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How pocket passers compare: Kaaya & Morris

Hstokes1447

Hstokes1447

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By Tom Luginbill | ESPN.com

It is becoming more and more difficult to find favorable comparisons for true pocket passers because the definition of the quintessential pocket passer has changed so much.

Even dropback guys now seem to have enough athleticism to make things happen with their feet. Offensive schemes almost always feature some form of the spread offense, even if it's just a wrinkle.

Our top five pocket passers in this class all possess enough athleticism to be effective or make second reaction throws, but are at their best moving the ball with their arm, not their legs.

Brad Kaaya (West Hills, Calif./Chaminade College Prep) and Stephen Morris, Miami: OK, this may seem like a cop-out as Kaaya is committed to the Hurricanes, but this is a very favorable likeness. Kaaya has been blessed with better size and measurables for the position and as a result has a higher ceiling for development. Both have had to play from under center and be disciplined in the play-action passing game as part of their offensive schemes. This will not change at the collegiate level for Kaaya under the leadership of offensive coordinator James Coley at Miami.

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/ncfrecruiting/on-the-trail/post?id=49500
 
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I'm going to compare Kevin Olsen to Joe Montana. Similar style QBs. Nobody thought Joe could do it either.
 
They are more similar than I initially thought. You can't tell on highlights, but Kaaya can be scattershot with his accuracy at times. He is a true power arm.
 
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DMoney said:
They are more similar than I initially thought. You can't tell on highlights, but Kaaya can be scattershot with his accuracy at times. He is a true power arm.
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When I watched Morris in HS, he was not polished.

Would like to hear how you think they're similar.
 
I dont think there is a comparison. Morris out of High School was raw at best with a rocket for an arm. Kaaya is much further along at this point than Morris, but not a slight on him. Some kids just have more resources available to them, like Kaaya. He went to camps and has even transferred to a school with better coaching and better surrounding talent in order to be successful. Morris has done well, dont get me wrong, **** if it wasnt for him, we would still have a guy like Kirby Freeman or that big tall kid that transferred to Rice. Morris took us out of the dark ages of this era, I love him for it. He was who we needed at the time.
 
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LuCane said:
When I watched Morris in HS, he was not polished.

Would like to hear how you think they're similar.
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It's more of a physical comparison. Kaaya is the better prospect. I think he'll be compared to much better quarterbacks when it's all said and done. But going in, I was expecting a physical skill set comparable to Sam Bradford. That was not that case.

When I watched the highlights, Kaaya looked deadly accurate. Of course, those were highlights. When I watched a full game, Kaaya was very streaky with his accuracy. He missed in similar ways to Morris: way high over the middle, in the dirt on easy passes outside the hashes. It's strange because (as you note) Kaaya is a lot more consistent with his balance and fundamentals than Morris was in high school.

On the positive side, Kaaya has similar arm strength to Morris. The ball jumps out of Kaaya's hands the same way and he throws downfield on a line.
 
Morris is the Mitch Williams of college football QB's. lol




As for the Olson - Montana comparisons, I think Olson has better hair.
 
Morris only played one year under center at Pace, his senior year. Just like Jacory they both were exceptional spread qbs in highschool.
 
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outside of Miami what other Big Time programs wanted Stephen ? UVA....UCF...you have USC and UCLA begging Kaaya
 
DMoney said:
LuCane said:
When I watched Morris in HS, he was not polished.

Would like to hear how you think they're similar.
Click to expand...

It's more of a physical comparison. Kaaya is the better prospect. I think he'll be compared to much better quarterbacks when it's all said and done. But going in, I was expecting a physical skill set comparable to Sam Bradford. That was not that case.

When I watched the highlights, Kaaya looked deadly accurate. Of course, those were highlights. When I watched a full game, Kaaya was very streaky with his accuracy. He missed in similar ways to Morris: way high over the middle, in the dirt on easy passes outside the hashes. It's strange because (as you note) Kaaya is a lot more consistent with his balance and fundamentals than Morris was in high school.

On the positive side, Kaaya has similar arm strength to Morris. The ball jumps out of Kaaya's hands the same way and he throws downfield on a line.
Click to expand...

