Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

I know there are many good college QBs throughout history who simply never got a shot to play QB when making the pros, but looking back on MRob's senior year at Penn St, you'd think he would have at least come close to being given a shot which never would be the case. 2300+ passing yards, 17 TDs, 800+ rushing yards along with 11 rushing TDs. Not bad considering that Penn St, under Paterno, was never at all the most QB-friendly program in the country. You think he would have been given a shot in the NFL just once, instead of being strictly-fullback his entire career. Thoughts?

Paterno's QB's that made it to the NFL were a fairly weak bunch, with the possible exception of Kerry Collins. Todd Blackledge was a first round flop and Chuck Fusina's best performances were in the USFL.

In his one season as a starter, he ranked 55th in passing yards, 102nd in completion percentage, 46th in passing touchdowns, and 59th in passer rating. I can understand why he didn't get a shot as a quarterback.

Yeah, I guess MRob's stats his senior year aren't the best example to give. I'm just thinking the intangibles. I do remember him that year and even was at opening game vs South Florida which wasn't a promising start although, it turns out, SFU would end up being pretty decent and pretty soon. The memory of him that stands out is actually Penn St's only loss that year at Michigan. On PSU's drive late in the 4th Q, before Mich got ball back (Henne-to-Manningham game-winning TD), MRob drove them 81 yards down the field for a TD, which he ran in from the 3. Very Elway-like the drive seemed to me. Nittany Lions ended up #3 in the country and would have still been there even if they had beat Michigan for that was the year of USC/Texas. Guess you can say that MRob, senior year, was a poorman's, but more rugged (Tebow-like), version of Vince Young.

Are there any other good NFL QBs besides Kerry Collins to come out of State? Perhaps someone from Rip Engle's time or prior? Again, Penn St was certainly not ever 'QB U' under Paterno. If not for Bill O'Brien's arrival Matt McGloin's senior year, McGloin don't make the pros plain and simple; he's John Shaffer. And now there's Christian Hackenberg. Jury's still out on him but looking promising enough so far.

74_75_78_79_ wrote:Yeah, I guess MRob's stats his senior year aren't the best example to give. I'm just thinking the intangibles. I do remember him that year and even was at opening game vs South Florida which wasn't a promising start although, it turns out, SFU would end up being pretty decent and pretty soon. The memory of him that stands out is actually Penn St's only loss that year at Michigan. On PSU's drive late in the 4th Q, before Mich got ball back (Henne-to-Manningham game-winning TD), MRob drove them 81 yards down the field for a TD, which he ran in from the 3. Very Elway-like the drive seemed to me. Nittany Lions ended up #3 in the country and would have still been there even if they had beat Michigan for that was the year of USC/Texas. Guess you can say that MRob, senior year, was a poorman's, but more rugged (Tebow-like), version of Vince Young.

Are there any other good NFL QBs besides Kerry Collins to come out of State? Perhaps someone from Rip Engle's time or prior? Again, Penn St was certainly not ever 'QB U' under Paterno. If not for Bill O'Brien's arrival Matt McGloin's senior year, McGloin don't make the pros plain and simple; he's John Shaffer. And now there's Christian Hackenberg. Jury's still out on him but looking promising enough so far.

Milt Plum?

I think Paterno must have deliberately chosen mediocre QBs to start for his teams so that he'd never hear fans whine "How come you don't throw the ball more?"

It certainly is difficult to explain how Blackledge beat out Jeff Hostetler, a much better QB (a sentiment borne out not only by a comparison of their college stats but by the respective NFL careers of both men).

Todd Pence wrote:I think Paterno must have deliberately chosen mediocre QBs to start for his teams so that he'd never hear fans whine "How come you don't throw the ball more?"

It certainly is difficult to explain how Blackledge beat out Jeff Hostetler, a much better QB (a sentiment borne out not only by a comparison of their college stats but by the respective NFL careers of both men).

I think that he wanted Hoss to play linebacker. Same with Jim Kelly.