Current NFL OC on Taysom Hill

[scott715]

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Caveats and alibis. Long time CB reader, first time poster. Went to HS in Utah, BYU was the first school to offer me a football scholarship. I had specific academic / professional plans, so went to a different university that was a better fit for me, played ball there. Injuries curtailed my athletic career; professional / personally it was the right choice to get out of Utah. Several of my college teammates went on to play in the NFL, several of my college coaches went on to coach in the NFL. Several years ago, one of my buddies who is now an assistant position coach / quality control coach introduced me to a guy, call him "Billy", who was at the time a position coach in the NFL. We hit it off, have remained close friends. Billy is now an OC in the NFL. Every time I am in his city on business, we hook up for lunch; if it is during the season, I drop by his office for fifteen minutes with takeout.

So. A couple of weeks ago, there was some chatter on CB about Taysoms mechanics as a QB. I played D line, and I know a good QB when i see one, and I know which QB's have rocket arms and which don't, but I can't break down QB mechanics the way I can diagram O line blocking schemes or defensive front seven schemes. I was in Billy's city over this past weekend, and I thought, why not. Can't hurt to ask him, so Saturday night, I was at his house, we stayed up late talking shop. I said to Billy, I know, long shot, but tell me what you see in Taysom Hill. Billy knows I didn't play for BYU, but all my siblings went there, I read CB, there is an argument about Taysom's mechanics. Hook me up and tell me what's what. He laughed, and agreed.

I get it, why would an active OC in the NFL talk about this knowing I am going to post it on CB, but here is a bit of the backstory. Every NFL team, after the draft, and after the OTA and minicamps end, goes through a first look draft for the following year. Not looking so much at who they will take, but what positions they know they will need. Which of their starters is on the verge of retirement or being cut? Which of their impending UFA or RFA players are they going to let walk without making a serious offer? Going into NFL camp and preseason, 90% of the roster is set. Yes, there is always going to be the rookie UFA who unexpectedly makes the team, or the 4th round pick who everyone thought was a lock to make the team who gets cut, but for the most part, they are at 90% certainty for the 2015 roster, and they are at 80% certainty for knowing what positional needs they will have to address in 2016, either through the draft or free agency. Anyway, barring career ending injury, Billy's team is set at #1 QB and #2 QB for the next several years, so he said, why not, I'll tell you what I see with Taysom, since I know we are not looking for a QB in 2016. Every offseason Billy and I watch a few CFB games from the previous season, so we watched BYU Virginia game.

Anyway, Billy's comments as follows. One edit - I put Billy's comments in quotes, but in reality, I am paraphrasing what he said during an hour long conversation.

#1: This was a shocker. Billy is a closeted TH fan. Loves him. Never knew it until last weekend. He said "the only guys in the NFL who have TH's combination of athleticism, and intelligence, and leadership are Andrew Luck and Russel Wilson. TH's only downside is, he doesn't have a top end arm, which is not as big of a problem as you might think. There are a lot of QB's in the NFL who don't have top end arms. It's easier to compensate for a less than perfect arm than it is to compensate for a lack of intelligence or leadership. Colin Kapernick has all the tools but plays brain dead. I'd take TH over CK in a heartbeat. Alex Smith is at year ten of his NFL career with an average to below average arm, and he has another five left in the tank. From a talent and intelligence perspective, TH is a viable NFL QB."

#2: This was also a shocker. "If TH had skipped that idiot mission thing you guys do, had gone to Stanford, redshirted his first year, been backup the next two years, started as a junior / senior, and not gotten injured, I think he could have been a top five NFL pick. He has all the tools except the top end arm. Had he played in an NFL prep offense in college for five years, he could easily have developed his arm and accuracy and mechanics. He can't do any of that running the BYU spread option offense. And it's not like he has a bad arm; he just doesn't have Tom Brady rocket fuel in his arm."

#3: Even though Billy is a closeted TH fan, he says right now, TH is not on anyone's radar to draft next year for three reasons. First, his age, he'll be 26 by the time he takes his first snap in the NFL. Second, his injuries. Two lower body injuries for a guy who depends on his mobility is a tough sell. Third, his throw mechanics are not bad, but his accuracy is just not quite good enough to overcome the other two factors. Billy was not hard over on this; he said if TH has a special season, he could easily wind up a very high draft choice, but right now, nobody is locked on him.

