SB Nation - Jimmy Clausen

Who Were the Worst Performers in the Pac-10 in 2009?

Avinash — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:30:02 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Meet the Pac-10 MVP of interceptions!

It's always hard to measure the value of good teams in football. It almost always starts with a good quarterback, followed closely behind by an offensive line and a running back. Then you want a strong front seven, with receivers and secondary coming somewhere after that. You can build a good team around the front four, a great one with everything else coming together

So in determining a football MVP (or I guess for college football, Heisman), we're looking at people from the first three or four categories strongly. In the next two days we'll start counting down the best players and o-line/defensive units in the conference to try and figure out who deserves to be the Pac-10's most valuable player

That's right, instead of doing a national college football consensus (which would be tedious and terrifying), let's go with what we know well. This is all Pac-10.

Because most of us are sick inside, we'll start with the worst Pac-10 performers. What player or unit (offensive line, particular aspect of defense, coach, other thing, etc.) do you feel played the worst this season? Did I leave anyone off that requires mention? Discuss in the comments!

USC--Matt Barkley

Wait a second. Didn't Barkley just beat Ohio State in the Horseshoe? Nothing can stop him now! He's on his way to college football greatness!

Anyway, it seems like Carroll's petty anger at Mark Sanchez was a bad sign of things to come. I'm not saying that Sanchez could've saved USC from the avalanche at Autzen, but he should've outdueled Luck and Foles with essentially the same offense from last year. It would've been a B- version of the 2005 team, all offense and average defense. And they'd probably have ended up in Tempe.

If Sanchez was like an ice cream sundae at Fenton's (a little bad here and there, but still a tasty ride the whole way), Barkley was like a strawberry cream pie shake at Sonic's (tantalizing at first taste, but man would it make you sick down the road). He threw the most interceptions in the Pac-10, more than Sullivan, Prince, and any of the Wazzu troupe. His four turnovers in the Cardinal romp led to 28 Furd points, and he threw another killer pick against Arizona that led to what turned out to be a crucial seven points for the Wildcats. His 4th quarter stats were abominable--50% completion rate, one touchdown, SEVEN interceptions, 83 passer rating, which is good for 117th in the country, only about a drop of about a hundred in the rankings from the season before. His most memorable touchdown throw of the year was only meaningful in the sense that UCLA's defense will be headhunting him in eleven months.

Add in these continuing rumors from Thoroughbred that many of his teammates despise him, and all is not well at Heritage Hall for the first time in...well, a decade. The rest of the Pac-10 couldn't be more delighted.

Note: Thought about the Trojan run defense here, but come on, those guys got DECIMATED (entire front seven gone, plus another four or five guys injured). They had no chance against the Quack Attack or the power run game of the Furd.

UCLA--The entire Bruin offense

via cache.daylife.com

Man, it was brutal watching these guys this year.

Some more fun stats:

There were four teams in the Pac-10 (Oregon, Arizona, USC, Cal) who had two rushers that ran for more than UCLA's leading rusher (Johnathan Franklin)
The Bruins leading man in yards for scrimmage was Nelson Rosario, who finished 19th overall. There were seven teams in the Pac-10 with two or more players with more yards from scrimmage, and four (Furd, Oregon State, Arizona St., Oregon) with three.
Navy threw the ball 96 times this year, Army 161 (http://www.cfbstats.com/2009/leader/national/team/offense/split01/category02/sort06.html), Kevin Prince 267. Navy and Army scored 5 touchdowns apiece on those passes. Prince scored 6. Somewhere Norm Chow is wringing his neck (could be either Prince's neck or his own).
The USC game perfectly encapsulates UCLA's offensive abilities: To prevent from being shutout by their crosstown rivals, the Bruins needed a 13 play, 65 yard, five and a half minute drive that included two fourth down conversions, and two forced fumbles.
Bruins fans are actually calling on Kevin Craft for the bowl game. Yes, THAT Kevin Craft. (Okay, they only want him to start because he wasn't happy at playing hookie, but still). You know your offense is in desperate straits when your fans are ACTIVELY CALLING for Kevin Craft.

Furd--The ENTIRE CARDINAL DEFENSE

via www2.pictures.zimbio.com

Exactly the same thing we did for UCLA. Let's just rattle off the numbers...

A few examples of their defensive fails:

Their defense never forced a fourth down in the first half at Corvallis; five times Oregon State got the ball, five times they marched down the field and put points on the board, 31 in all.
The Cardinal surrendered not one, but two 40+ yard rushing touchdowns to Arizona to blow a two score lead in the 4th quarter, the last one on a 50+ yard scamper by Nwoko on THIRD AND SEVENTEEN.
The Cardinal took a 14-0 lead on the Bears with 6 minutes left in the first quarter; Cal responded by holding onto the ball for 35 of the final 50 minutes, including ripping off 24 unanswered points and scoring on five of their next six drives.

