NFL Draft: Garrett Grayson Has Leg Up Over Marcus Mariota & Other Spread Quarterbacks
BOSTON (CBS) – Bob Socci, the voice of your New England Patriots, takes to the Sports Hub airwaves to discuss prospects, scouting reports, team needs, welcome special guests and everything else you need to know ahead of the 2015 NFL Draft every Sunday at 8am through the end of draft season!
On the most recent edition of Bob Socci's NFL Draft Preview Show, the voice of the Patriots was joined by Sports Illustrated senior writer Greg Bishop.
Bishop has spent a lot of time covering Tom Brady and Darrelle Revis, who were once foes, then friends, and now foes once more in what should be a highly competitive AFC East division in 2015.
"These are two of the most competitive guys I've ever been around. I think that him and Tom used to go back and forth a lot at practice. It's going to be interesting see them as rivals again," said Bishop.
Unlike boxing, known as the sweet science, drafting quarterback is very much so an inexact science. Much of the quarterback prospect talk leading up to the draft has been spent on Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota. Bishop has profiled Colorado State quarterback Garrett Grayson, who may end up being a steal in the later rounds.
"Tom Brady was a sixth round pick, Russell Wilson was a third round pick, and here you have a guy in Garrett Grayson who's not really a spread quarterback. He understands how to read defenses and I think that makes him intriguing to NFL teams," Bishop told Socci. "It's not the typical spread thing where you have to come in and learn certain things, so I think that makes him appealing."
As we've seen with spread formation quarterbacks like Robert Griffin III, adapting to the NFL is no easy task. Arizona head coach Bruce Arians even said recently these spread signal callers are light years behind the rest.
In some of these college offenses, like Baylor under Art Briles, rarely is the quarterback ever in a huddle or taking snaps from center. That makes quarterbacks like Bryce Petty, while talented, hard to forecast.
"You haven't played in a pro system if you haven't done a read at the line [of scrimmage]. If you haven't looked at the defense and adjusted your protections for that then you haven't done it before. That makes it harder to project those spread guys coming into the league. I think we're looking at a guy in Garrett Grayson who understands that, who has been through it and has thrown for a ton of yards in that offense. When evaluators look at him they know exactly what they're getting."
Listen below for Bob Socci's full interview with Greg Bishop:
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