..and a lot of teams are going to kick themselves for passing on him. I've heard all the negative talk about Matt Barkley, how his stock has dropped, how he like other recent USC quarterbacks aren't worth the investment And how because he is a USC quarterback he has to be like Mark Sanchez or Matt Leinert. And how his hype is more than his talent. I personally do not believe this. I've seen every single game Matt Barkley has played. I'll start by saying, no he isn't a top 5 pick nor in the class of talents like Andrew Luck or Peyton Manning coming out of Tennessee. But I believe he is an above average QB and has star qualities. One who could, if put in the right situation, with a solid team around him, could win in the NFL and be an elite QB. Most of the talk about Barkley's stock dropping is based on what? His individual performance? Not hardly. It is primarily for the fact that he and his team did not meet expectations. Being ranked as the #1 overall team coming into this past season and a favorite to win the National Championship and then falling as hard as the Trojans did (like no other pre-season #1 ranked team ever), is to me the basis for most of the talk about his stock dropping. Let's take a real look at Barkley and his individual performance over the 4 years at USC. They tell a much different story.
Matt Barkley's career stats.
12, 327 pass yards--116 TD's--48 INT's--64.1 career completion percentage--148.7 career QBR--sacked only 55 times in 4 years.
Now let's look beyond the numbers.
His arm is not John Elway strong but he does have an above average throwing arm that is very accurate.
4 years starter
Started as a true freshman
Played in a pro style offense that translate to the NFL.
Played on a team that usually had no defense
Played on a team that was penalized for NCAA violations that resulted in a loss of scholarships. Scholarships that cost his team talent and depth.
Played on a team that really never had a consistent running attack
And here is the big thing for me. In 4 years, Matt Barkley almost always had his team in a position to win. In 53 career starts only 5 times did he really play poor football. And all but those 5 games he had his team in a position to win. Think about that. In 4 years he played poorly only 5 times.
Now, let me finish this by saying this has nothing to do with my thread about "Ben traded to the Arizona Cardinals"...personally as I said in that thread I wouldn't trade Ben. But I really think people are wrong about Matt Barkley. This kid has a lot of poise and has been groomed for a long time to be a quarterback And he also has a lot of skills to go with it.
Somebody is going to get a star quarterback He is far better than Mark Sanchez. And much more ready for the NFL.
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