Perfect example of their horrid season came against Notre Dame. Toby Gerhart rushed in the go-ahead touchdown with a minute left in a tied game against an awful Irish defense, and Harbaugh looks about as pleased as Michael Corleone finding out Kay had an abortion. Why? The Cardinal could have kneeled down three times and kicked a chip shot extra point-type field goal at the buzzer to win. The touchdown put the Cardinal defense back on the field against Jimmy Clausen. Sure enough, after getting pinned at their own ten, in TWENTY SECONDS the Irish are at the Cardinal 24 and nearly pull a win out of their asses. All thanks to the Cardinal's hideous defense.

Yeesh. Maybe Gerhart did deserve the Heisman. But we'll get to the MVP candidates soon enough.

Oregon State's September swoon

via blog.oregonlive.com

This isn't really a unit fail as opposed to a team fail; the Beavers suck in September EVERY SINGLE YEAR. They could never get going against Cincinnati even though they were at home. They allowed Nick Foles in his starting debut in Corvallis to complete 74% of his passes at 7.5 YPA with 3 touchdowns and no picks. And they needed a last second Kahut field goal to beat a 5-7 UNLV squad. And these guys plan to play TCU in Dallas and Boise in the Smurf Turf next September?

Cal's pass defense not named Syd'Quan Thompson

via cdn2.sbnation.com

108th in passing yards given up; 103rd in completion percentage; 81st in passer rating. The Bears dropped from 3rd in the country in INTs to 71st, from 1st in the country in passes defended to 47th. So let's say they regressed a little.

(You might say the offensive line deserves this...but Cal still ranked top 40 in rushing yards per game and top 25 in yards per attempt. You might even say the special teams, but they didn't have as much impact as our defense, plus their general incompetence over the past half-decade deserves its own post. A lot of that had to do with Best and Vereen, but that's still only a mediocre unit, not an awful one. Nothing hurt the Bears more in 2009 than their pass defense...the offensive line just exacerbated the situation.)

Washington--Nick Holt

This one's hard to say. Holt's defense was much improved from last year, especially in the run game. USC, Cal, Wazzu, Arizona all fell. On the other hand...his defense still got ripped apart by the Oregon schools and the Furd. They weren't that bad, but they weren't that good either, so it's hard to call them the worst. So I'll go with the easy to hate Holt here.

Ultimately though, Holt's defense still provided us with the most comical college football moment of 2009, which could've been the difference between Locker and his first bowl game...

Arizona State

Only four games into the season, Pitchfork Nation wrote an open letter to his beleaguered starting QB withdrawing his support.

I retract anything positive I said about Danny Sullivan. Not only are you not physically talented enough to start for a Pac-10 team, but as you proved last night, you’re what we call in my family a "mental midget."

..

Instead, you exhibited the same physical problems we saw in each of the Sun Devils first three games. You sailed balls, you completely missed wide open receivers and left your pass catchers out to dry with several horribly thrown balls. Your most accurate pass was one you threw away in the 3rd quarter that perfectly nailed the "C" on the Muscle Milk sign on the side of the east bleachers.

Well, that sucks.

The numbers don't get much better for Sullivan: He never threw better than 56% in any quarter, he threw well on 1st down but didn't make much of a dent otherwise, and he generally struggled with everything. He hit 60% completions in only three of his games, all against bad pass Ds (Cal, Furd, Oregon State). For God's sake, he struggled against Wazzu. Shouldn't there be a shaming list for athletes who struggle against Wazzu?

And it wasn't like he was throwing to turds out there; both Kyle Williams and Chris McGaha notched 57 catches, and Dmitri Nance was a capable runner. No, it looks like most of the wounds were self-inflicted.

Wazzu--Everyone?

via cache.daylife.com

I'll save those poor Cougar fans an explanation; I really don't want to go over this hundred car pile-up, and they've suffered enough. At least they have Klay Thompson.

Oregon: LeGarrette Blount?

via www1.pictures.zimbio.com

He's probably the Ducks Least Valuable Player. I'm not happy stating it since the dude got a huge punishment for a totally surreal moment, but he redeemed himself, so that's always good.

But I put a question mark there...because for not-so-obvious reasons, you could make the case that he's the unintentional Pac-10 MVP. Why?

1) The Punch changed the whole Oregon running dynamic. For nearly a month Oregon struggled to get past the rust, but slowly things started to click and their offense got back in sync for the Utah game; once James and Masoli started operating in tandem the Quack Attack began rolling.

