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Jimmy Clausen: Coming Back, Again.
By TOMApril 12th, 2009 |
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In all my years, I never thought I would say a Notre Dame QB is underrated. Yet here we are. However, Jimmy is coming back, and he is looking like a top ten pick again. It's funny how 90-95% of the evaluation's done on prospects is film study done during the season, and all this past season stuff is crap. Then Bradford has his Throwday and suddenly he is the top pick in the Draft. Then super-sliding Jimmy Clausen has his Throwday and he is suddenly a top five pick, again.
What did we learn about Bradford at his Throwday? Nothing, because we already knew everything about him from studying the film all season, except that his shoulder was healthy, and you know, the studying of the film of Bradford for the past year led everyone to believe that he was a top flight QB in this draft. It just took a while;-) All the experts finished their film study and realized at the same time, purely coincidently, the day after Bradford's Throwday, that he was a viable option at QB. Well, when I studied the film of Jimmy Clausen I learned that he is a jerk, has bad character, and is a bad teammate. I think that much is clear. Heck, even Mike Holmgren agrees with me. "I wish I liked him more," he said. "You know how you have a type of player that you like? It's not scientific. People like him a lot. He'll go high. But it would be hard for me [to take him]". Heck, the always honest Holmgren even said he would take him in the 2nd Round;-)
Then suddenly, Clausen had his Throwday, and the skies opened, the heavens parted, and the sun shined down onto video screen all across the country. Coincidentally, nobody was actually watching Clausen's Throwday. Every scout, Draftnic, and GM in America was just finishing up their film study of Clausen. Only now the sun was shining on the video screen all across the country, and they could really see the real Jimmy Clausen for the first time! And not just his intangibles, but his actual play on the field, and miraculously he was suddenly good. Thank you Football Jesus;-) Okay, enough of the sarcasm.
I like Clausen as a prospect. Is he a Douche Bag and a bad leader? I don't know. I do know, I saw him celebrating on the field with his teammate every week. I do know I never heard him complain, bash, or blame a teammate during one of the most turbulent seasons in ND history. I do know that I saw him walking out of the tunnel supporting his coach when Weis was Public Enemy Number One of the Notre Dame most wanted list. I wonder if the ex-Coach from Seahawk-land would have liked that kind of support from his ex-QB. I do know that Clausen has heart on the field, and I do know that he has that knack for leading his team back in the 4th Quarter. I do know that no QB from ND has been better in the 4th quarter since the miraculous Joe Montana was leading 4th quarter comebacks at ND.
He made every NFL throw a QB needs to make in the NFL with better accuracy and a strong arm than he was playing with in the second half of the season, because of his toe. Last season he had problems pushing off his back foot, and it showed on some deep throws. He seemed to under throw a lot more deep patterns in the second half of last season than he did earlier on and in 2008. His deep throws were too often a little short. He too often was whipping the ball using only his arm and you could see him struggling a little. He said at his Throwday about his toe, “During the season it was tough for me to get my legs involved with my throws. I couldn’t really push though my throws.” He showed he could throw the deep ball accurate and on time, and said the problem with his deep accuracy was his toe. So his biggest question mark entering his Throwday was answered.
What else did we learn at Clausen's Throwday that we had already learned while studying film. We learn that he is tough, and played most of that season with torn ligament in his toe. We learned he has a strong enough arm, not a rocket Stafford-like arm, but a Sanchez-type arm that can make every NFL throw. We learned that he plays with near perfect technic and mechanics in his throwing, and that he studies and refines his throwing mechanics constantly. We learned he throws with terrific accuracy, and you always see players like Golden Tate catching the ball in full stride and running down the field. He started over 30 games (34 Starts), which seems to be the line demarcation for successful college QB's transferring into the NFL. Plus, he completed over 60% of his passes last year in a Pro-Style offense (68% Completion Percentage), which is the other line demarcation for successful college QB's transferring into the NFL. He had a 7 to 1 TD to Interception ration (28 to 4), which is as important a stat as a college QB can have. He has also thrown has 60 career TDs, which is Second all-time in ND history. In his career at ND, he has thrown for 8,148 yard and 60 TDs.
