A little research shows that many of the predraft sources recognized that Wentz would likely have a good transition to the pros, because of NDSU's offense and his responsibilities in it.
This is why the meme that Goff was supposedly more pro-ready is lost on me. This is the stuff I was reading before the draft, so none of this is new or startling. It was predictable.
The quotes below are all taken from the "strengths" section of his evaluation, unless it's just an article. It should be noted that despite all that is said below, there were also weaknesses noted, of course. I won't list those. But many of the below sources still had Goff even or better as a long-term prospect.
Good for Wentz and his performance yesterday, but it's not that unexpected.
NFL.com"Intelligent with long list of academic achievements. Should be able to process and handle an NFL playbook quickly."
PFF"Did a nice job finding the open man and moving the chains in the 1-10 yard range, even if his timing was less than ideal at times."
"Throws with anticipation on first-read throws, can zip the curl route before the wide receiver’s break."
CBS"Shows the ability to recognize defensive coverages and change the play at the line - reliable field vision pre and post snap.
Very smart on and off the field with excellent retention and execution skills. Physically and mentally tough with professional poise and work habits."
SI article"Wentz has started to dispel the notion that he’s just a small-school star feasting on sub-level talent in a scheme that isn't attuned to the NFL. When you watch North Dakota State tape, you see a more complicated and variable offense than you might expect—and that has fallen on Wentz to execute.
“At North Dakota State, we were pro style, under center quite a bit,” he said at the combine. “Huddle up. Over the last couple years, we got really multiple with that. We ended up doing a lot of different stuff out of the gun. Still stayed true to our power football, play-action pass. But then there was more of me running the ball a little bit as well. I think that will help me tremendously going forward. I was in charge of a lot at the line of scrimmage, changing plays, run checks, all sorts of fun stuff with that. But obviously there’s going to be a jump. The NFL playbook is probably twice the size of what we did, or more. I’m excited for that. I’m a student of the game.”
Walter Football"Experience in a pro-style system."
Yahoo Sports article"The Bison ran a fascinating offense that has far more NFL overlap than what Goff ran at Cal."
"But it's (NDSU's offense) rooted in what commonly is called a pro-style system: power formations (two backs or two tight ends), working from under center, huddling up, changing plays at the line, run checks, play action ... basically, everything that the majority of NFL teams ask their quarterbacks to do, even as the spread game and shotgun-heavy sets pervade.
That means the team that drafts Wentz — at this point, we have to assume it's either the Los Angeles Rams or Philadelphia Eagles, with the latter the clubhouse favorite — can assume that the transition to understanding NFL-type concepts will be fluid."
Inside the Pylon"Wentz had the freedom to make adjustments at the line of scrimmage, including protection calls and changing the play. This bodes well for his transition to the NFL, where he will be asked to do even more of this on Sundays."
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2016 01:08PM by Saguaro.