So...does Oregon win close games versus Purdue and Utah if Blount is in the backfield? Do the Ducks slow the pace down against Cal, USC, UCLA, Arizona State, Arizona and Oregon State instead of attacking, attacking, attacking? Does James get going at all? Does Barner break out as a pure speed demon? Would Oregon have gone 10-2 without the Punch? I doubt it. In a strange way, Blount's actions made his team BETTER in the long run--the Ducks were able to play that fast up-tempo offense that Kelly relished, and they blew through the Pac-10 relatively unscathed.

(I will always believe that if the Bears had played Blount and Masoli that we could've snuck that game out--not necessarily won, but the opportunity would've been there. We could've bottled up Blount the way we held Gerhart in check, play deliberate 3-4 football and wait for Blount to find the hole before matching him at the line of scrimmage. Of course, we still wouldn't have been able to defend Ed Dickson, but at least it's a step up from defending no one.)

2) The media hatefest gave the Ducks an 'us against the world' mentality. You can't underestimate the power of ESPN and the Internet on these guys--when Oregon became the dominant storyline of the opening college football weekend, when they heard about how they stunk and that their coach should be fired...it's not implausible they didn't rally around the hate and use it to fuel their overall mission. It's hard for me to say that Chip Kelly didn't use that to motivate the Ducks to play better, execute better, keep the pace going; they only let down once (the Cardinal), rolled everyone else and delivered in what amounted to Rose Bowl quarter and semifinals against Arizona and Oregon State.

If it had just been an awful loss the Ducks would've been forgotten by the national media--the Punch gave it the attention, gave Oregon the fire they needed to run through the rest of the season. It was the perfect black swan event. Everything went wrong on the first day of the season, and the Ducks spent the next three months trying to prove that it was an aberration. Didn't do too shabby, did they?

Of course, you could say he would've been theoretically least valuable; were the Ducks a better team if Blount wasn't playing? We'll never totally know, but the fact they barely missed a beat without him says a lot. They probably beat the Furd with him, but do they blow out USC, Cal, Arizona State, Washington and UCLA? I'm not so sure about that.

So Blount gets his team's LVP...only because the rest of the Ducks played like MVPs the rest of the year. For some reason, I feel he won't mind it that much.

Tomorrow: Pac-10 MVP honorable mentions

Haden, Hernandez Are Your AP All-Americans

mlmintampa — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:25:47 -0000

The Associated Press All-American teams announced today included Joe Haden as first team cornerback and Aaron Hernandez as first team tight end. Maurkice Pouncey gets shafted and sent to second team at center. Also on the second team was Mike Pouncey at guard and Brandon Spikes at linebacker. Tim Tebow was named second team, behind Colt McCoy, upsetting the fanboys that worship at the altar of golden boy Jimmy Clausen and new Pac-10 poster boy Jake Locker. They must be really upset that Kellen Moore, another quarterback of a BCS team, was the third team quarterback. I guess winning games means something to the AP. Your unanimous selections were Mark Ingram, Toby Gerhart, Ndamukong Suh and Rolando McClain.

High strangeness abounds with Vinny Cerrato in town

Mocking Dan — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:01:15 -0000

More photos » by Susan Walsh - AP

Washington Redskins football owner Dan Snyder, left, talks to Redskins Executive Vice President of Football Operations Vinnie Cerrato in June. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

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The following is from last Thursday's Washington Post:

According to people within the Redskins organization, owner Daniel Snyder and Vinny Cerrato, the team's executive vice president of football operations, recently attended a University of Texas game to scout quarterback Colt McCoy. Cerrato traveled to conduct an in-person evaluation of Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen, a junior who declared for the draft this week.

It is widely known that Cerrato has been to Notre Dame on more than one occasion this season to check out Clausen. Cerrato, a former Notre Dame recruiting coordinator, even interviewed Clausen on his radio show last week.

That's right Redskins newcomer, the vice president of football operations of the team hosts his own radio show. Unreal. The highlights include the weather in South Bend, Clausen's finals and Cerrato asking Clausen to give him a Golden Tate scouting report.

Then there was this doozy:

"Now, evaluate yourself as a quarterback," he told Clausen. "What do you need to improve upon for the next level?"

Let me reiterate that the rumor is that Cerrato makes real personnel decisions for a real NFL team. Supposedly. Probably not.

Oh, and don't forget about Cerrato and Snyder checking out McCoy. How does McCoy respond with the NFL's dynamic duo in the house? By blowing his Heisman Trophy chances in a three-interception performance that almost cost Texas a national championship appearance.

Sure, most could blame McCoy's poor performance on Ndamukong Suh. But people know the truth here. McCoy became so frightened by the thought of becoming the latest Redskins quarterback to be scrutinized by management, he committed NFL Draft suicide. Smart move.

Who Should Win the Heisman?

cocknfire — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:30:13 -0000

More photos » by JACOB HARRIS - AP

Might cocknfire's vote go to a Notre Dame player, like Johnny Lujack?

