Bedard: While Completely Different, Winston & Mariota Both Have Tools To Be Successful In NFL
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The MMQB's Greg Bedard, who joins Felger & Massarotti in studio during the NFL season, was a guest of Bob Socci's NFL Draft Preview Show Sunday morning.
But before they delved into draft talk, the preseason scheduled was announced this week and New England will be hosting Mike McCarthy's Packers to kick things off.
We know Bill Belichick sees a lot of value in holding joint practices and has tremendous respect for Mike McCarthy, so wouldn't it be cool to see Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers sharing the same practice field?
But Greg Bedard says Patriots fans may not get that wish because McCarthy doesn't like joint practices. However, New England may be his one exception.
"We heard last year and even this year during the league meetings how much respect Belichick has for McCarthy. So I think if Belichick called Mike he has a better chance than most people of getting it done," Bedard told Socci. "I think it's a long shot, but if Bill is calling you never know."
With so much importance placed on the quarterback position there's an expectation that these college signal callers come to the pros and play right away.
Florida State's Jameis Winston and Oregon's Marcus Mariota are two players that headline the 2015 quarterback draft class, and it's an interesting dichotomy to say the least in that Winston and Mariota come from two very different offensive systems.
Pocket passers like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are extremely hard to find at the college level now with the widespread use of the spread offense. Jameis Winston is a product of a pro-style system, while Mariota was reared almost exclusively in the shotgun.
"You turn on any college game and other than maybe a handful of colleges everybody is running these spread offenses, so these are the quarterbacks coming up to the next level. NFL teams are going to have to make a decision: are you going to take the time to acclimate these spread offense quarterbacks to your pro-style offense, which might take a year or two, or are you going to adapt your scheme to what these quarterbacks are used to doing?"
Bedard notes that these spread offense quarterbacks are trained that way ever since Pop Warner, and it's actually the pro game that is the outlier in this example.
"There's no question this is a big issue, and it's something I think NFL coaches need to reflect on more or they're going to continue to struggle identifying these quarterbacks at the next level."
On-field differences aside, Winston and Mariota are even more different off the field. Winston is brash and confident, while Mariota is reserved and quiet.
Bedard says across the board in NFL front offices there is a split in how teams want their quarterback to be. Some teams want that alpha male, get-in-your-face type of player, while others are fine with the lead by example type.
"When Joe Montana came into the league that was one of the knocks on him [being quiet]. Eli Manning, Matt Ryan were sort of viewed the same way," said Bedard.
"Jameis is certainly the prototypical, swagger pocket quarterback that I'm sure appeals to a lot of people. I've spent some time around Marcus Mariota and he gives you some pause that he's extremely quiet, but the more you talk to people he may not look like he's inspiring the masses, but he does it in his own effective way. If you talk to guys who have played with him in the NFL they'll all say he's a leader, he just does it in a different way."
No shock here, but with the loss of Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner by way of free agency, Bedard says the Patriots' biggest need is at the cornerback position. Bedard also wouldn't mind seeing an insurance plan at tight end for Rob Gronkowski and another receiver.
Listen below for Bob Socci's full interview with Greg Bedard!
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