By Harry King
LITTLE ROCK — This is the easy way out, deputizing Texas Tech coach Mike Leach to articulate a point about whether spread quarterbacks can learn to put their hands underneath a center.
The NFL has an aversion to quarterbacks who operate only from the spread, and some of concerns are legitimate. Under center, an NFL quarterback must read defenses while retreating and the pressure arrives quicker because the rushers are closer to their target.
Standing seven yards behind the center, spread quarterbacks have a different view.
But, Leach’s elocution of one NFL concern is on point.
“My favorite is when they say they don’t think a guy can take a snap from under center,” Leach said. “So you’ll have somebody, whether a GM or scout from age 30 to 75, and he doesn’t think he can teach a world-class athlete to do something he can probably do himself.”
Leach made the statement to a Columbia, Mo., newspaper and that was before his quarterback, Graham Harrell, was passed over during the NFL draft. He reacted to the snub by saying the league is “notoriously bad” about drafting quarterbacks.
You would think that one of the 32 teams would take a chance on a quarterback with Harrell’s numbers before drafting a kicker who missed one third of his 30 field goal attempts in 2008. South Carolina’s Ryan Succop, the 256th and final pick, did just that.
Meanwhile, Harrell threw for 15,793 yards — 15,371 of that in the last three years — and that’s a pretty hefty number even in a flag football league. Not only are his totals gaudy, his completion percentage is outstanding — topping 70 percent each of the past two years when he attempted 1,339 passes.
For perspective, note the Arkansas career record is 7,422 yards by Clint Stoerner in 1996-99 and that Bill Montgomery’s .560 completion percentage is best in school history. If Ryan Mallett is a three-year starter at Arkansas, Stoerner will be No. 2 on the career yardage list.
Chase Daniel, who put up impressive numbers in Missouri’s spread, also was passed over in the draft, but he is only 6-0 and there is a question about his arm strength. Harrell is 6-2.
It might just be that the NFL is hung up on stereotypes. Note that No. 1 pick Matthew Stafford and No. 5 pick Mark Sanchez played under center at Georgia and USC and that both are 6-foot-3 or better.
Harrell has agreed to attend a Cleveland minicamp and Daniel has signed on as a free agent with Washington.
Leach responded to the news about Harrell and the Browns by saying that the believes priorities are out of order in the NFL, that the emphasis should be on accuracy and decision-making.
Next year, NFL theories about spread quarterbacks will be revisited because Heisman Trophy winners Tim Tebow of Florida and Sam Bradford of Oklahoma will be in the draft, along with Colt McCoy of Texas.
Tebow took some snaps under center for the first time this spring and he did so because coach Urban Meyer says the Gators have three tailbacks who can play.
“It’s just muscle memory,” Tebow said.
Bradford passed on the NFL draft in January. He is 6-foot-5 and has compiled most of his numbers from the shotgun.
Like Harrell, McCoy’s accuracy is phenomenal. He took seven snaps under center in the Fiesta Bowl victory over Ohio State and did more of it this spring.
——-
Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com.
