Aside from how much he whines, he might be more entertaining than Spurrier.
From Mike Huguenin at Rivals.com (story):
Third, Leach was incredulous that Texas A&M quarterback Stephen McGee – who was a reserve for much of his senior season – was drafted in the fourth round by Dallas (and Tech quarterback Graham Harrell – who led the nation in passing – wasn't drafted at all): "The Dallas Cowboys like him more than his coaches at A&M did."
Fourth, after Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman talked on back-to-back days about Leach's comments on McGee, Leach let fly again, with tongue firmly planted in his cheek: "I've always known A&M had great players. The fact that they have the luxury to put a third- or fourth-round draft pick on the bench, to me, identifies what a truly great team they are. It's an honor for us at Texas Tech to have the opportunity to play them. There are numerous players on our team that will never get a look or play a down in the NFL, so you can imagine how exciting it is for me and them to go play a team the magnitude of Texas A&M and look over there on the bench and see third- and fourth-round draft picks."
Well said, I agree. But don't you think that one of the reasons Leach's quarterbacks might not be as highly sought after in the NFL is because of the habits that Leach's own play-calling style has instilled in them? No doubt Graham Harrell is a great talent, almost certainly more so than Stephen McGee (though I have to admit that I haven't followed McGee's career with anything approaching even mild interest). But I'm not sure that NFL staffs are wrong to conclude that Leach has effectively rendered Harrell a one-trick pony. It may just be better business to draft an unproven quarterback than a very talented one who has a lot to unlearn.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, Leach's first duty is not to prepare his players for the NFL draft; it's to win games for Texas Tech, and he's been very successful in that respect, especially over the past couple of years. On the other hand, if he continues to have trouble placing his seniors on NFL rosters, it wouldn't be surprising if his recruiting classes get weaker, which in turn will affect his ability to win games.
I absolutely think NFL teams are right to be skeptical of Texas Tech QBs. For starters, there's no guarantee that such a system quarterback will adapt well to a pro-style or west coast offense. Secondly, when you have so many quarterbacks doing so well in a particular system, it tends to imply that the eye-popping stats might be more a result of the system than the quarterback, and evaluations should adjust accordingly.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I still would have gambled with Harrell over McGee, though I wouldn't have wasted a draft pick on either. In the NFL, accuracy is perhaps the most important physical quality a quarterback can have, and that's a strength of Harrell's. Furthermore, given the largely unproven nature of McGee, and the volatility of drafting quarterbacks in general, there's not a snowball's chance in hell I'd risk a draft pick on him.
UNLESS!!! - I didn't intend for him to play quarterback.
ReplyDelete