Plus,
he engineered ND comebacks again and again in the
Then we get to Stanford. Clausen throws a 46 yard TD pass, his 4th of the day, to put ND up 31-20 in the 3rd. Toby Gerhart answers with a ten yard TD run, 31-27 to start the 4th. Stanford kicks a FG 31-30. Clausen throws a 28 TD pass the Tate, his 5th of the day, 38-30. Gerhart throws a TD pass and with a two-point conversion ties the score 31-31. Gerhart runs for a 4 yard TD to seal the game, the win, and Charlie Weis's stay at ND. Now, I don't know if Jimmy Clausen is a "leader of men". But I do know that he led his team to 4th quarter TDs over and over again. I do know he led ND to five 4th quarter comeback in his career at ND. I do know he led ND, when the were behind, down the field for two 4th quarter TDs in four other games this season and still lost. I do know he led them to successful 4th quarter comebacks against Michigan St and Boston college. I know he led them from behind against Washington and put them up 30-27, with a 12 yard TD pass to Kyle Rudolph, only to watch UConn tie the game with a FG, but ND won the game in overtime 37-30. When it mattered the most last season, Clausen was there leading ND to comebacks, again and again.
Plus, he was doing this at one of the most turbulent times at ND history. He face more pressure every day than any QB in college faced last season. Notre Dame is an entity onto itself in college football. The team is expected to win beyond its’ capabilities every year. He was the face of the ND Football Corporation, which is a national television franchise unto itself, with all the pressures of a professional team. We all know what a pressure cooker ND normally is, and when you amplify that by the Weis controversy, Clausen was the eye of the storm. He was calm, cool, and collected as the media, the ND hierarchy, and their venom swirling around him. Plus, I will always remember him coming out of the tunnel arm in arm with Weis. Despite all the controversy, there the kid was, sticking up for his coach, when it mattered the most. Is their any coach in the NFL who wouldn’t want to coach a kid like that after watching him supporting his college coach so openly? Except of course Mike Holmgren;-) I don’t know Clausen. However I do know that when the trouble is swirling, the guys with character stand up to the storm, they don’t melt away behind public opinion.
Plus, another check against the rumors of bad character, is that his teammates showed up for him at his Throwday. They did not have to do that, and if he was a jerk or a bad teammate they wouldn’t have shown up. I know I wouldn't have shown up to help a jerk. And forgetting it was just a bunch of bullshit rumors, I half expected them not to show up, and for him to be throwing to air, literally, on his Throwday;-) Is he tough? He play over half the season with torn ligaments in his toe, and did have surgery until after the season so he could play.
At
his Throwday he showed he throws the ball harder than
It cannot be underestimated that he played in a pro style offense and is the most pro ready QB in the Draft. This kid can play the game. He has played under Center. He played in the Charlie Weis/Patriots/Pro-style offense for three years. One reason I like him over Bradford is because he played behind a much weaker O-Line, and was harassed every week. Another reason I like him is that I compare him to Matt Ryan. I saw both of them take some nasty hits that would have made Spiderman quit, and they just kept getting up and asking for more. Like Ryan, he is a tough kid who often played games where the talent around him was overmatched, for Ryan it was more on offense, and for Clausen it was more on defense. But both BC and Notre Dame have the same problem, they both have higher standards for players to get into the program than most other football schools, and all football player are expected to attend and pass all their classes. Like Ryan, he loves the game of football and studies it like it is a religion. Like Ryan, he seemed to excel under the pressure and in the Fourth Quarter. The Notre Dame defense was so terrible last season that he would have to manufacture, not just one comeback, but two fourth quarter scoring drive to try and win the game, because as soon as he drove down and scored the defense would almost instantly give up another score.
So here he is in April, at his Throwday, Coming back again.
If you have any questions or comments feel free to email me:
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