2013 QB Anthony Jennings Commits to LSU

I'm with Red. I'm pretty excited about having a pure dropback passer this year.

 

yes, you have to be an exceptional talent to win the Heisman like Newton and Tebow did, and QBs that win the Heisman don't come along very often..."pro style" or dual threat

but 6 of the last 12 QBs that won the Heisman were dual-threat QBs (Ward, Crouch, Smith, Tebow, Newton, Griffin)

and considering that you don't need to be a run threat to play QB (and the overwhelming majority of QBs are not run threats), it would appear that dual threat QBs have an EXTREMELY much higher chance of winning the Heisman

like 10% of college QBs are dual-threat, yet 6 of the last 12 QBs that won the Heisman were dual-threat

now sure, not that it matters for NCAA greatness, only 2 of those Heisman winning dual threat QBs have done well in the NFL: Tebow and Newton, and Griffin hasn't taken an NFL snap yet, and Ward didn't even try the NFL, he did the NBA instead (1st round pick in NBA draft - played 12 years in NBA as a floor general PG)

but look at those 6 one-threat QBs that won the Heisman since 1993, how well did they do in the pros? Wuerffel, Weinke, Palmer, White, Leinart, Bradford

 

Jennings IS A PRIMARY DROP BACK PASSER, he just happens to be a drop back passer in an athletic body. if you were a 49ers fan when Steve Young took over, would you be dissatisfied that he was a dual-threat QB instead of a one threat QB?

 

just because you can walk and chew gum at the same time doesn't mean you are only great at walking, but not at chewing gum..or that you are are only great at chewing gum, but not at walking

like RG3, one of the greatest PASSING QBs in NCAA history put it, at only the age of 22:

“I don’t want people to think I’m just an option quarterback ,” Griffin said. “It’s not something you can prove, I don’t think. Perception is reality so it doesn’t matter how many yards you throw for, what you do in practice or what you do in the games. If you can run a little bit you’ll always be smacked with that stereotype.”

 

A quarterback with great pocket passing but that can run a little is normally ranked as a pro style qb. I'm not going to compile all of it but go through the last 10 years or pro style versus dual threat guys on Rivals and let me know which group you think comes out as the better group of college and pro qb's. Like Red said, two of the very best, Tebow and Newton, were dual threat but you have a much better shot of hitting on a qb if he's a pro style qb.

 

Not disputing the direction you're going here at all, because I agree with the premise. Just correcting you that Charlie Ward was not an option QB. He was a pro-style guy who could run if need be. If you look at his stats he only ran for a little over 300 yards his Heisman year with a few TD's. He made his bones through the air, as evidenced by him winning every QB award there was to win over a two year time frame. But he was small by NFL standards so he was told he would never be given a fair chance. Many non-scouts thought that was bull and he would have been an exception because of his mind and athleticism, but of course he chose the NBA.

Troy Smith was very similar. He had less than 300 rushing yards for his CAREER at OSU and part of that was him actually lining up as a running back. He was a drop-back passer as well.

Truthfully, neither of those guys belong in the "runners" category, which actually gives further credence to the idea that a pro-style guy who can be mobile if necessary is better than having a running QB.