Anonymous wrote:He's a really good athlete and that served him well in a college system. The problem is that being a good athlete does not necessarily translate to being a good (or even serviceable) NFL quarterback. Great athleticism does not provide the skills you need to be a good NFL quarterback - reads, decision making, fundamentals (foot work, throwing motion). He didn't have to do any of that to succeed in his college system and didn't develop those skills. He got away with it for his rookie year because teams were figuring him out. Now they know how to defend against him and he lacks the fundamental skills to deal with it. Those skills are critical in the NFL and it is very difficult to develop them at the pro level when he's starting and poor decision making has led to injuries (making it even more difficult to develop). I never thought he was a NFL quarterback but the only way he'll pass for one is if the rest of the team is built around him to compensate for his flaws and that will never happen. He hasn't been handled correctly either but at the end of the day I don't think that makes a difference in the result.
I think this is right and the only thing I would add is that he's a good athlete in one particular dimension. He is a great runner, he has terrific speed. But you know the kind of great, natural athlete who excels in a number of sports? Who has hand-eye coordination, speed, strength, a sense of their body in space, and a sense of the whole field of play, so that they can play basketball and football and baseball and soccer, and hell even tennis and golf? That's not RG III. He's not a complete athlete in that sense.
I don't think he's stupid, as someone said above. In fact, I think he's quite bright. But I don't think he's a complete enough athlete to compete in this position at this level. I feel bad for him, even though it gets hard to like him when he makes comments like his most recent ones. He's in over his head, and there is probably not much he can do about it. It's devastating for anyone to experience something like this, but worse to experience it so publicly.