I got into a discussion with my wife this evening. I don't know if she had one too many drinks or what, but she started talking about Jake Locker. My wife is a Rams fan and really only knows something about college football because of me and my love for Husky Football. So here's the crux of what she said to me. Jake Locker will never be a good quarterback. He can't throw the ball accurately and therefore will never be a good quarterback. She went on to say that he will never be a starting quarterback in the NFL. She thought that he should immediately switch positions and become, in her mind, a tightend. She doesn't think a quarterback should run the ball at all. She thinks a quarterback should throw the football out of the pocket and the only running he should do is to move around in the pocket to avoid a sack and to buy himself more time to throw the football. She also believes that Jake Locker doesn't really want to be a quarterback or that somehow in his own mind he knows his future is at a different position, like tight end.

I gave my wife my take on Jake Locker. I explained that he is a great athlete. He possesses the size, speed and arm strength that is a God given gift and can't be taught or fabricated. I also informed her that Jake Locker has a greater learning curve for playing the quarterback position because of the fact that the offense he ran in high school was run oriented and was designed to utilize Jake's fabulous running ability. I explained further by comparing Jake Locker to Kellen Moore of Boise State. Kellen Moore, I said, grew up in a football family. His father is the coach of Prosser High School and Prosser runs a sophisticated passing offense which has been tutored to Prosser area kids from Junior High on up through High School. So I explained, Jake Locker is behind the learning curve when it comes to playing the quarterback position. Kellen Moore on the other hand was better prepared and plays the position better, at this point in his career. He also plays in a more refined offensive system and has better talent around him compared to what's available in his league (the WAC). So the jist of my argument was that Jake Locker can play in the NFL as a starting quarterback. I think he will be helped by Coach Sark and better coaching. He can be made into a better passer and his ability to run the football is a valuable commodity in the NFL. He has those physical gifts that Kellen Moore doesn't have and will never have. He's big, strong, fast and has NFL quarterback arm strength. Those are things that can't be taught or trained. I'm not saying for certain that he will play in the NFL. My wife thought he would be, at best, a backup NFL quarterback. She also believes, as I said previously, that he'd have a better chance to be an NFL starter, at a different position. I think it all boils down to Jake and how hard he works to learn the position and to develop his passing skills as well as (and just as importantly) his decision making skills. If he does that he CAN be a starting quarterback in the NFL.