Again, alot of hype.
I think Rodgers is much closer to Dilfer than Montana, imo. To even mention him in the same breath as Montana is truly remarkable.
Tedford QB's don't know how to read defenses in the NFL. Plain and simple. Not one of them has panned out. If you don't believe me, read this guy's article. There are some good quotes from actual NFL scouts in this article.
Rodgers joins the Tedford Five
Jeff Tedford's star QB pupils have hardly taken the NFL by storm
By Trent Modglin (
[email protected])
April 21, 2005
Kyle Boller
Between Janet’s supposed “wardrobe malfunction” at the Super Bowl two years ago and, more currently, Michael’s controversial court case, the Jackson Five has had nowhere to hide from its critics in the media.
Neither has the “Tedford Five,” but for far different reasons.
The head of the family for the Tedford Five is Jeff Tedford, head coach at the University of California and longtime offensive guru on the West Coast’s collegiate scene. Wherever he goes, gaudy offensive numbers seem to follow. It’s what he does best.
The Tedford Five is made up of Trent Dilfer, Akili Smith, David Carr, Joey Harrington and Kyle Boller, the five current quarterbacks in the NFL who were under the tutelage of Tedford while serving as big men on campus. Needless to say, the Tedford Five has not had any hit records. No Grammys, no blockbuster tours, not much of anything to stir the pages of Rolling Stone or get MTV abuzz.
For the most part, they’ve lacked the stage presence necessary to hit it big. You could say they’ve struggled thus far, and with Cal’s Aaron Rodgers, another Tedford protege, primed to be an early pick on Saturday, everyone wants to know why, reasonable concerns that they are.
Typically, the passers selected in the first round of the draft are destined to find themselves under a heap of pressure to try to resurrect flawed teams with surrounding casts that are, shall we say, less than desirable. Things can start off rocky, and often do. But if the talent and mind for the game are prevalent, things usually even out and careers begin an upswing.
Not so with the Tedford Five. Collectively, they have a 98-127 record as starting quarterbacks in the NFL. They’ve completed a paltry 54.6 percent of their passes and thrown 28 more interceptions than touchdowns. Numbers not worth writing home about to be sure.
Sure, Dilfer tasted Super Bowl success with Baltimore following the 2000 season, but with the Ravens’ dominating defense and workhorse RB Jamal Lewis, Dilfer hardly was asked to put an undaring offense on his shoulders. He served more as gatekeeper than anything else. He was cast aside after the victory parade, and since then has mainly served as a backup in Seattle before being traded to Cleveland this offseason.
Smith, a bust of epic proportions after being drafted third overall by the Bengals in 1999, has thrown five touchdowns in 17 career starts. By comparison, Peyton Manning threw for five scores on three different occasions last year. Once, he decided to toss a half-dozen. Smith, his career on its last legs, has been allocated to NFL Europe by the Buccaneers to try to scoop up the pieces of his shattered confidence.
It’s far too early to pull the plug on the other three, but patience is a virtue not always afforded to players in our modern version of the NFL. And Carr, the No. 1 overall pick in 2002, Harrington, the third that same year and Boller, the 19th pick in 2003, can’t exactly be accused of abusing defensive backs to this point despite plenty of starting experience. Lofty expectations have yet to be met, or for that matter, even approached.
All of these pupils of Tedford’s system have in the past been quick to circle the wagons in his defense. Rodgers, who threw for 43 TD passes and 13 interceptions in his two years at the helm in Berkeley and completed 23 consecutive passes against top-ranked USC in 2004, has said the criticisms of his former coach’s teachings are unfounded, mostly “manufactured.”
Tedford provides a solid foundation and trains quarterbacks to make quick reads in a complex West Coast offense, they say. Even involves them in game planning. Tedford himself says he has never been informed by NFL decision-makers that there is any particular element holding his guys back once they reach the next level. No lack of fundamentals, no shortage of seasoning, no problems picking up the intricacies of the position. Nothing glaring. No red flags to speak of.
That much seems somewhat evident, based on where his prodigies continue to get drafted. So why the disparity? Why doesn’t the eye-popping collegiate success in Tedford’s system translate over into smooth 80-yard drives and highlight-reel touchdowns in the NFL?
Are these guys too mechanical? Do they have trouble adjusting out of the comfort level of Tedford’s high-percentage lesson plans and into a new offense that requires taking more chances? Are they overrated as “system quarterbacks” only to be overwhelmed at the next level?
Listen to the opinion recently offered to PFW by a veteran league scout.
“I've evaulated four Tedford quarterbacks, and none of them have pissed a drop in the league,” he said. “That scares me. Kyle Boller was not even a 50 percent career passer when Tedford got ahold of him, and look what he is now in the pros.”
In case you’re keeping score at home, that’s not a compliment. Boller’s accuracy hasn’t earned rave reviews. But it gets better. Or worse, depending on how you look at it.
“They don't throw the ball downfield a lot in Tedford's offense. Look at Joey Harrington now. He doesn’t keep his eyes downfield. He looks to dump everything off. He gets impatient in the pocket. Akili Smith only had one good year of football, and it was with Tedford (then at Oregon State). Tedford simplifies the game and gets so much out of his quarterbacks. No one in the NFL has been able to get the same out of them as he has."
And that is scary. In the four games this scout watched Rodgers play as a collegian, he was sacked 16 times. He believes Rodgers will have a tough time escaping an NFL pass rush and isn’t overly athletic. While his arm strength is considered good, Rodgers threw the ball downfield twice in the four games the scout watched. We’ve heard from a few reliable NFL people that Rodgers is more of a late-first or possibly even early second-round talent who is being pushed way up the board because franchise-type quarterbacks in this draft are scarce.
But what about these NFL coaches who have had the “Tedford Five” under their supervision? They shouldn’t exactly be allowed to slip out the door when fingers start getting pointed in blame. Does the learning process suddenly come to a grinding halt? If they’re talented enough to be coached to rack up big numbers by Tedford, why can’t they be once they start getting the big bucks to play the same game?
“I know our staff wants guys who do not need a lot of seasoning,” one AFC coach said, suggesting that maybe Tedford’s guys do in fact need an extra dose. “We want guys who can step in and compete right away and don't need to be taught mechanics. Coaching schemes and assignments is a far cry from teaching technique. The good coaching staffs in this league — and the teams you see going to the Super Bowl — are the teams that do both. I think that's a big problem around here and on many staffs. Not enough attention is paid to coaching players. You can ask players. I think a lot of them will tell you they got more individual coaching in college. In my opinion, that's why there's a dropoff with ‘Tedford quarterbacks.’ "
So maybe it’s not just Tedford quarterbacks. Maybe he gets a bad rap because, after all, he’s trying to win college games. Maybe it’s Spurrier quarterbacks too. Plenty of others have had problems. Ever see David Klingler or Ryan Leaf? Maybe it’s these “Tedford passers” not getting the same individual attention from their pro coaches. Maybe successful quarterbacking is more about being in the right place at the right time, sticking it out until everything eventually comes together and kids suddenly go scrambling for your jerseys and posters and a table is suddenly reserved for you at the hottest restaurant in town.
Then again, maybe the Tedford Five will have to make room for another chair at the table. Let’s give Rodgers ample time before making a final decision on his worth, though. The NFL on its own doesn’t consent to much as it is, so we probably should.