I may be old school, but I favor qb's with big arms. I watched the latest New Orleans/Carolina game and Brees couldn't get the ball into the end zone from 50 yards.
Stretching the defense is a much bigger weapon than people think. When you have a qb that can throw it on a line 65 yards downfield past where safeties feel they have to cover, that is stretching the field.

Morris makes some bad throws, but he also has had to deal with quite a few drops. Coley is going to be great for us. Heck, he already is great but he does tend to alligator arm balls when he senses heat like those 2 in the FSU game.
We've also had numerous receivers in every game break off routes.

You add 4 receptions for Morris per game that were incompletions for reasons other than it being a crappy pass, and we probably have 19 wins instead of 16 wins the past two years.

As for comparing Morris and Kaaya, Kaaya is a good high school qb with great potential. Morris is a good college qb with great potential in the pros.
Don't agree about Morris?
You can teach schemes, progressions, footwork but you can't teach a qb to drop a 70 pass into a bucket on a rope.
 
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rudebuddha said:
DMoney said:
LuCane said:
When I watched Morris in HS, he was not polished.

Would like to hear how you think they're similar.
Click to expand...

It's more of a physical comparison. Kaaya is the better prospect. I think he'll be compared to much better quarterbacks when it's all said and done. But going in, I was expecting a physical skill set comparable to Sam Bradford. That was not that case.

When I watched the highlights, Kaaya looked deadly accurate. Of course, those were highlights. When I watched a full game, Kaaya was very streaky with his accuracy. He missed in similar ways to Morris: way high over the middle, in the dirt on easy passes outside the hashes. It's strange because (as you note) Kaaya is a lot more consistent with his balance and fundamentals than Morris was in high school.

On the positive side, Kaaya has similar arm strength to Morris. The ball jumps out of Kaaya's hands the same way and he throws downfield on a line.
Click to expand...

I may be old school, but I favor qb's with big arms. I watched the latest New Orleans/Carolina game and Brees couldn't get the ball into the end zone from 50 yards.
Stretching the defense is a much bigger weapon than people think. When you have a qb that can throw it on a line 65 yards downfield past where safeties feel they have to cover, that is stretching the field.

Morris makes some bad throws, but he also has had to deal with quite a few drops. Coley is going to be great for us. Heck, he already is great but he does tend to alligator arm balls when he senses heat like those 2 in the FSU game.
We've also had numerous receivers in every game break off routes.

You add 4 receptions for Morris per game that were incompletions for reasons other than it being a crappy pass, and we probably have 19 wins instead of 16 wins the past two years.

As for comparing Morris and Kaaya, Kaaya is a good high school qb with great potential. Morris is a good college qb with great potential in the pros.
Don't agree about Morris?
You can teach schemes, progressions, footwork but you can't teach a qb to drop a 70 pass into a bucket on a rope.
Click to expand...

Strongly disagree with this post. A strong arm isn't helpful when placement and anticipation are off. Stretching the field these days happens vertically and horizontally. It's more important to put the ball in windows than have the ability to throw it 60 yards. I can't think of a single example that supports the premium you seem to be placing on arm strength over accuracy and anticipation. Give me 1000 Drew Brees' over guys who can "stretch the field."
 
Kaaya does a better job of ball placement and is better at adding/subtracting as needed.

Kaaya is able to do a little of what Drew Brees does in changing his release point to properly place the ball.

To be honest, bigger targets wouldn't have benefited from Stephen Morris being their QB, because Morris isn't proficient with placing the ball in the spots that allow a larger target to win a matchup with their size as opposed to getting the requisite separation. Brees does this with Colston and Jimmy Graham incessantly. Guys like Dorsett and Coley, who can simply win over the top of a defense benefit from Morris, but TE's and bigger targets aren't as effective IMO
 
I see Kyle Wright but with better pocket presence. They look alike kinda, both have prototypical size, and strong arm. Both had accuracy issues in HS even though their completion percentages were strong.
 
bobbydigius said:
I see Kyle Wright but with better pocket presence. They look alike kinda, both have prototypical size, and strong arm. Both had accuracy issues in HS even though their completion percentages were strong.
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Lot better at changing trajectory and velocity on throws.
 
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