The 2015 NFL Draft has come and gone, but the debate over quarterbacks from spread offenses is a neverending discussion nowadays.
As if the selection of Oregon's Marcus Mariota with the No. 2 overall pick wasn't enough to quiet things down a little bit, Baylor head coach Art Briles lobbed a few grenades at those who downplay the ability for quarterbacks out of certain college offenses to make it at the next level.
"Heck, the NFL is mostly shotgun now. Either a kid can play or he can't play, but to label a kid saying he can't have success because he came out of a certain system would be the same as we judge a kid coming out of high school," Briles told FOXSports.com. "If you're a coach, and the guy is coming out of a certain system, you can coach him up as long as he's got the talent and work ethic. I think that's just talking heads trying to fill some airspace with things they don't know."
Briles has won back-to-back Big 12 titles while also coaching Robert Griffin III and recent New York Jets draft pick Bryce Petty during his tenure at Baylor, so he certainly knows a thing about developing quarterbacks. It's no surprise to see the coach stick up for his version of offense, but he does underscore a point that often goes ignored by many evaluators: good players are good players no matter the system.
"I don't worry about (Baylor's offense) projecting to the NFL," Briles added. "A lot of times it's a lot harder to do things in a spread tempo offense than it is (to) break out of the huddle, stand in the line-of-scrimmage, evaluate-and-look offense."
Washington Redskins and New York Jets fans are certainly among those that hope that bit rings true while looking for improvement in signal-callers who used to call Waco home.
You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.
