid candidate for this list. Seems like a lot of "prototype" West Coast guys (Gannon, Garcia) fit this mold not too surprisingly.

 
njherdfan said:
Eminence said:
It seems that in the league there have been many players that come in with large cannons (Jamarcus Russel, Rex Grossman, etc.) and have tiny spurts of success. Only to falter, explode, and leave the league in a big mess because they do not have the mental wit to play at the NFL level. Has there ever been an NFL QB who has failed not because he couldn't handle the mental aspects of the game... but because he failed at the physical aspects? IE: Not having a strong enough arm; but being decisive enough to make the correct reads.

Someone who pops into my head is Chad Pennington; however I haven't seen him play much and this is going off the what I've heard about it.

Have there been any other cases like this?
Click to expand...
To answer this part of your question, I think there will be a lot fewer of these types of players, simply because scouts will have a much easier time weeding out QBs who don't have the arm strength to make the NFL, no matter how good their decision making is. However, I'd say Pennington is the poster child of QBs who were hampered primarily by a lack of arm strength, but Carson Palmer is quickly approaching that level.
Click to expand...
Chadwick Pennington had a good enough arm before he tore his rotator cuff in 2004. He wasn't going to throw the ball through the uprights from his knees on the 40 yard like like Kyle Boller, but it wasn't one of the bottom 10 arms in the league, either. After the repeated rotator cuff injuries, however, his arm was shot and became barely NFL caliber.Ditto with Carson Palmer. He had a "laser-rocket arm" until he partially tore a ligament in his elbow in 2008.

 
Chunkylover77 said:
offdee said:
Chad Pennington is the definition of this. Mark Brunell and Troy Aikmen also come to mind.Other than that, I'd say pretty much the majority of backup QB's in the league presently fit this bill. Good enough for an emergency fill in when needed due to their smarts and accuracy with a paired down playbook, but not enough upside to invest as your franchise starter.
Click to expand...
When did Aikman's arm become poor?
Click to expand...
:thumbup:Aikman was the #1 overall draft pick, and was hailed as the best QB prospect since John Elway. Just because he didn't pass for 4,000 a year doesn't mean his arm was weak.
 
Warner.

edited to add: sorry didnt realize you said FAILED... I'd say maybe Steve deberg? But then again maybe it was just cuz he was so damn old by the time I started watching football.

 
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perry147 said:
Eminence said:
It seems that in the league there have been many players that come in with large cannons (Jamarcus Russel, Rex Grossman, etc.) and have tiny spurts of success. Only to falter, explode, and leave the league in a big mess because they do not have the mental wit to play at the NFL level. Has there ever been an NFL QB who has failed not because he couldn't handle the mental aspects of the game... but because he failed at the physical aspects? IE: Not having a strong enough arm; but being decisive enough to make the correct reads.

Someone who pops into my head is Chad Pennington; however I haven't seen him play much and this is going off the what I've heard about it.

Have there been any other cases like this?
Click to expand...
Jay Fiedler.Chris Simms
Click to expand...
Woah woah woah. Chris Simms was never good at anything football related at any point in his career beyond high school. There's no weak arm excuse for him, he was bad at everything other than begging Major Applewhite to save the day for him.
 
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I don't believe that Bob Griese was known to have a big arm. He was very intelligent and led his team to three straight Super Bowls, winning two. (I do recognize that Morrall took over in week 5 of the 72 season. He did get benched in the second half of the AFC Championship game.)

 
Bart Starr had the physical gifts of a High Schooler, but he had the mind of Lombardi. He made the clutch throws, limited interceptions remarkably for his day, and won 5 championships.

 
Phillip Rivers throws more deep balls, and better deep balls than probably any qb in the league, yet his arm is probably not even in the top 15 strongest.

I don't remember Matt Hasselbeck or Jake Delhomme ever having amazing arms, but they worked out well for a good amount of years

 
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Fullback Fro said:
Another question. Has there ever been any QB's that have a moderate arm, was half german, half spanish, had questionable ability to read the defenses, AND could run 4.4 or better. Plus likes soup for dinner as well.
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I believe Chase has an article analyzing this coming out next week :goodposting:
 
Going way back... Jim Plunkett had to be the worst passer ever to win a SuperBowl. His passes were ugly, but he got the ball to his receivers.

 
tomur2 said:
Going way back... Jim Plunkett had to be the worst passer ever to win a SuperBowl. His passes were ugly, but he got the ball to his receivers.
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This may not go with the OP. IIRC, Plunkett had a big arm. He may not have been pretty but that isn't what the OP was looking for. He/she was looking for smart/weak armed QB's.
 