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Hopefully in time to be included in the Sports Blog Heisman Trophy presented by The Blue Workhorse.

This is not the easiest year to craft a Heisman ballot, at least not the way it should be done. As I've said before, the Heisman is becoming too much like the MVP award, and the MVP is becoming too much like the Heisman. Remember that the Heisman Award is supposed to go to "the most outstanding college football player in the United States." There is no reference there to how valuable you are to your team. There's not even a suggestion that your team has to be very good. The winner has to "the most outstanding." That's a tall order for anyone to fill.

Which is why I get distressed when I hear people touted for the award because his team is great and "they just couldn't do it without him." If the numbers back up that player being the most outstanding, fine. But his team's achievements shouldn't be as important to a candidate's chances as they are.

That said, they can't be discounted either. Which is why you have to at least look at Colt McCoy -- until you realize that he's having either his worst or second-worst statistical year and has nearly disappeared in three of his team's biggest games (Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Nebraska). Because showing up for the big games does matter if you're going to be most outstanding.

Showing up for almost all the games also matters. It's not just enough to be good overall; you need to have games where you shine. Just because your team's achievements aren't central to the award doesn't mean the ability to carry a team, either in victory or defeat, isn't something we should look for in a Heisman candidate.

But the overall numbers are a good place to start. I've chosen a few players from several different categories to consider. The choices aren't that easy to make; there are a lot of good football players in the NCAA -- and I threw in Tim Tebow because this is an SEC blog and so he has to at least be considered.

First, the quarterbacks.

Your going to want to click that for a larger version because it's got a lot of good info in there. For those unfamiliar with PEPCT (pass efficiency percentage), it's a new stat I'm still tweaking that measures a quarterbacks performance against defenses based on those defenses' normal pass efficiency numbers. And we should note that Tebow also has 859 rushing yards and 13 TDs on the ground.

But even if you add the rushing yards, Tebow just hasn't produced as much as Kellen Moore or Jimmy Clausen. The touchdown numbers would move him past Clausen, but he's thrown almost as twice as many picks as Clausen in comparison to the number of attempts. The numbers just don't support a Heisman candidacy this year.

Still, let's look at how players tended to do on a week-by-week basis.

You're not reading that incorrectly; Tim Tebow has passed for 250 or more yards in one game (Arkansas) all season long. Yes, I realize that Tebow is a running quarterback; but you should have to throw the ball for more than 250 yards more than once in a season to be a Heisman contender.

Not that there's nothing wrong with the other two contenders. It was hard to come up with a "signature" game for either -- their best games came either against weak opponents or when their teams lost, and like McCoy they sometimes had subpar outings in important games. For example, Moore's numbers aren't terrible against Oregon, but it was still his worst game statistically. And Clausen's "signature" game was against a team that defeated Notre Dame.

I'll choose Kellen Moore as the best of the quarterbacks.

Running backs overall.

It's harder to adjust statistically for defenses with running backs than with quarterbacks, though I'm working on a couple of possible ways to do it. In any case, here are a few things that I found interesting about this chart. First, Mark Ingram is undeniably the best per carry by more than a half-yard. Second, he has the edge in receiving yards. But look at Gerhart's touchdown numbers; they are absurd. He essentially scored every twelfth time he ran the ball. Dion Lewis was very good, but he just can't quite compare with what Ingram and Gerhart did overall.

Weekly.

Here is where Ingram's candidacy takes a little bit of a hit. Three times he rushed the ball for fewer than 75 yards, a mark that Gerhart and Lewis never falled to make. Even against the defenses of the SEC, the "most outstanding" should do better than that -- especially at rival Auburn with a chance at an undefeated season on the line.

Gerhart was more consistent by far this year, and his worst game seems just a little bit better than the others. Sure, it was against Wake Forest, but at least it wasn't against Navy.

So Toby Gerhart gets first place among the running backs, with Mark Ingram a close enough second to warrant further consideration later.

I've never understood why wide receivers don't get more consideration than they do for the award. So let's take a look at some of the better wideouts this year.

How hard was it for an SEC fan to include two Notre Dame players on his list of potential Heisman candidates? I don't want to talk about it.

But Golden Tate had an outstanding year. Look at that touchdown percentage and the yards per catch. With 45 fewer catches than Freddie Barnes against tougher competition, he had just 55 fewer receiving yards. Another 14 receptions for Danario Alexander only earned him 148 additional yards. The edge is resoundingly to Tate among the players I looked at here.

Weekly.

This is where Alexander and Barnes fall off the table to me. Both have more games with fewer than 75 yards than Tate and were far worse in their worst outings. (Though one becomes more and more curious as to how Notre Dame lost to Stanford. Oh, that's right. They had to play defense.)

