Mike - it seems like the NFL talent evaluators have done a good job of finding out the physical talents of players, but the two areas in which they seem to fail miserably, especially for QB talent is in determining a) how smart they are with respect to understanding the complexities of the game and b) whether or not handing over $25 - $50 million in guaranteed money will change the player and make him stop working hard and constantly to improve himself.
It always seems like they fall in love with the physicals, then the QB fails in the NFL and they say, "oh, he had a terrible work ethic" or "he wasn't very smart." When are they going to realize that this is what makes a QB, not the arm. Chad Pennington has the arm of a 5 year old, yet he has succeeded in the NFL because he's smart and works hard. If he had 50% of the physicals of Cam Newton, he'd likely have been a top 10 QB.
It always seems like they fall in love with the physicals, then the QB fails in the NFL and they say, "oh, he had a terrible work ethic" or "he wasn't very smart." When are they going to realize that this is what makes a QB, not the arm. Chad Pennington has the arm of a 5 year old, yet he has succeeded in the NFL because he's smart and works hard. If he had 50% of the physicals of Cam Newton, he'd likely have been a top 10 QB.