The Locker hate I find truly laughable.
To the subject of Miles at UW? There is certainly a looming log jam at QB
potentially over the next few years at UW. It's great for UW. Miles won't be committed until he signs his LOI, and his recruitment I think will go down to the wire ultimately. I think Miles will be successful wherever he ultimately lands. I hope it's UW (selfishly), but he seems like a legit player and I'll wish him well regardless (although if he doesn't sign with UW I hope he goes outside of the Pac).
Back to the Locker hate, I think if you don't think he's a QB then you haven't watched him play much. It's as simple as that. He's a winner, always has been, and always will be. He will outwork and outstudy anybody else on the roster. He's humble and the consummate teammate. That has been proven and will continue to be so... No collegiate QB in the nation played behind a worse line for four years. No QB had more dropped balls by receivers in the past few years. Jake essentially had 2 years of QB coaching (once Sark and Nussmeier came on board), and is more like a sophomore QB skipping his final two years to go to the NFL than a QB who played for four years. Jake could certainly benefit from sitting for a couple years while adjusting to the NFL, I just hope he gets the chance ala Aaron Rodgers... And UW now has a pro-style offense. Except last year UW played without a tight end (high percentage throws). If you don't count receiver drops Jake's completion percentage would raise probably 5 points. Jake rarely had time to take a 3 or 5 step drop, plant and throw due to the porous line play... poor line play probably lowered his completion percentage by 5-10 points easily. And he didn't have a TE to throw to which is essential in a true pro-style offense. Not to mention he played half of his senior season with broken ribs. Most QBs wouldn't play one game with broken ribs. If Jake played with Tebow's squad at Florida it is not unreasonable to assume his completion percentage would have been over 70% with QB coaching every year, better line play and player's who could catch the ball. Many of Jake's incompletions this year were due to throwing the ball away (all receivers covered). I think at times an incompletion via throwing it away is better than a sack or interception, but I'm sure there are people who would argue against that.
Jake is still an unpolished QB by any measure, but there is no reason to think he couldn't excel at the next level. I could potentially see him being a bust, and I could just as easily imagine him being a multiple pro-bowl level QB that will be talked about like a Favre, Manning or Brady when his career is over. Jake's intangibles are all there, he can make every NFL thrown, and he is mobile. He is also a winner and capable of carrying a team on his back. He carried a horrible UW team for his entire career and has already had as many expectations placed on him as any player ever did in college.
If Jake has an NFL career similar to Brett Favre will he be considered a bust? Or a steal? When you look at college stat's Jake is most comparable to Favre. They are within 1 inch of height and 5 pounds weight, both tough as nails with wills to win. Here's their college stats:
Team | GP | Comp | Att | % | Yds | TD | INT | Y/A | RATING |
Favre | 44 | 613 | 1169 | 52.4 | 7695 | 52 | 34 | 6.6 | 116.6 |
Locker | 40 | 619 | 1147 | 53.9 | 7639 | 53 | 35 | 6.7 | 119.1 |
Hate on Jake if you must, but I for one am interested in seeing how he does in the NFL. He'll have more time to throw despite being in the NFL due to improved line play. His receivers will drop fewer balls, and he'll have a full arsenal with better surrounding talent. If you've watched him play he's not a guy you would easily bet against... Ty nearly ruined him, and Sark and Nuss did a tremendous job in their two years with Jake. His improvement has been great under their tutelage. And with all things considered and all the haters, he was still drafted in the Top Ten. NTS... even Sark says he has more potential than Sanchez...