So the best wideout of the group appears to be Golden Tate.

Finally, we have to look at defenders and examine this hype about Nebraska's Ndouopiufdsoia Suh, or something like that.

Dr. Saturday is the one who got me to consider Brandon Graham. And you've never heard of Von Miller at Texas A&M, who was completely off my radar until I started looking through the numbers. I know you've heard of Ndamukong Suh, because you probably watch football on ESPN and they mention his name almost as frequently as McCoy's.

All three of these players are very good, and consider that Suh was probably double-teamed more than any defensive lineman in the country. Even so, based purely on the statistics, you have to give Miller the edge here.

Weekly.

If you thought that Suh was almost unstoppable against Texas in the Big XII Championship Game, you were right. Four and a half sacks among six tackles for loss and 11 overall. Nothing Graham or Miller did all year can come close to matching that.

Counting all of those things and throwing in some of those "intangibles," I have to go with Ndamukong Suh as the defensive candidate.

Leaving us with:

Kellen Moore
Toby Gerhart
Mark Ingram
Golden Tate
Ndamukong Suh

One of these names is really in a different league from the others -- literally -- and that's Moore. He had a great year for Boise State, but playing in any midmajor save the Mountain West isn't quite like playing in a BCS conference. For consideration, you need to put up laughable numbers, and Moore's not quite there.

The next cut is tough, but I'm removing Golden Tate. That's hard, because I really wanted to see him at least get considered. He is, though, on a 6-6 team that not's going to a bowl game. Gerhart was on the best Stanford team in years, Ingram helped win an SEC Championship and Suh led the Cornhuskers to a Big XII North title. Again, the team's season can't be the central point. But we're getting to the point here where hair-splitting is all that's left.

So the top three are Gerhart, Ingram and Suh. Not terribly original. But the idea here is not to be surprising or creative; it's to find the best. Find me better than any of those three at their positions. I don't think it can be done.

We're allowed three names for the final ballot. So I now have to put them in order. This is the hardest part, because I honestly think any one of these players is more than deserving.

But Ingram disappeared one time too many. And as good as Suh was for Nebraska this year -- and as scared as I'd be to tell him this to his face -- the numbers put up by Toby Gerhart are almost incomparable. Gerhart it is.

1. Toby Gerhart
2. Mark Ingram
3. Ndamukong Suh

Notre Dame Coach Watch 2009: The Recap

CW — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:00:46 -0000

More photos » by Joe Raymond - AP

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It's been a busy last few days for the Irish, so let's attempt to catch up.

Friday

The Greatest Hoax of December 2009 was perpetuated on the internet, showing just how unreliable everything we'd heard up until that point had been and making Wisconsin's day a little more interesting. At this point in time, most people accepted that no one had any idea what was going on and just waited for some more concrete information. Others threw themselves further into the Stoops rumor, believing that an offer was on the table, and that everything from ResLife's restrictions to the tiny fact he'd been living in the same place for a decade making four million dollars a year and was building a dream house for his very happy family. The women's soccer team lost in the Final Four to North Carolina in a 1-0 heartbreaker and the hockey team loses a 1-0 game to the top ranked Miami (OH) Redhawks. The internet explodes over the entire day as people attempt to wrap their minds around the events of Jersey Shore.

Saturday

The Chicago Sun-Times decided to try to be as wrong as many times as it could in a 24-hour span by just reporting every possible option regarding Stoops, and getting them all wrong. They then went all-in with a "Well, we'll know Sunday morning! Something will be decided!". (Spoiler alert: Nothing was decided by Sunday morning.) Bob Stoops issued his first real denial-denial and the first bit of Weis' comments regarding Pete Carroll, a grad student and a Malibu beach house started trickling out. Notre Dame hockey loses at top ranked Miami (OH) again, this time 4-0.

Sunday

Tim Abromaitis scored 31 points against Central Florida (Luke Harangody had 29 and 7 on 11 of 16 shooting, but we expect that sort of thing). Not a lot in regards to the coaching search today, although people started losing their minds that Stoops wasn't coming and claiming that "the process" wasn't good enough (these people are all insane, and will be addressed later in the week). It was also reported that Urban Meyer had been hospitalized after the SEC title game, leading to speculation of whether it was caused by the shock of seeing Jack Swarbrick creepily staring in his window in the middle of night. Brady Quinn turns in a nice little start, going 25 of 45 for 271 and 3 touchdowns against the Chargers. Meghan and Cheyne win this season of Amazing Race, meaning yours truly successfully predicted the winner before the first episode for the second consecutive season.

