2011 NFL Draft Results: Why Ryan Mallett Is the Patriots' QB of the Future
Ryan Mallett watched as the first two and half rounds of the 2011 NFL draft passed him by. Six quarterbacks came off the board ahead of him and the further we went along the further our memories strayed from the talk of Mallett being the No. 1 overall pick.
But maybe it was all for the best.
Maybe Mallett's slide put him in exactly the position he needed to be: behind New England's Tom Brady.
The Patriots selected the Arkansas quarterback with the 74th overall pick and logic dictates this story ends one of two ways.
We'll look back on this day and point toward the brilliance of New England's front office and draft war room or we'll shrug our shoulders over a failed third-round pick.
The gamble was minimal at best and one the Patriots would take any day of the week.
Why? Because when Brady finally hangs up his shoes Mallett will have his day. Simply put, he's probably the future of the organization.
A Hard Dose of Reality
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The NFL draft can be a sobering reality. When a star player plummets, they're awakened to the reality that they aren't regarded as highly as they would have hoped.
For Mallett, that meant seeing quarterbacks like Christian Ponder and Collin Kaepernick come off the board one and two rounds ahead of him, respectively.
In a situation like this, a bruised ego can be exactly what you need. Players who slip often speak of wanting to prove their detractors wrong and of taking the field with a single-minded approach to make every team that passed on you regret the decision.
Now we'll see if Mallett is one of those types of players.
Physical Attributes
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Mallett has a cannon for an arm. That term is thrown around rather loosely these days, but in this case there's no better way to describe it.
As Scouts Inc. said: "He makes throws on film no other QB in this class, and some in the NFL, can't make."
At 6'7" and 253 pounds, he'll be a handful for pass rushers and meets the ideal size requirements for an NFL quarterback.
Mallett lacks mobility and needs to work on his footwork, but in terms of natural ability it doesn't get much better.
Character Concerns Overblown
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There were a few factors that resulted in Mallett slipping into the third round of the draft.
He was arrested in March of 2009 for public intoxication and most, if not all NFL teams, had questions about his maturity and character. That started with his departure from Michigan after the 2007 season in a year he rubbed quite a few coaches the wrong way.
After the 2010 season reports of marijuana use surfaced despite the fact Mallett had never failed a drug test before. During the combine he came across as abrasive in his interviews.
True, there are concerns, but this is the way of the NFL draft. Players get put under the microscope and once a reputation is earned—fairly or not—it's hard to brush it off.
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Time to Wait in the Wings
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There are some quarterbacks who can step onto an NFL field and produce, and there are others that need to marinate.
Mallett needs to marinate. And with Tom Brady lining up under center, there's plenty of time for Mallett to mature literally and figuratively.
There won't be any pressure on him to be a star on day one. It'll be years before he's asked to do anything other than step in during the preseason and occasional garbage time.
The Perfect Classroom
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If you're looking for a single reason why this experiment is going to work the answer comes in two parts.
Tom Brady. Bill Belichick.
Who else could serve as a better mentor for a young quarterback filled with talent and question marks than Brady?
Could you think of anyone better than Bill Belichick to harness the good Mallett has and shed the concerns that made every other team in the NFL shy away?
There isn't a better classroom in the league Mallet could have found himself in.
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