Will McCown be given the chance to beat out RG III?

[Mudfly]

 

Sir Francis was not a "running QB". He was a scrambling QB. He ran to buy time to throw as he played behind some of the worst OLs in the league. (Expansion Vikings and rebuilding NYGs)

 

 

 

Gotta agree with this......Id say a running QB is one who tries to gain positive yardage with his feet.....IE running backish.....

 

My memory of Fran was running circles in the backfield....buying time.....so he could throw.....

 

Cant say I remember many(any?) attempts to just grind out positive yards on the ground though.....

[jiggins7919]

It's nice to hear that RG III has been working on throwing the ball away and sliding. I've read that in several articles, and RG III has been throwing the ball over some fences just to prove a point. "Running QB's" don't last long, but there definitely is a way to be a running QB and survive. I think Russell Wilson is the very definition of this, and he's the master at escaping sacks and gaining positive yards without getting drilled.

 

By all accounts, RG III looks very fast. Word on the internet is that RG III was so overwhelmingly impressive at his Browns workout that Hue Jackson and others basically wanted a deal done immediately. RG III is a guy that is going to look great without pads and without any pressure. He throws that super tight spiral and he's very quick. But can he use that quickness to buy more time to throw? Will our receivers have any experience in playing with a QB that scrambles around and extends plays? I know that sounds silly, but apparently it takes some getting used to. Manziel was the king of this, but we don't have that many receivers left from last year, and the only one that is going to play a lot is probably Hawkins. I don't expect Gabriel to make the squad, and Pryor doesn't count because he didn't practice the entire year.

 

From what I've read about Hue Jackson, his offense prefers to get the ball out of the QB's hands faster than just about any other team in the league. I heard some stats that measured the seconds from the hike to the pass, and the Bengals ranked towards the top in the league (I forget the source, I apologize). Getting the ball out quickly is all fine and dandy, but you must have a QB that knows where to go with the ball, AND you must have WR's that can immediately get open. It takes practice to get the timing down, and it takes more practice to get the cerebral part down.

 

My main concern about RG III lies between his ears. In my opinion, we're dealing with a guy with damaged confidence. I could be COMPLETELY wrong, but when you go from having a tremendous rookie season and being the darling of the league to someone that doesn't even dress out, I think it's safe to assume that his ego took a drastic lashing. Playing QB in Cleveland is NOT for the faint of heart, and I believe we can all agree on that. What's going to happen to RG III after he completely stinks it up in the first half of our first game? (not saying he WILL, just a hypothetical) Can RG III handle all of the "boos" that will no doubt come hurling down upon him after he turns in a real crap-fest of a game? Can he overcome the incessant media articles and hateful statements?

 

To me, THAT'S the biggest unknown with RG III, and to me, is the biggest reason we kept McCown on the roster. Physically, I think RG III is about as healthy as many QB's in the league. Sure, he's had some surgeries, but how many people HAVEN'T? To make matters worse, it's not like RG III is making his comeback on a team loaded with offensive or defensive talent. He's probably going to be down several scores in many games, and he's probably NOT going to have the luxury of a balanced attack. Teams will know that we're passing the ball, and he'll know that they're coming for him. We have a sense of how McCown can handle those situations, but RG III is an unknown. I truly root for the young man, but he's coming into a very difficult situation.