Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
Last year, following the draft and the Cardinals' 7th round selection of WR Demarco Sampson, when I was watching tapes of San Diego St. I watched quite a bit of Ryan Lindley and I thought right then he would be a QB the Cardinals would have seen quite a bit of and a QB they would like.
What struck me about Lindley was that he was able to lead SDSU to its first bowl game in quite some time---and he was able to deliver the ball to two 1,000 yard receivers (and NFL draft picks) in that 2010 season, in Vincent Brown and Demarco Sampson.
What I saw was a very live arm---a very good pocket presence---and a good sense of timing.
I was also impressed with the fact that Lindley came close to beating TCU and Utah, two highly ranked teams in 2010. Clearly, SDSU did not have the overall talent that TCU and Utah did---but Lindley and his WRs and RB Ronnie Hillman made things very interesting.
Lindley, in leading SDSU to its first bowl win (since, get this, 1969), in the 2010 Poinsettia Bowl, passed for 18/23/276 yds./2 TD---8/165 of which went to WR Vincent Brown.
This past season---despite losing his top two targets and throwing to WRs who had a combined 4 career catches---AND under a new head coach and new system---Lindley leads SDSU to an 8-4 record and an invitation to the New Orleans Bowl.
Sure the 53% completion percentage is not what you want---but the 3,000 yards and the 23 TDs versus 8 ints certainly are---and the unexpected 8-4 regular season record is especially impressive.
In the New Orleans Bowl versus Louisiana-Lafayette, Lindley brought the team back from a sizable deficit and led the team on what should have been a game winning TD pass with 35 seconds left, only to lose on a 50 yard field goal as the clock expired.
Lindley was 28/49/413 yards/3 TDs, 0 ints.
If you go watch the tape on YouTube: (Lindley in New Orleans Bowl)---and you watch his performance a year previously (Lindley versus Navy), I think you will be more enthused with Lindley as a prospect.
He finished his career at SDSU at 961/1,732/55.2%/12,690/90-47 TD/INT.
He helped turn SDSU from a perennial loser into a winner in a conference that has gotten much stronger---and without one of the stellar defenses that rivals TCU and then Utah had.
I give him a lot of credit---and I think that in two years he might be a good #2 or possible candidate to start. He knows he has to improve his footwork and in doing so improve his completion percentage---so the work is in front of him---but I think that to acquire a QB with his talent in the 6th round is impressive.
The QB whom I was most curious about was Kellen Moore of Boise St., the most accurate QB in the draft. Yet, Moore lacks the size and the arm strength that pro personnel directors require---but---oh that uncanny timing and accuracy, and oh his 50-3 record at Boise St.
Well, I don't know if you saw this or not, but on the third day of the draft Trent Dilfer was explaining during the late rounds why Kellen Moore would not likely get draft (which turned out to be the case). What Dilfer argued was that Moore's combination of a lack of size, mobility, arm strength and quick release would not enable him to convert the type of game changing plays under pressure that NFL QBs must make.
Dilfer argued that when QBs have the mobility that's half the battle---but even better that when QBs can pull the trigger and throw the ball with zip they can convert the busted plays into TDs.
These are the qualities in Lindley's skill set that give him a good chance. He has decent mobility...he has an excellent quick release and he has an all-out gun (I think the strongest arm in this year's draft)---
Thus---even though I loved Moore's intangibles and his tremendous accuracy, I think that Lindley was the right choice.
BTW---this year while watching SDSU---keep an eye on soph TE Gavin Escobar---I am sure the Cardinals have him in their thoughts for next year's draft.
What struck me about Lindley was that he was able to lead SDSU to its first bowl game in quite some time---and he was able to deliver the ball to two 1,000 yard receivers (and NFL draft picks) in that 2010 season, in Vincent Brown and Demarco Sampson.
What I saw was a very live arm---a very good pocket presence---and a good sense of timing.
I was also impressed with the fact that Lindley came close to beating TCU and Utah, two highly ranked teams in 2010. Clearly, SDSU did not have the overall talent that TCU and Utah did---but Lindley and his WRs and RB Ronnie Hillman made things very interesting.
Lindley, in leading SDSU to its first bowl win (since, get this, 1969), in the 2010 Poinsettia Bowl, passed for 18/23/276 yds./2 TD---8/165 of which went to WR Vincent Brown.
This past season---despite losing his top two targets and throwing to WRs who had a combined 4 career catches---AND under a new head coach and new system---Lindley leads SDSU to an 8-4 record and an invitation to the New Orleans Bowl.
Sure the 53% completion percentage is not what you want---but the 3,000 yards and the 23 TDs versus 8 ints certainly are---and the unexpected 8-4 regular season record is especially impressive.
In the New Orleans Bowl versus Louisiana-Lafayette, Lindley brought the team back from a sizable deficit and led the team on what should have been a game winning TD pass with 35 seconds left, only to lose on a 50 yard field goal as the clock expired.
Lindley was 28/49/413 yards/3 TDs, 0 ints.
If you go watch the tape on YouTube: (Lindley in New Orleans Bowl)---and you watch his performance a year previously (Lindley versus Navy), I think you will be more enthused with Lindley as a prospect.
He finished his career at SDSU at 961/1,732/55.2%/12,690/90-47 TD/INT.
He helped turn SDSU from a perennial loser into a winner in a conference that has gotten much stronger---and without one of the stellar defenses that rivals TCU and then Utah had.
I give him a lot of credit---and I think that in two years he might be a good #2 or possible candidate to start. He knows he has to improve his footwork and in doing so improve his completion percentage---so the work is in front of him---but I think that to acquire a QB with his talent in the 6th round is impressive.
The QB whom I was most curious about was Kellen Moore of Boise St., the most accurate QB in the draft. Yet, Moore lacks the size and the arm strength that pro personnel directors require---but---oh that uncanny timing and accuracy, and oh his 50-3 record at Boise St.
Well, I don't know if you saw this or not, but on the third day of the draft Trent Dilfer was explaining during the late rounds why Kellen Moore would not likely get draft (which turned out to be the case). What Dilfer argued was that Moore's combination of a lack of size, mobility, arm strength and quick release would not enable him to convert the type of game changing plays under pressure that NFL QBs must make.
Dilfer argued that when QBs have the mobility that's half the battle---but even better that when QBs can pull the trigger and throw the ball with zip they can convert the busted plays into TDs.
These are the qualities in Lindley's skill set that give him a good chance. He has decent mobility...he has an excellent quick release and he has an all-out gun (I think the strongest arm in this year's draft)---
Thus---even though I loved Moore's intangibles and his tremendous accuracy, I think that Lindley was the right choice.
BTW---this year while watching SDSU---keep an eye on soph TE Gavin Escobar---I am sure the Cardinals have him in their thoughts for next year's draft.
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