Are African American College QBs Being Properly Prepared to be NFL QBs? Or.... [View All]

[Yavin4]

are colleges just using their speed in spread offenses?

I was watching John Gruden's interview with former Auburn QB, Cam Newton, and Gruden asked him to name a complex verbal play that they ran at Auburn. Newton was silent. They never ran plays that were extremely verbal at Auburn. Their plays were very basic. If receivers were covered, Newton just ran with the ball.

Newton's Auburn system is the antithesis of what happens in the NFL. In the NFL, when the OB calls the play, they have to relay the play, the option routes for the receivers, the blocking schemes, and sometimes even more. In addition, the QB may to audible out of the play and call something else entirely. Gruden likened it to learning an entirely new language.

Their exchange got me to thinking. Are African American QBs being properly prepared to be NFL QBs? Are they learning the skills that it takes to be a successful NFL QB? Are they running complex offenses? Are they required to learn complex plays? Are they learning to read coverages and change plays on the fly? Or, do they mostly line up in a spread offense, look for open receivers, and if no one is open, just take off down the field.

Why aren't African American QBs, like Newton, being properly prepared to be NFL QBs? Is this an example of subtle racism?