Remembering the Rams other QB

by Ryan Van Bibber on Feb 16, 2010 1:59 PM CST

I've committed an egregious error throughout the quarterback discussion, ignoring the St. Louis Rams "other" QB on the roster, former Central Washington standout Mike Reilly. Right now, it's easy to overlook Reilly, who the Rams added to their practice squad in December.

Scouring the web for more QB info - I'm addicted - I came across this article from Football Outsider's Doug Farrar that appeared in the Washington Post in the midst of last year's draft hype. Contained within are some pretty positive assessments of Reilly's ability, which have suffered thanks to the small school bias. For instance, this quote comes from Greg Cosell of NFL Films:

I think that as a pro prospect, he's the fourth-best quarterback in this draft, after Freeman, who has a ton of skills but is very raw and unrefined. But after that, Mike Reilly -- and I've watched him on film, and I've seen his only game against a Division I opponent in Montana, in addition to some other games -- I think he shows NFL attributes. I love when I read stuff that says, 'Well, the guy has an average arm.' When you watch him on film, he doesn't have an average arm. He actually has a pretty good arm. And he does the things ... I understand that it's not against top competition, but that's not the point, He's also not playing with great competition. He's playing with the same (level of) guys he's playing against. So, you look for NFL attributes, and he's got them.

We all know he's not going to be drafted in the first two rounds, but there's a quarterback from two years ago that I really liked, named Matt Moore, who came out of Oregon State, who's now with Carolina, and I can tell you that (Panthers head coach) John Fox thinks he's going to be a starting quarterback in this league

It sounds like Reilly could have been a better sixth round pick than Keith Null, but draft hindsight is always 20/20. I'll be anxious to see if Reilly gets some time in camp and what he does with that time. Though I'd hold off on anointing him the answer to the Rams QB questions.

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Comments

It would be nice to have a mentor for him though.

Keith Null won't accept my friend requests.

by loyal2therams on Feb 16, 2010 2:39 PM CST reply actions

What would it hurt to start him from day one

It’s not to late to kick Null to the curb.

by dbcouver on Feb 16, 2010 4:43 PM CST reply actions

That's a hard question to answer

having not seen him play one down before.

by Carneros on Feb 16, 2010 8:09 PM CST up reply actions

I posted this back on Feb 7

Don’t take our word for it. ESPN analyst and former Philadelphia quarterback Ron Jaworski talks to Packer Report about new practice squad QB Mike Reilly and the player he replaced, Brian Brohm. Jaworski was high on Reilly before the draft and his opinion has not changed.

SEAHAWKS: Greg Knapp spending time with Central QB Mike Reilly
Written byAaron Weinberg at4:34 PM

According to a report by Eric Williams, Seahawks offensive coordinator Greg Knapp spent some quality time working with Central Washington QB Mike Reilly, giving him advice throughout his workout.

Reilly is having a phenomenal combine, recording top ten finishes in the 40-yard-dash (4.92) and the vertical jump (30.5), while moving up his stock to possibly a fourth round draft choice.

Reilly was dominant playing for Central Washington, breaking all kinds of school records including Jon Kitna’s passing yards mark.

I got a chance to watch a couple of Reilly’s games last season while writing for Western Athletics, one of which was at Qwest Field at the Battle in Seattle where he threw for 377 yards and four touchdowns in a 50-37 win.

Reilly didn’t throw too many deep balls, but was deadly accurate with short to intermediate passes. He was also a skilled scrambler, eluding rushing defenders and was always a rushing threat (second on the team with 415 rush yards in 2008). I wouldn’t have been surprised to see him run a sub 4.9 at the combine.

by Knoxfan on Feb 16, 2010 5:20 PM CST reply actions