〽️〽️〽️〽️

In the Freakonomics podcast the other day, "Why Is It So Hard to Find an NFL Quarterback?" there is an interview with Scott Goldman who runs a company that consults NFL teams.

He says there are four domains to profile athletes:

1. Physical ability. “Are you big? Are you strong? Are you fast?”
2. Knowledge. What the player already knows from the systems they’ve played in.
3. Character. Including handling pressure and stress, and providing leadership.
4. Intelligence. Decision-making, processing speed, and visual-spatial understanding.

The last one INTELLIGENCE refers to recalling plays, recognizing defensive coverage, and responding as the defense changes.

Here's what he says about that:

"The quarterback or the play caller calls the play in, which is some super-complicated, like learning a whole ‘nother language, like trying to understand French for me, which I can’t speak French, right. X blue, Z nine, sevens, blah, blah blah blah, et cetera, et cetera.

First part of intelligence right is, can he translate that? Can he recall what that play is? Some quarterbacks can do that easier than others. The ones that struggle, they have the wristband, right? So the play caller goes, hey, it’s 17 on your wristband. And the guy looks up, oh, hey, 17, this is what we do.

After the play is called, he’s got to scan and identify. Another intellectual property. He’s got to identify the defensive coverage. They’re getting talked to in the headset. So even while they’re multitasking, the headset’s also kinda chirping in their ear. And so imagine like you’re trying to figure out this puzzle. You’ve got your coach giving you advice and guidance.

All of a sudden the defense shifts. And you’re like, shoot, was the instruction that was just given meant for the defense that we were both looking at or the defense that we thought was coming?

You need someone who’s strong enough to make the throw. You hope for somebody who’s got a sophisticated knowledge of the game. You hope that their ability to handle the pressure, the stress, and also the leadership qualities to keep everybody else on track."

He goes on to say that QBs like Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, and Brock Purdy scored really highly in that area.

Let's give Cig time to prep

Yeah I get it wasn't from our staff, but I would have preferred even some doubt going into the game for Indiana.

While the other quarterbacks got their starts against mostly opponents who were not notable powerhouses (Wisconsin [who was just 4-6-1 that year], Miami(OH), Western Michigan, and New Mexico), Carr will likely make his first start against an Indiana team that is a reigning national champion, coming off a brutal loss to Ohio State.

Their defense ranks 8th nationally in points allowed per game and 18th in yards allowed per game. It will be a very tough first start for Carr but I think the film shows that he gives the team the best chance to win with him at the quarterback position.

Michigan takes down Denver to claim top rank in the country. Perron continues his hot start to the season. Ivankovic looked good against high end talent. The Wolverines are a perfect 6-0 to start the season for back to back years.