Why Ryan Mallett is Overrated
Posted By Scott Wright
There is simply no denying the natural talent of Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett. When it comes to size and arm strength there may not be a more impressive physical specimen in the county, college or pros. However, there is a whole lot more to playing quarterback in the NFL than prototypical height and a cannon arm. It’s when you go beyond those basic measurables that it becomes clear Mallett is overrated as a prospect and nowhere close to being the #1 overall pick that some have made him out to be.
In addition to that extraordinary size and arm strength many avid Mallett supporters will point to his impressive statistics to justify why they believe he is a top pro prospect. That is a myth that needs to be put to bed. In the last two weeks, in games against Georgia and Alabama, Mallett has thrown for 737 yards. However, what that stat doesn’t show is how many of those yards were accumulated on big plays where there wasn’t a defender within ten yards of his target. In those same two games Mallett has completed 65% of his passes but that number is also very misleading. Anyone who watched either game saw Mallett pad his stats with a lot of easy completions while missing a multitude of wide open receivers. The bottom line is that Mallett’s a classic example of why you shouldn’t evaluate prospects with box scores.
The biggest issue with Mallett is his accuracy, despite what his career stat line might lead you to believe. Each and every time I have watched Mallett play the past two years I have seen a quarterback who misses open targets in the short, intermediate and deep passing game, despite usually having plenty of time to throw and little or no pressure. Even on completions Mallett has a tendency to make his receivers work for the ball, throwing low, high, to the wrong shoulder, etc. This inaccuracy could be a symptom of one of Mallett’s other problems, poor footwork and mechanics. Often times Mallett relies too heavily on his arm strength, unnecessarily letting loose while falling backwards or off balance. Even though Mallett is just a redshirt junior eligibility-wise he has now been part of a big-time college football program for four full seasons, at Michigan and Arkansas. By now some of those technical issues should be resolved but whether it’s a product of poor coaching or his inability to adapt they clearly aren’t. This leads to another concern with Mallett as a pro prospect. Bobby Petrino’s system is very quarterback friendly. That is how Mallett is able to put up eye-popping numbers even when he doesn’t play that well. There is no question that Petrino’s system works extremely well at the college level but it leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to preparing his signal callers for the next level. Just ask Brian Brohm. Mallett is also maddeningly inconsistent on a quarter-to-quarter basis. At times Mallett gets hot and looks like the second coming of Drew Bledsoe or Ben Roethlisberger but then, for one reason or another, a switch flips, he goes cold and reminds you of Derek Anderson or JaMarcus Russell. In the NFL those types of wild fluctuations are unacceptable. Finally, there is a lot of buzz in the scouting community about Mallett’s intangibles and some potential off-the-field issues. Now I’m not in the habit of spreading rumors so I won’t go into specifics at this time. However, let’s just say that Mallett’s character will undoubtedly be closely scrutinized by teams throughout the vetting process.
I can certainly understand why some have become mesmerized by Mallett’s rare physical tools and hopped on his bandwagon. With that said, there are just way too many issues and question marks with Mallett for me to put him in the same class as Stanford’s Andrew Luck or Washington’s Jake Locker. Not only do I feel Mallett isn’t worthy of being considered for the #1 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, I’m not even convinced he’s a sure-fire first rounder. In fact, in terms of value I’d compare him to Josh Freeman, who I rated as the 26th best prospect available for the 2009 NFL Draft. Then again, Freeman played in a pro style offense at Kansas State and had a clean slate off-the-field so I’d probably give him the edge over Mallett. I will be the first to admit that there’s a good chance some quarterback-needy team will fall in love with Mallett’s measurables and potential and select him earlier than my grade would otherwise indicate. Perhaps in the Top 10 or 15 overall. Still, in my opinion Ryan Mallett is very much a work in progress and desperately needs another year in college to refine his game. If Mallett goes back to school and cleans up those issues with his consistency, accuracy, fundamentals and intangibles then he absolutely has the talent to be the #1 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. However, beyond his remarkable size and arm strength there is very little on the actual tape to indicate that Ryan Mallett deserves to be in that conversation this year.
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Andrew Luck for me.
We should get Troy Smith, he'd be cheaper, and we wouldn't have to watch him bust.
Why Ryan Mallett is Overrated
^ IMO I wasn't overly impressed with Luck's accuracy in the ND game. IMO Pryor has been as accurate as anyone, save for a couple dumb decisions on where/when to throw. Also Kellen Moore is also pretty good at putting the ball in tight spaces.
OneBuckeye;498884 wrote:^ He completed 75% of his passes the last two games. That is pretty accurate.