Monday

Things get real. In the saddest news of the day, both Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate announce they will be heading for the NFL at a presser with Charlie Weis, who was there by the 7-to-23 combination's request. In major coaching news, Brian Kelly said on the Dan Patrick Radio Show that there was no guarantee he'd coach in the Sugar Bowl, while the New York Times reported that Kelly would be meeting with Swarbrick in New York today. In perhaps the most transparent action ever by someone involved in a high profile coaching hunt, Brian Kelly then tweeted that he'd indeed be meeting with Notre Dame and listening to their offer. Tom Zbikowski picks off Aaron Rodgers on Monday Night Football.

Now

We wait.

Jimmy Clausen NFL Draft scouting report

Mocking Dan — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:14:06 -0000

More photos » by TONY DING - AP

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Jimmy Clausen

6'3, 225 pounds | Quarterback | Notre Dame

Accuracy: Clausen has the incredible ability to complete just about every pass of 15 yards or less. Puts very good touch and zips on his short and intermediate throws. When his deep pass is on, he leads the receiver well. Needs to improve his trajectory on deep throws. His throws tend to come in low on deeper passes. Can throw on the move well and his passes don't lose a lot of velocity. Completed 68 percent of his passes as a junior.

Arm strength: While Clausen's arm is strong enough for the NFL, he can't accurately make all deep throws. On deep outs Clausen will take some zip off the ball and not deliver it as quickly. It will also take him a while to get deep passes out as he has to rely on his body to get the ball out. His arm will never be confused for Joe Flacco's or Matt Stafford's, but it's every bit as strong as Mark Sanchez's.

Athleticism/mobility: Clausen has good quickness in the pocket to slip around rushers and get rid of the ball. When he's on the move, Clausen needs to do a better job of securing the ball while he's on the move. Players at the next level will be more capable of stripping the ball away. Won't make a lot of deep runs in the open field. Runs mostly erect.

Decision making: Rarely will you see Clausen throw into bad coverage situations. Even when he does, he tends to put the ball only where his receiver can catch it. Intelligently throws away passes instead of passing into coverage or taking a sack.

Field vision: Works through his progressions better than just about any quarterback in college football. This is a display of his excellent football intelligence. When Clausen's first two reads are unavailable, he frequently found tight end Kyle Rudolph or checked off to a running back. As a junior, Clausen really improved his ability to move safeties with his eyes.

Mechanics: Possesses a quick, smooth delivery. Has a slight windup, but it's very correctable. Looks to have great balance and control driving back from under center. Quickly gets his feet into position. Clearly most comfortable in five-step drops. Where Clausen could improve is planting his feet in the ground. He'll frequently shuffle his feet in the pocket.

Pocket awareness/poise: Clausen is generally calm and poised in the pocket, but he'll often get antsy and start shuffling his feet around. This was especially evident following a mid-season foot injury. Loses some steam on his passes in the face of pressure when he tries to get rid of the ball more quickly.

Final word: After Notre Dame fired head coach Charlie Weis, there was no reason for Clausen to return to school. Playing for a new coach, Clausen's pro potential could have only struggled by switching offensive systems. He also would have risked injury.

Where Clausen showed the most intangible improvement during his career was in his leadership ability. After looking somewhat tentative early in his career, Clausen was clearly an on-field leader for the Irish. He has no known character flaws.

Clausen will go into the 2010 NFL Draft as a probable top 10 selection and could be the first quarterback selected. He improved leaps and bounds at South Bend after starting out as an inconsistent 190-pound freshman. He's an incredibly accurate passer and finished 2009 with a stunning 28:4 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

Round projection: 1

Pete the Cheat?

PSTIM1 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:56:32 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

Pete Carroll captured at the exact moment he heard that Charlie Weiss put him on blast.

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I don't know if Pete Carroll is living with a grad student in Malibu (I would) or If Charlie Weiss's FUPA was restricting the air flow to his brain the day he gave the interview to IrishIlustrated.com? I do know this, squeaky clean public images rarely have any basis in reality and where there is smoke there is fire. Pete i know you are trying to change the world by helping out the youth by bringing them a positive message and flashing a toothy grin...come to think of it that reminds me of someone else I know...

PS that 60 minutes piece you did when you went to the hood was totally staged.

Poll

Pete Carroll is...

Clausen enters NFL Draft; is he a fit in Buffalo?

Brian Galliford — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:30:18 -0000

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

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The Buffalo Bills are back to work on the practice field today, but with news scant and the team not very interesting to begin with, it's still, unfortunately, more intriguing to ponder future iterations of the Bills than the current outfit. Naturally, we're going to be taking a brief field trip from talking about the Bills this afternoon - these Bills, anyway - and instead focus on the bigger news of the day.

Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen has announced his intentions to enter the 2010 NFL Draft. [Mocking the Draft]

Playing quarterback for the New York Yankees of college football, Clausen is one of the most highly-debated prospects in the nation simply because of the golden helmet he wore at Notre Dame. The 6'3", 226-pound junior was college football's second-highest rated passer in 2009, and given the fact that his head coach, Charlie Weis, was recently fired by ND, his declaration for next April's draft is not anywhere near surprising.

