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With the 89th pick, the San Francisco 49ers select:
Davis Webb, QB, Cal
Lots of breakdowns already on RCF, here's a new one...
http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/03/14/nfl-draft-davis-webb-first-round-quarterbacks-obi-melifonwu
TUE MAR. 14, 2017
Davis Webb: Another QB Enters the Round 1 Conversation
One year after Jared Goff went first overall, another Cal QB is the latest QB to catch scouts’ eyes in a muddled group of passers. Plus, the combine’s biggest riser has scouts going back to review UConn film, five things you need to know about the draft this week, and a draft mailbag
by Emily Kaplan
Upon arriving in Mobile, Ala. in January, I asked Senior Bowl executive director Phil Savage if he believed any quarterbacks were poised to break out during the week.
“Davis Webb,” Savage, the former Cleveland Browns GM, said without hesitation.
I had heard moderate buzz about the Cal quarterback throughout the fall but never considered him a top-tier prospect. He couldn’t beat out Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech, so he transferred to Berkeley. He followed Jared Goff in Cal’s Bear Raid offense, meaning that the same steep learning curve (commanding a huddle, taking snaps from under center) that kept the Rams rookie off the field until late November will likely apply to Webb. But back in January, Savage was sensing momentum, and now it’s tangible. Six weeks before the draft, Webb is a legitimate second-round candidate, and it’s feasible that, come the last weekend in April, he will be billed as someone’s quarterback of the future.
In January, Webb flew into Mobile two days earlier than his Senior Bowl peers to adjust his body clock, and he arranged a throwing session with local University of South Alabama receivers. As you learn more about the 22-year-old Webb, stories like this become common. He’s the son of a coach and after his playing career wants to be a coach himself. When he watches football on TV, he splays out 50 index cards in front of him, scribbling down plays he likes. He has already built the framework for his eventual coaching playbook—down to situational red-zone plays—in a binder he keeps at home. He had keys to the high school gym, and janitors found Webb running cone drills past 9 p.m. more than once. He packed up his car the day after Texas Tech graduation—under NCAA rules, a player who receives his undergraduate degree and has eligibility remaining can transfer to another program to pursue a master's without sitting out a year—and drove the 20 hours to Berkeley with his mom so he could get started as soon as possible. He out-clocked a few coaches in the Cal football building, self-imposing a 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. workday. He rehearses play-calls in the mirror. He stayed up an extra two to three hours at Senior Bowl practices to study the exhibition game playbook.
Says Jake Spavital, Webb’s offensive coordinator at Cal: “Sometimes you hear all of this and say, Alright, you’re probably full of s---. Sure, he’s always up at the offices, and always working and all of that. But when you do the research, and a lot of NFL teams are, you start seeing it. And you say: Damn, this kid is the real deal.”
Why?
San Francisco needs a developmental quarterback. This draft is tits deep in developmental projects at the position, so the key is to sit back until value shows up on the board. Davis Webb at the midway of the third is an acknowledgement that a few better fits for this year are on the board, but who knows if this guy can prevent an overpayment for Kirk Cousins in 2018. Hoyer will be the unquestionable starter, but with that shaky right side of the line, all three QBs might be needed in 2017. If the guy who forged strong local support from Cal, Berkeley fans has what it takes, he could be groomed to be the eventual starter behind Hoyer. If he doesn't, perhaps he ends up the backup to Cousins someday.
Last thing: I see minimal difference between Webb and Mahomes as eventual starters in the NFL. I consider this a great draft strategy for either the Browns or Niners.
Seattle and @buckeyefan on the clock.
Davis Webb, QB, Cal
Lots of breakdowns already on RCF, here's a new one...
http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/03/14/nfl-draft-davis-webb-first-round-quarterbacks-obi-melifonwu
TUE MAR. 14, 2017
Davis Webb: Another QB Enters the Round 1 Conversation
One year after Jared Goff went first overall, another Cal QB is the latest QB to catch scouts’ eyes in a muddled group of passers. Plus, the combine’s biggest riser has scouts going back to review UConn film, five things you need to know about the draft this week, and a draft mailbag
by Emily Kaplan
Upon arriving in Mobile, Ala. in January, I asked Senior Bowl executive director Phil Savage if he believed any quarterbacks were poised to break out during the week.
“Davis Webb,” Savage, the former Cleveland Browns GM, said without hesitation.
I had heard moderate buzz about the Cal quarterback throughout the fall but never considered him a top-tier prospect. He couldn’t beat out Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech, so he transferred to Berkeley. He followed Jared Goff in Cal’s Bear Raid offense, meaning that the same steep learning curve (commanding a huddle, taking snaps from under center) that kept the Rams rookie off the field until late November will likely apply to Webb. But back in January, Savage was sensing momentum, and now it’s tangible. Six weeks before the draft, Webb is a legitimate second-round candidate, and it’s feasible that, come the last weekend in April, he will be billed as someone’s quarterback of the future.
In January, Webb flew into Mobile two days earlier than his Senior Bowl peers to adjust his body clock, and he arranged a throwing session with local University of South Alabama receivers. As you learn more about the 22-year-old Webb, stories like this become common. He’s the son of a coach and after his playing career wants to be a coach himself. When he watches football on TV, he splays out 50 index cards in front of him, scribbling down plays he likes. He has already built the framework for his eventual coaching playbook—down to situational red-zone plays—in a binder he keeps at home. He had keys to the high school gym, and janitors found Webb running cone drills past 9 p.m. more than once. He packed up his car the day after Texas Tech graduation—under NCAA rules, a player who receives his undergraduate degree and has eligibility remaining can transfer to another program to pursue a master's without sitting out a year—and drove the 20 hours to Berkeley with his mom so he could get started as soon as possible. He out-clocked a few coaches in the Cal football building, self-imposing a 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. workday. He rehearses play-calls in the mirror. He stayed up an extra two to three hours at Senior Bowl practices to study the exhibition game playbook.
Says Jake Spavital, Webb’s offensive coordinator at Cal: “Sometimes you hear all of this and say, Alright, you’re probably full of s---. Sure, he’s always up at the offices, and always working and all of that. But when you do the research, and a lot of NFL teams are, you start seeing it. And you say: Damn, this kid is the real deal.”
Why?
San Francisco needs a developmental quarterback. This draft is tits deep in developmental projects at the position, so the key is to sit back until value shows up on the board. Davis Webb at the midway of the third is an acknowledgement that a few better fits for this year are on the board, but who knows if this guy can prevent an overpayment for Kirk Cousins in 2018. Hoyer will be the unquestionable starter, but with that shaky right side of the line, all three QBs might be needed in 2017. If the guy who forged strong local support from Cal, Berkeley fans has what it takes, he could be groomed to be the eventual starter behind Hoyer. If he doesn't, perhaps he ends up the backup to Cousins someday.
Last thing: I see minimal difference between Webb and Mahomes as eventual starters in the NFL. I consider this a great draft strategy for either the Browns or Niners.
Seattle and @buckeyefan on the clock.
