[CBFF] "Rush to Misjudgment" or "Rex on the Run"?

[Tom Shannon]

http://bloggeddrain.typepad.com/cbff/2007/08/rush-to-misjudg.html

"Rush to Misjudgment" or "Rex on the Run"?

By Tom Shannon

I love talk shows where media people, particularly newspaper reporters, get
together to debate the relevant football-related issues of the day.  This is
particularly true on the local level where I've always believed the people
involved are necessarily more in tune with the everyday operations of a
particular team and its personnel.  A similar type of thing is playing out,
not on TV, but in the print medium this week.

Two pieces in different newspapers by respected local columnists have taken
opposite sides on the "should Rex Grossman run more" debate.  Mike Mulligan
believes this is a bad idea.  David Haugh thinks it might add an additional
dimension to Grossman's game.  My own gut feeling is that the truth lies
somewhere in between but that Mulligan is more right than wrong.

If Grossman is encouraged to run, there is a real danger that he'll be apt
to do it too often and to give up on a play too soon.  This would not be
good primarily because it just doesn't fit his skill set.  He's not
particularly fast and up until last year he hadn't been particularly
durable.  Mulligan points out that getting hurt is not what you want to do
in a contract year.   Much more important than that, it isn't good for a
team that promises to be a Super Bowl contender if it stays healthy.  Yes, a
mobile quarterback can slow the rush and force discipline upon defensive
linemen.  But that's true of Michael Vick.  It is not, and never will be,
true of Grossman.  He simply can't do enough damage often enough.  

I do like the idea of Grossman showing more mobility.  It just has to be the
right kind of mobility.  Much more important to Grossman is that he better
learn to move within the pocket.  With all due respect to Peyton Manning,
the best pocket passer in the game today is Tom Brady.  Brady has what
defensive linemen call "phone booth quicks".  This is the ability to avoid
the rush by slipping away in the pocket.  He does it time and again, much to
the frustration of defensive personnel who think they have him only to see
him elude them at the last minute with a short, quick sidestep while keeping
his concentration downfield.  Brady is also a master of shuffling to the
right or left in the pocket to move into better lines of sight and throwing
lanes.  Not being particularly tall, Grossman could use this ability to
great advantage.  He is also one of the few young quarterbacks in the game
with the instincts to be able to do it with the proper coaching.

There's no doubt that Haugh	 has a point in that Grossman could run
more.  But I'd much rather see him slip out of the pocket with the idea of
first allowing his receivers extra time to get open, running only when
there's no other choice and only when there is open field in front of him.
In other words, Grossman has to be smart about it and he has to realize that
staying healthy and avoiding being hit is the best way for him to help the
team long term.  A scrambling quarterback is OK as long as he doesn't leave
his team scrambling for a replacement.