The natural thought process for Bills fans at this point is something along the lines of, "Hey, Buffalo's quarterbacks stink, and a new regime will, of course, want a new quarterback. Is Jimmy Clausen the answer?" Time will tell, but fans shouldn't dismiss him as a potential remedy to the team's longest-standing personnel issue out of habit.

Clausen the player
Clausen, as mentioned, measures in at 6'3" and 226 pounds, but it wouldn't surprise me - nor Rumblings draft guru Der Jaeger - if he measured in shorter than that at next February's NFL Combine. He doesn't look too tall on film, though he's certainly tall enough where his height won't be a huge problem for him. He's packed on a lot of weight over the past three seasons at Notre Dame, and while he's still skinny, he's thick enough to absorb hits and stay strong in the pocket.

Clausen's arm isn't elite - you won't be wowed by the velocity on any of his throws - but it's strong enough where he can hurt a defense at all levels of the field. He's pretty accurate and is able to put a nice touch on short and immediate throws; he can squeeze the ball into a tight window, too. He's a playmaker with his arm, but he's very much a pocket quarterback; he's mobile enough to roll out and pick up the occasional first down on a scramble, but his legs are decidedly not a weapon for him.

Where Clausen has distinct advantages over many of the other quarterbacks that will be available next April is in the fact that he's played - and excelled - in a pro-style offense, and that he's an elite decision-maker. As a sophomore in 2008, Clausen completed 60% of his passes and had a 25-17 TD-INT ratio. Those numbers increased dramatically as a junior, when he completed 68% of his passes and had a 28-4 TD-INT ratio. As Mocking the Draft notes in the story linked above the fold, three of Clausen's four interceptions came on tipped passes. The kid didn't make many mistakes in his final year in college.

Clausen was 16-19 at Notre Dame. In his junior season, Notre Dame finished 6-6, but of those six losses, the Irish scored at least 21 points in all of them. Their two biggest losses on the season were 7-point losses to USC and Stanford. He struggled in three games, but still tossed four touchdowns in those games, and in a win at Purdue, he played through a tough injury to his foot. Clausen played with grit as a junior, getting banged up behind a rather mediocre offensive line, yet he still started every game and put up elite numbers.

The big questions surrounding Clausen
Clausen is consistent mechanically, but he's not perfect. He's got a bit of a windup, and he's kind of slow and almost lethargic in his drops - though the ball always comes out quickly. Again - he's not fleet of foot, and he'll need a little work in his drops, in my opinion. His tools are not elite, but they're very good - and in a quarterback draft class that has been slightly overrated, Clausen's well-rounded physical and scheme attributes will likely get him drafted a touch higher than his skill and potential probably dictate.

People have, in the past, questioned Clausen's maturity and mental fortitude. He grew up in California and had tremendous hype as a high school product, and while he struggled mentally early on because of this, he grew a bit as a leader in South Bend. Through tremendous adversity and ridiculous expectations, Clausen has flourished and, perhaps more importantly, gotten better each season. He's rallied the troops for some thrilling late-game performances - in both victory and defeat. His transition to the NFL might not be immediate, but given what he's already experienced, I find it highly unlikely that the NFL game will faze him.

You'll also hear plenty of arguments that Clausen worked in a system that accentuated quarterback stats, and that he was surrounded by top-flight talent. Both are true. Weis has always had productive quarterbacks, wherever he's been, and the likes of Golden Tate (who also announced his intentions to go pro today), Michael Floyd and tight end Kyle Rudolph gave Clausen tremendous skill positional assets to utilize. His numbers may have been inflated because of both factors, but the bottom line is that Clausen still had to make the throws, and more often than not, the ball was exactly where it needed to be.

I've heard the "Notre Dame quarterbacks bust, just look at Brady Quinn" argument too many times to adequately express my true level of frustration toward it. If a quarterback can play football, I don't care if he went to Notre Dame or if he went to South Central Montana State. Clausen has proven that he can play, and he's done it against pretty solid competition. That's all that should matter.

The bottom line on Clausen
I view Clausen as a fringe Top 10 talent that, ideally, would be picked somewhere between the first 10 and 20 picks in the draft. He's not an elite prospect, but he's good enough to build a franchise around. He's not a sure bet - very, very few prospects are, and none of them are quarterbacks - but there's definitely some energy to be excited about surrounding Clausen.

I question just how much distance he has to close between his current level of play and his true 'potential' as a prospect. That is, I'm not sure how much better he can get. That'll happen when you play nearly flawless football at Notre Dame. I think he can make slight gains in technique and obviously in experience, but I don't think he's capable of playing near-perfect football at the NFL level.

