MTK
03-02-2012, 01:42 PM
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OK, so there’s probably a better chance the Redskins trade up in the draft and select Robert Griffin III. But there’s also a chance that another team makes the Rams a better offer. Then what? Two possibilities are Oklahoma State players: quarterback Brandon Weeden, if they trade back, and receiver Justin Blackmon, if they stay at No. 6.
Monken not only knows these two players well — he also coaches quarterbacks at Oklahoma State — he also spent four years as a receivers coach with Jacksonville. And he once coached at LSU when Matt Flynn played for the Tigers.
Q: What are some things that jumped out about Brandon for you?
A: First and foremost because of his age he’s mature, maybe because of the ups and downs of minor league baseball, and he doesn’t get rattled easy. That might have been his personality before baseball, but he’s a real even-keeled guy. The other thing is that he’s extremely accurate. He has the most arm talent from an accuracy standpoint that I’ve ever been around. I’ve been around guys in the NFL. I was around Matt Flynn in college, JaMarcus Russell, Luke McCown and David Garrard. I’m not comparing them to him, but he makes every throw like it’s a five-yard throw — whether it’s a quick screen or an intermediate throw down the field. And beyond the arm strength is how accurate he is at getting the ball at different arm angles. That’s part of being a baseball player. You learn how to throw accurately when you’re not balanced and that’s him.
Q: How do you think he’ll fare in the transition from a college spread to an NFL offense?
A: He’s worked awfully hard to be under center, but I can’t speak for that because he didn’t line up one time under center. I can’t speak to how he’ll take a drop and keep his feet in rhythm and navigate defenders around him. About reading the defense, I would hope some things we did at Jacksonville with how we decipher where we’re going with the ball and where we determined where to go expanded him some. Were we, from a protection standpoint, having him dissect all that like an NFL team? No. But from a football awareness, he really improved. He’s going to keep improving because the guy hasn’t played a lot of football. He played high school then he was gone for four or five years and now he’s played two years. When that all comes together from an arm talent/mature kid that matches his ability to change his protections and stand in there when guys are flying around you when you’re protected but you don’t think you are and to have the [guts] to make the throws, I don’t know that.
Q: How does he compare to Matt Flynn?
A: I wasn’t there for Matt’s last year [at LSU]. Matt played some my first year and he started one game. Matt has the same kind of personality. They’re even-keeled guys who don’t show a lot of emotion. Sometimes you question them with their leadership. Guys that are quiet that way and don’t get rattled a lot they don’t show that, “Hey, guys, get your ass out of the ground and let’s go!” They’re not built that way. Matt didn’t have a stronger arm than Brandon, but he was equally as accurate. When I was there Matt’s arm strength was solid, but he was very accurate and very poised and very under control. Very smart. You could see that the year they won the national championship with Matt. They did a lot of spread stuff. He got a lot of things right, the protection and throwing it and understanding how to manage the offense and getting them in the right plays at the right time. Brandon is pretty good at that, but we do more tempo so there’s less time for him to deal with that.
Q: With Brandon, one thing people talk about are the interceptions. Is that a legit knock?
A: Like any quarterback, the time they become susceptible to interceptions is when you put them in a situation where they’re uncomfortable, whether by scheme or protection. One or two were on busted routes, one or two we didn’t protect it enough and he panicked. You get a guy in someone’s face and you’ll have issues. That’s where Brandon’s issues came. Would I look at it and say he has a penchant for throwing interceptions? No. It’s those other things like any quarterback that he is learning that to throw the ball away is a good thing. Did he get better? Yes. Does he have to understand that checkdowns are good? Yes. Did he get better at it? Yes. Were there times I put him in a poor position and he almost threw a pick? Yes. Were there a couple times he panicked? Yes. Guys who are pocket passers, they have to learn to throw it away or check it down because they’re gonna get rid of it. They can’t go anywhere.
Q: How do you think he’d fit in a system like the Redskins where they run a lot of bootlegs and rollouts?
A: I think he throws really well on the run. He’s just not going to run with it. Do I think he’ll be good at coming out and selling it and coming out and seeing it? Without question. That won’t be an issue. None of those things they do will be hard for him. I know [Redskins quarterbacks coach] Matt LaFleur well and I have great respect for the Shanahans and what they do. They just have to decide who is their guy.
Q: Justin Blackmon’s speed has been questioned, what can you say about that part of his game and why was he so good for you?