K8! said:
Bart Starr had the physical gifts of a High Schooler, but he had the mind of Lombardi. He made the clutch throws, limited interceptions remarkably for his day, and won 5 championships.
Click to expand...
of a High Schooler?hmmm, not so much. True, not a huge arm, definitely a field general.But physical gifts of a high schooler? hmmm, no. No one plays in D3 college with limited skills like that, and he played at Bama
 
Chunkylover77 said:
offdee said:
Chad Pennington is the definition of this. Mark Brunell and Troy Aikmen also come to mind.Other than that, I'd say pretty much the majority of backup QB's in the league presently fit this bill. Good enough for an emergency fill in when needed due to their smarts and accuracy with a paired down playbook, but not enough upside to invest as your franchise starter.
Click to expand...
When did Aikman's arm become poor?
Click to expand...
I wanted to check to see if anybody jumped on that before I did. Aikman did not have a poor arm at all. He could make any throw on the field, and as accurate as any qb Ive ever seen.
 
Eminence said:
Has there ever been an NFL QB who has failed not because he couldn't handle the mental aspects of the game... but because he failed at the physical aspects? IE: Not having a strong enough arm; but being decisive enough to make the correct reads.
Click to expand...
Flutie his first go around wasn't too successful because he was short?Heath Schuler and Danny Wuerffel come to mind as well. Eric Zeir maybe as well.Most of the time though, if you dong have the physical assets your draft stock is very low.
 
Chunkylover77 said:
offdee said:
Chad Pennington is the definition of this. Mark Brunell and Troy Aikmen also come to mind.Other than that, I'd say pretty much the majority of backup QB's in the league presently fit this bill. Good enough for an emergency fill in when needed due to their smarts and accuracy with a paired down playbook, but not enough upside to invest as your franchise starter.
Click to expand...
When did Aikman's arm become poor?
Click to expand...
Aikman never had a really great arm, just great decisions and very accurate.ETA - I see a few ppl jumped on this to defend him already. Not too surprising. However, most people forget that Jimmy Johnson who got stuck with the old regimes draft plan in 89 went out and drafted Steve Walsh in the supplemental draft a few months later to compete with Aikman. Aikman was not "the greatest QB prospect since Elway."
 
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switz said:
Chunkylover77 said:
offdee said:
Chad Pennington is the definition of this. Mark Brunell and Troy Aikmen also come to mind.Other than that, I'd say pretty much the majority of backup QB's in the league presently fit this bill. Good enough for an emergency fill in when needed due to their smarts and accuracy with a paired down playbook, but not enough upside to invest as your franchise starter.
Click to expand...
When did Aikman's arm become poor?
Click to expand...
Aikman never had a really great arm, just great decisions and very accurate.ETA - I see a few ppl jumped on this to defend him already. Not too surprising. However, most people forget that Jimmy Johnson who got stuck with the old regimes draft plan in 89 went out and drafted Steve Walsh in the supplemental draft a few months later to compete with Aikman. Aikman was not "the greatest QB prospect since Elway."
Click to expand...
Sorry. Aikman had a great arm. I realize you get your Cowboys scouting info from Cracker Jacks boxes, but seriously, you need to stop posting on anything related to that team. This is the just the latest absurdity.
 
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Touchdown Syndrome said:
videoguy505 said:
Flutie.
Click to expand...
Flutie had a nice little career and even made a Pro Bowl.I wouldn't say he was a failure.
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Yea, but if Flutie was 5 inches taller, he could have been a franchise QB. Instead he bounced around as often as DLineman batted down his passes. Outside of a couple golden years in Buffalo, he did squat in the NFL. He just wasn't tall enough. But damn did he have every intangible possible.
 
Big Bad Bernie Kosar threw some of the worst looking passes ever, probably some of the worst since Fran Tarkington.

Speaking of which, Fran Tarkington.

 
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