I worry a little bit about his willingness to lead, too. He's got kind of a Tony Romo vibe about him, in that when he's on, he's elite, and when he's not on, you question whether or not he's really the guy to head up your program. I'd be very hesitant to plug him in as a rookie starter - particularly in Buffalo - because if he took some early hits and lost confidence behind a porous offensive line, I'd have serious doubts as to whether he'd have the mental fortitude to get through the rough patch. If he starts off hot, however, I think he'd end up being fine, and more able to work through the low points of the game.

The bottom line is that the Buffalo Bills desperately need a franchise signal-caller. Jimmy Clausen is a franchise signal-caller. I'm not advocating that the Bills do whatever it takes to get him next April, but there's little doubt in my mind that he's capable of leading a consistent, productive NFL team down the line. It's way too early to draw lines in the sand, but Clausen is good enough - and the Bills will be picking high enough - that Clausen needs to be on your radar if he wasn't already.

Jimmy Clausen enters NFL Draft

Mocking Dan — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:34:33 -0000

More photos » by JOE RAYMOND - AP

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To the surprise of no one, Notre Dame junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen announced today that he will enter the 2010 NFL Draft.

"After the season, in talking to my parents and obviously Coach Weis, I just feel it's the right time,'' Clausen told ESPN.com on Monday before a scheduled 2 p.m. ET news conference in South Bend. "Coach Weis told me whether he was going to be here or not be here, it was time for me to go. He thought I've improved so much since I came to Notre Dame. So, I'm taking his advice, and I'm going to head out.''

Clausen had a sparkling season for the Fighting Irish. He completed 68 percent of his passes for 3,722 yards, 28 touchdowns and only four interceptions. Even more remarkably, three of the picks were on tipped passes.

At 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, Clausen has a solid NFL frame. The only catch there is that he's already bulked up 35 pounds since high school and adding more weight might be difficult.

Coming from the Charlie Weis pro-style offense, Clausen should enter the NFL a step ahead of other quarterbacks coming from a spread offense. Clausen's mechanics are sound and his arm strength can make just about any throw.

He even showed plenty of grit as a junior, playing through a foot injury that required him to wear a plate in his shoe during games. Clausen emerged as a leader early in his career, a trait that will make him even more enticing for general managers.

Clausen's 2009 season was consistently spectacular all year. He only threw for less than 200 yards in one game and never completed less than 55 percent of his passes in a contest. He finished second in the nation in quarterback rating at 161.4.

Clausen also had the good fortune as a junior to be surrounded by perhaps the best receiving corps in college football. Wide outs Michael Floyd and Golden Tate, as well as tight end Kyle Rudolph, might all be first-round draft choices. Floyd and Rudolph, sophomores, can't enter the draft until 2011. Tate hasn't made his NFL intentions known.

Stay tuned: We'll have a full scouting report on Clausen this evening.

Ndamukong Suh at Colt McCoy - Game Thread

John Morgan — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 01:03:21 -0000

More photos » by Harry Cabluck - AP

"What a bunch of sucks."

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When Colt McCoy doesn't step into his throws, he lacks the arm strength to pull off Matt Ryan heroics. Ohio State achieved gut pressure and McCoy threw a fade away pick to Anderson Russell to end the half. That turned third and two on the Buckeye 15 into Buckeye ball; and three easy into zero. McCoy couldn't dodge the interior pressure and stumbled back before hucking it errant.

He has a compact snapping motion that allows him to step into a collapsing pocket and read and deliver. It generates good zip underneath and on mid- and middle-deep routes. Don't buy halfsmart criticisms of his arm strength. McCoy twice zipped the famous fifteen yard out against Ohio and with ease. He has good touch and accuracy on his deep passes, but less accuracy underneath than his career 70.6 completion percentage would suggest. Throwing short, he snaps his arm over his ear, and when he misses, it's high and low. He got ragged efforting a throw deep and just as his elbow flew out, so did the pass right and out of bounds.

That happens. McCoy is not an epic deep passer, but it's within his arsenal. He is the center and source of the Longhorn offense. Texas grinds it out with a multiple back rushing attack. It attacks through McCoy.

Colt is not tall or prototypical, and his rushing will need to become mobility and smart-scrambling in the pros, but he looks legitimate to me. He makes quick reads, quick decisions, senses pressure and is brave under fire. Whether you want McCoy or Sam Bradford or Jimmy Clausen or Sean Canfield or Other or Matt Hasselbeck, the more talented quarterbacks in the 2010 draft, the more valuable Seattle's three top-fifty picks. I think McCoy is a great fit for what Greg Knapp wants to do. My jaded, wounded Seahawks heart is even a little abuzz about the kid.

See what you think.