Longtime NFL writer Thomas George has written an entertaining and incisive book about the development of franchise quarterbacks _ "Blitzed: Why NFL Teams Gamble on Starting Rookie Quarterbacks."
It's an insightful look into the evaluation and development of young quarterbacks, and in it, George talks to many players and coaches on the subject. George, who also writes for SBNation, provided quite a tease for the book, which comes out Sept. 5, on Tuesday on SBNation.
From a St. Louis Rams perspective, nothing grabs the reader as much as his conversation with Mike Martz, the team's former head coach, offensive coordinator, and maestro of the "Greatest Show on Turf" offense.
Specifically, Martz was asked about the Los Angeles Rams' hiring of Sean McVay as head coach last offseason. Suffice it to say, the straight-talking Martz was not a fan, at least in terms of how it might affect the development of 2016 No 1 overall pick Jared Goff at quarterback.
"What is he, a couple of months older than Jared?" Martz says in the book. "They hired a buddy for Jared. The NFL has nothing to do with being the friend or the buddy of the quarterback. You've got to coach them and work them hard with respect. But Buddy?
"And this guy is a quarterback expert? An offensive expert? Wait a minute while I puke.
"Right, he's going to be able to teach and handle and guide Jared through tough times because of all his expertise and knowledge? Right. I'm not going to drink that Kool-Aid."
Martz, now retired, splits his time between residences in San Diego and Idaho. He keeps his hand in the game by coaching the NFL Players Association Collegiate Bowl each year. As a favor to longtime college and NFL coach Ted Tollner, and his son Ryan Tollner _ the agent to Goff and Carson Wentz _ Martz worked out both quarterbacks one day during the pre-draft process in 2016.
Martz came away impressed with both players, but once the draft came _ and Wentz went to Philadelphia and Goff went to Jeff Fisher's Rams _ he told George in "Blitzed" that Goff couldn't have gone to a worse place for quarterback development in the NFL.
"Jared Goff?" Martz told George. "I don't know if he can play or not, but I do know he couldn't have gone to a worse place. If you look at him and switched him with Dak Prescott in Dallas, who knows what would have happened for Goff there.
"Goff at Cal came from an offense where they ran as many plays as they could _ fast. Jared in college did an amazing job of throwing a true ball off-balance, under duress, making things happen. You knew the speed of the NFL would throw that kind of timing off. But he still throws a true ball the Rams wanted to rewire him to what?
"I watched the Rams offense last season. It was awful football. There was nobody there on that staff that could team him, develop him. You have a high-value guy like that and he went to the worst offensive place, the Rams."
Martz, who will be in St. Louis next month for induction into the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame, was a practitioner of tough love for quarterbacks as a coach. He would make life miserable for them on the practice field, putting all kinds of pressure on them, until they proved themselves in games.
That approach helped make an-out-of-nowhere Kurt Warner into a Pro Football Hall of Famer. And it helped make Marc Bulger and Trent Green Pro Bowlers. It didn't work with Joe Germaine, who fizzled out quickly after being drafted in the fourth round in 1999 by St. Louis.
In replacing Fisher with McVay and a more quarterback-friendly staff, the thinking was it would aid in Goff's development. Martz, as stated in "Blitzed," has his doubts. At 31, McVay is the youngest head coach in modern NFL history. He was in high school the last time a Rams team reached the playoffs.
"You've got (quarterbacks) who just aren't very tough, just not competitive enough, who don't understand that the great ones don't say no _ they find a way," Martz told George in the book.
"And then you've got what is probably the worst coached position in sports. Not enough of these coaches are clear. If you have a rookie franchise quarterback, each situation is different. It's difficult to measure if he should sit or play."
