Patriots coach Bill Belichick offered some insight into just how difficult it is to watch film of college passing games and project how those players will play in the NFL.
Belichick said the passing offenses in college football are so different that it makes it hard to evaluate not only quarterbacks, but everyone else as well.
“I’d say the issue in college football is there just is not the same passing game in college football that there is in the NFL, period,” Belichick said. “So, it’s hard to evaluate the receivers, it’s hard to evaluate the quarterback, it’s hard to evaluate the offensive linemen, it’s hard to evaluate the pass rushers and it’s hard to evaluate the coverage players. You know, we’re all looking at the same film, so all the teams in the league, we all see the same games. But, the college passing game is very different from the professional passing game. When you’re looking at it, you’re looking at a lot of it’s really projecting all those positions a little bit differently. To a certain degree, it’s different in the running game, too, but probably less difference in the running game than in the passing game, in my opinion.”
College passing concepts are making their way to the NFL and will continue to with Kliff Kingsbury now coaching the Cardinals. But the differences are still significant, and that makes scouting players a challenge.