A: The reality is if you look at guys that have success in the NFL, probably one of the least things is flat-out speed. It’s playing strong to the ball, it’s run after the catch, it’s staying healthy, it’s being able to bend and separate and it’s being able to judge the ball down the field and run after the catch. I coached Dwayne Bowe at LSU, and he ran a 4.55 at the combine and the guy was a Pro Bowler. Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin. Calvin Johnson isn’t the receiver he is because he’s that fast, it’s because he’s explosive and can go get the ball. Justin plays strong, and he plays fast.
Do I think he’s a track guy? No, he’s not. When I was in Jacksonville we drafted a receiver there when you watched his film he looked slow and methodical, was a good route runner but didn’t look explosive. He goes to the combine and runs a 4.4 and looks fast, and when we got him he was a good route runner, slow and methodical. That’s what you get. When you see Justin and you watch him on the field, he’s going to look fast against whomever he plays, and he’ll look hard to tackle. How that translates I have no idea, but you can only go by the fact that he was one of the most dominant players on the field against everybody we played, without question. The things that are very hard to do, he does them. If you can fine-tune him with his route-running, he does all those things that are hard to build into a guy.
Q: Like what?
A: It’s hard to teach someone natural run instincts after the catch. Guys catch it and think they’ll score or they’ll fall down and run into the wall on the sideline. Guys who play strong through the ball, they get their hands away from their body and even though defenders are around them they make the catch. Some guys can’t do that and they play small. He doesn’t do that. Some guys can’t bend their ankles stiff. So they can’t stick their foot in the ground and shape and separate. It’s harder for them to separate out of breaks or win at the line. Some guys can’t judge the ball down the field and either fade to it or turn their hands over to go get it. Those are the difficult things to get when you’re a kid at 18. And he has an edge about him that’s impossible to teach. You either have it or you don’t. Here’s all these things he has that are difficult to teach, especially the edge part. That doesn’t mean he’ll make it. I just know that guys that don’t have it, it’s much harder to make it. That’s why I say when you have that it’s easier to mold around those other things. Can you teach someone if they have body control to drop their weight to counter and route run? No question. Can you teach someone a little bit of what coverages are and understanding and teaching your system and spacing? Those are still tough but it’s easier.
Sign up for the Redskins Report | John Keim's Redskins Report (http://community.washingtonexaminer.com/redskins/signup/?utm_source=Redskins%20Newsletter%2003-02-2012%20-%2003/02/2012&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Washington%20Examiner:%20Reskins%20Ne wsletter)
OK, so there’s probably a better chance the Redskins trade up in the draft and select Robert Griffin III. But there’s also a chance that another team makes the Rams a better offer. Then what? Two possibilities are Oklahoma State players: quarterback Brandon Weeden, if they trade back, and receiver Justin Blackmon, if they stay at No. 6.
Monken not only knows these two players well — he also coaches quarterbacks at Oklahoma State — he also spent four years as a receivers coach with Jacksonville. And he once coached at LSU when Matt Flynn played for the Tigers.
Q: What are some things that jumped out about Brandon for you?
A: First and foremost because of his age he’s mature, maybe because of the ups and downs of minor league baseball, and he doesn’t get rattled easy. That might have been his personality before baseball, but he’s a real even-keeled guy. The other thing is that he’s extremely accurate. He has the most arm talent from an accuracy standpoint that I’ve ever been around. I’ve been around guys in the NFL. I was around Matt Flynn in college, JaMarcus Russell, Luke McCown and David Garrard. I’m not comparing them to him, but he makes every throw like it’s a five-yard throw — whether it’s a quick screen or an intermediate throw down the field. And beyond the arm strength is how accurate he is at getting the ball at different arm angles. That’s part of being a baseball player. You learn how to throw accurately when you’re not balanced and that’s him.
Q: How do you think he’ll fare in the transition from a college spread to an NFL offense?
A: He’s worked awfully hard to be under center, but I can’t speak for that because he didn’t line up one time under center. I can’t speak to how he’ll take a drop and keep his feet in rhythm and navigate defenders around him. About reading the defense, I would hope some things we did at Jacksonville with how we decipher where we’re going with the ball and where we determined where to go expanded him some. Were we, from a protection standpoint, having him dissect all that like an NFL team? No. But from a football awareness, he really improved. He’s going to keep improving because the guy hasn’t played a lot of football. He played high school then he was gone for four or five years and now he’s played two years. When that all comes together from an arm talent/mature kid that matches his ability to change his protections and stand in there when guys are flying around you when you’re protected but you don’t think you are and to have the [guts] to make the throws, I don’t know that.
