Why Jake Fromm could be Steelers replacement for Ben Roethlisberger

The breakdown of Fromm

My takeaways did not match what I’ve been reading in NFL draft profiles. First of all, Fromm’s football intelligence is no joke. As a freshman, he led the Bulldogs to the CFB National Championship game and had it not been for Tua Tagovailoa’s epic and now legendary second-half comeback, it would have been Fromm who walked out of that game with a championship under his belt instead of Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide.

So what? This aligns with what the scouts are saying, right?  He’s smart.  Okay.  Got it. But there is more to it than the internet gurus are letting on. For starters, he’s not just intelligent, but his football acumen has been applied to a pro-style offense at Georgia.

The Bulldogs do not run the college spread, and while they have added the run-pass option (RPO) attack that even NFL clubs now employ, the formations and schemes come directly from NFL playbooks. Numerous college teams run high school offenses.  There are very few that have their QB’s running play-action or mesh schemes from under center.

Why is this significant? Simply put, Fromm can quickly absorb an NFL playbook and not only understand the plays, but how the plays apply to the defensive scheme presented by the opposition. Fromm frequently reads the defense pre-snap, manipulates the safety with his eyes, and delivers both short and long passes on time and with accuracy.

So let’s talk about accuracy. A good game to watch on this front would be Georgia vs. Notre Dame in 2019. The Fighting Irish came to play in this one with a very impressive defensive scheme that held the Bulldogs in check for most of the first three quarters, but this had nothing to do with Fromm. As a matter of fact, the UGA quarterback made some of the most impressive throws I’ve seen in any college tape from this past season, both within the pocket and off-platform. He suffered from a handful of drops by young receivers but in each case, the throw was there and an NFL receiver makes the play.

Again and again, during that game, Fromm puts the ball exactly where it needs to be in NFL tight windows. It is easy for the casual football fan to use the old reliable term, “he put it right between the numbers,” but in Fromm’s case, that’s selling the QB short. Fromm puts the ball on whichever shoulder best protects his receiver from an incoming hit, and his throws on long out patterns or back shoulder fades are what most fans see from elite QBs on Sunday mornings and afternoons.

Of more interest to me than his accuracy would be Fromm’s release.  Aside from an odd almost “fidget” that occurs when he drops back (the quarterback tends to flip the ball two to three times in his hands as he backs up into the throwing position), his mechanics on a three or five-step drop are far more advanced than most of his college peers.

Georgia runs numerous plays from under center and Fromm shows no issues with handling the game from these formations. Beyond that, his release is extremely quick. So much so that I went back and looked at film from NFL greats to compare.  While he may not be Dan Marino, who had the quickest release I’ve seen this side of Peyton Manning, he definitely gets the ball out more quickly than the likes of Joe Montana.  This is not hyperbole.  Watch the film.

Not only is the ball coming out quickly, but it also comes out on rhythm.  Over and over again, Fromm feeds wide receivers on screens that allow athletes to make a move and bust a big play. I’ve seen NFL quarterbacks throw the same ball with far worse results.

As for his deep throws, Fromm consistently delivered accurate passes over 20 yards from scrimmage in the film I studied. Several times he put the ball where only his receiver could catch while under pressure and off-platform.