Mark Schofield invokes some Chris Rock wisdom as he evaluates the pocket play of Utah quarterback Tyler Huntley, one of the 2020 Draft prospects you’ll be hearing a lot more about this winter.
“They should just call it ‘incaseshit.’”
Like many, my first exposure to Chris Rock came before his 1999 stand-up special “Bigger and Blacker,” but that act, which was released during my final year of college, is seared into my brain. Among many of the jokes told during that special was the above, during a riff on the concept of insurance.
Something important to have, “incaseshit.”
The more we think about and study quarterback play, the more people have come to believe that how a quarterback performs from the pocket is a better indicator of their ability to play the position than any other means of analysis. After all, if they struggle from a clean pocket, how good are they really?
Yet, no two pressures are the same. So, in terms of predicting future success, relying on numbers from a clean pocket is probably more indicative of their potential, rather than how they fare under duress.
Here’s the thing: The “incaseshit” scenarios happen all the time when you play quarterback.
So, while pressure numbers might not be the best indicator of how a quarterback can perform, seeing them on film—and seeing how they handle what will definitely happen to them as a professional—is important.
Enter Tyler Huntley.
Huntley will get a chance this weekend to perform on a huge stage, as his Utah Utes take on the University of Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship Game. Oregon’s Justin Herbert is a household name as an NFL prospect, but do not sleep on Huntley, who has put up impressive numbers this season and has already secured an invitation to the East-West Shrine Game.
As these next few plays from him show, he is game ready for “incaseshit.”
For those wondering, his numbers from a clean pocket have been impressive as well. This season he has posted a quarterback rating of 129.4 when kept clean, including nine touchdowns and zero interception—best in the conference.
Better than Herbert.
So he can do that too.
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