Q: How does he compare to Matt Flynn?
A: I wasn’t there for Matt’s last year [at LSU]. Matt played some my first year and he started one game. Matt has the same kind of personality. They’re even-keeled guys who don’t show a lot of emotion. Sometimes you question them with their leadership. Guys that are quiet that way and don’t get rattled a lot they don’t show that, “Hey, guys, get your ass out of the ground and let’s go!” They’re not built that way. Matt didn’t have a stronger arm than Brandon, but he was equally as accurate. When I was there Matt’s arm strength was solid, but he was very accurate and very poised and very under control. Very smart. You could see that the year they won the national championship with Matt. They did a lot of spread stuff. He got a lot of things right, the protection and throwing it and understanding how to manage the offense and getting them in the right plays at the right time. Brandon is pretty good at that, but we do more tempo so there’s less time for him to deal with that.
Q: With Brandon, one thing people talk about are the interceptions. Is that a legit knock?
A: Like any quarterback, the time they become susceptible to interceptions is when you put them in a situation where they’re uncomfortable, whether by scheme or protection. One or two were on busted routes, one or two we didn’t protect it enough and he panicked. You get a guy in someone’s face and you’ll have issues. That’s where Brandon’s issues came. Would I look at it and say he has a penchant for throwing interceptions? No. It’s those other things like any quarterback that he is learning that to throw the ball away is a good thing. Did he get better? Yes. Does he have to understand that checkdowns are good? Yes. Did he get better at it? Yes. Were there times I put him in a poor position and he almost threw a pick? Yes. Were there a couple times he panicked? Yes. Guys who are pocket passers, they have to learn to throw it away or check it down because they’re gonna get rid of it. They can’t go anywhere.
Q: How do you think he’d fit in a system like the Redskins where they run a lot of bootlegs and rollouts?
A: I think he throws really well on the run. He’s just not going to run with it. Do I think he’ll be good at coming out and selling it and coming out and seeing it? Without question. That won’t be an issue. None of those things they do will be hard for him. I know [Redskins quarterbacks coach] Matt LaFleur well and I have great respect for the Shanahans and what they do. They just have to decide who is their guy.
Q: Justin Blackmon’s speed has been questioned, what can you say about that part of his game and why was he so good for you?
A: The reality is if you look at guys that have success in the NFL, probably one of the least things is flat-out speed. It’s playing strong to the ball, it’s run after the catch, it’s staying healthy, it’s being able to bend and separate and it’s being able to judge the ball down the field and run after the catch. I coached Dwayne Bowe at LSU, and he ran a 4.55 at the combine and the guy was a Pro Bowler. Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin. Calvin Johnson isn’t the receiver he is because he’s that fast, it’s because he’s explosive and can go get the ball. Justin plays strong, and he plays fast.
Do I think he’s a track guy? No, he’s not. When I was in Jacksonville we drafted a receiver there when you watched his film he looked slow and methodical, was a good route runner but didn’t look explosive. He goes to the combine and runs a 4.4 and looks fast, and when we got him he was a good route runner, slow and methodical. That’s what you get. When you see Justin and you watch him on the field, he’s going to look fast against whomever he plays, and he’ll look hard to tackle. How that translates I have no idea, but you can only go by the fact that he was one of the most dominant players on the field against everybody we played, without question. The things that are very hard to do, he does them. If you can fine-tune him with his route-running, he does all those things that are hard to build into a guy.
Q: Like what?
A: It’s hard to teach someone natural run instincts after the catch. Guys catch it and think they’ll score or they’ll fall down and run into the wall on the sideline. Guys who play strong through the ball, they get their hands away from their body and even though defenders are around them they make the catch. Some guys can’t do that and they play small. He doesn’t do that. Some guys can’t bend their ankles stiff. So they can’t stick their foot in the ground and shape and separate. It’s harder for them to separate out of breaks or win at the line. Some guys can’t judge the ball down the field and either fade to it or turn their hands over to go get it. Those are the difficult things to get when you’re a kid at 18. And he has an edge about him that’s impossible to teach. You either have it or you don’t. Here’s all these things he has that are difficult to teach, especially the edge part. That doesn’t mean he’ll make it. I just know that guys that don’t have it, it’s much harder to make it. That’s why I say when you have that it’s easier to mold around those other things. Can you teach someone if they have body control to drop their weight to counter and route run? No question. Can you teach someone a little bit of what coverages are and understanding and teaching your system and spacing? Those are still tough but it’s easier.