#4: This was painful. I said, okay, let's talk specific mechanics. Put it in terms a DT like me can understand, and tell me why are guys on CB so down on TH's mechanics. Billy said "TH doesn't have bad mechanics. What he has an (expletive deleted) weak offensive line that can't hold their blocks, he has some talented receivers that don't know how to run routes or get open, he has a defense that is giving up a lot of points at home to Virginia, and he knows, the way a leader knows, if his team is going to win, it is going to be 100% on him to carry the team. So when the pocket collapses without a fight, and the receivers aren't open, TH turns on the jets and picks up the first down. A lot of his incomplete passes are not due to bad mechanics, they are due to bad blocking, bad route running, he rushes a pass because he is about to get sacked, or it's incomplete because his receivers can't get separation. Not really his fault." We were watching BYU beat Virginia, scouting style, he had his scouting assistant burn the DVD at the training complex, so when we watched it, one play rolls right into the next. Funny - Billy has no dog in the fight, but he was really getting frustrated watching TH beat Virginia pretty much by himself, and Billy said (ouch), "That guy deserves a better team and better coaches. You can't teach heart, courage, leadership. TH has that in him, and in a different situation, he would be a lock to be a high NFL pick."

#5: And I really don't want to put this, but since everyone has an opinion on Bronco, here's Billy's. "That guy is weird. I always thought it was just a Mormon thing, but I know some of you seem normal. He just seems weird." That's Billy's take. I think Bronco has a lot of constraints that we know of, and a lot we don't know of, and keeps cranking out winning seasons.

Anyway. FWIW, that's one anonymous NFL OC take on TH.

[EM_Puma]

It was a good read, but when life is done I'm sure Taysom will be more pleased that he went on his mission that ever played football. His take on Bronco is somewhat how I feel. He's been successful, and if we were playing a bunch of other religion based teams trying for that perfect balance, I'm sure we'd be on top. What makes swallowing Bronco-ball is that we're not, so LE made it so we could still be "a peculiar people", but just not so weird. Just MHO.

[hawkwing]

I don't buy it. No way this guy is friends with a current NFL OC who would say that. It's just a guy who has an opinion that wants to add more weight to it by pretending it came from someone who matters.

[snoscythe]

Yeah, can't have weird head coaches....

[frdbtr]

I don't buy it. No way this guy is friends with a current NFL OC who would say that. It's just a guy who has an opinion that wants to add more weight to it by pretending it came from someone who matters.

I'm inclined to agree with this assessment of that post unless that poster has a history of inside information that no one but an OC in the NFL could have possibly known. As far as the assessment of the Oline and receivers, I would agree with that completely. Last year the offensive line was better than the year before but it was still horrible. I also agree with the age thing. The NFL is a meat market where they spit out the old stuff and draft the new every year. Would you take a 21 year old or a 26 year old if everything is equal as far as talent. Now I do feel Taysom will be drafted because of his athleticism unless it is woefully apparent that he has lost some athleticism with this last injury over the next season.

[Stirfry]

I don't buy it. No way this guy is friends with a current NFL OC who would say that. It's just a guy who has an opinion that wants to add more weight to it by pretending it came from someone who matters.

I'm inclined to agree with this assessment of that post unless that poster has a history of inside information that no one but an OC in the NFL could have possibly known. As far as the assessment of the Oline and receivers, I would agree with that completely. Last year the offensive line was better than the year before but it was still horrible. I also agree with the age thing. The NFL is a meat market where they spit out the old stuff and draft the new every year. Would you take a 21 year old or a 26 year old if everything is equal as far as talent. Now I do feel Taysom will be drafted because of his athleticism unless it is woefully apparent that he has lost some athleticism with this last injury over the next season.

I think the age thing does matter but I don't know why. A 26 year old is entering his prime. If you want a 24 year old why not take Taysom who is 26 but his body has gone through the football equivalent of a most 23 year NFL caliber kids as he took 3 years of football off. 26 is only old if you've been getting pounded those last 3 years.

[Gunk]

This "NFL OC" actually has me a bit hopeful for TH. If TH does have a good season then there is hope for him getting drafted.

I don't think this OC said anything we don't already know. I know the first inclination is to defend Bronco and the team, but let's be honest with ourselves. Last year's defense sucked, we're short on talent, and we don't have elite coaches. Also, TH probably would have had a better college career if he stayed at Stanford. Glad he chose to come to BYU, but things would most certainly be different for him had he stayed at Stanford.

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