Matt Schaub: “It’ll Be Hard To Ever Fully Replace A Pocket Passer”

Matt Schaub is most definitely a pocket passer. And while the league is always evolving and a new breed of quarterbacks has taken professional football by storm, Schaub still believes that it’ll be hard for quarterbacks to succeed long-term without having the ability to drop back in an old-fashioned way. He’s an old-schooler, though, because Schaub also believes the Pro Bowl should stick around.

Matt Schaub joined The Scott Garceau Show with Jeremy Conn on 105.7 The Fan in Baltimore to discuss the evolution of the quarterback position, the unavoidable hits that come to those playing the position and the importance of the Pro Bowl.

On taking a lot of hits as an NFL quarterback, regardless of rules protecting quarterbacks:

“No matter what they do as far as rules, you still get hit, you still have big shots. It’s just the nature of the thing — it’s just whether things get fined or things get called as far as personal fouls. But you still get hit out there.”

On the evolution of NFL quarterbacks and the read-option:

“In this league, it comes down to being able to stand in the pocket and make the throws and be able to take a hit in the pocket. You see certain talents coming out now — the RG3s, Russell Wilson — certain guys and certain types. Colin Kaepernick finished the season extremely well — these type of players that can do a little bit of everything and do it well. It comes down to being a great decision-maker, and making those throws, being accurate, because you can’t substitute for those things. But you can see things happening, but offenses have to develop as well, whether there’s the blocking schemes and being able to run things of that nature and have the running backs for it. A lot goes into it just more than the quarterback’s skills. But you see things evolving and things changing but I think it’ll be hard to ever fully replace a pocket passer.”

On the importance of the Pro Bowl, from his perspective:

“I think it’s a game that definitely needs to stick around. I think this year, going to the game and being a part of it, and all the talk was about the potential that they might do away with the game, and to raise the level of play. And I think we did that. I think playing in the game and viewing it when I was on the sideline for that portion, you could tell guys were playing harder — still cautious because they didn’t want to injure anyone or get injured themselves, but definitely playing harder and at a higher level to make it a fun contest for the fans and for everyone involved. So I think the game definitely has to stick around because it’s such a treat and a fun way to end the season for so many players, and, more importantly, their families. Because so much is sacrificed by the families throughout the course of the season, because the players are so into their routine and into their game plan and into getting their bodies fresh for Sundays that sometimes the family makes so many sacrifices for them that it’s a good treat for them to go and spend a fun week in Hawaii.”

On if guys were talking about putting on a show to help boost the game’s reputation while in Hawaii:

“Absolutely. Guys were talking about it every day, especially the first meeting. Both sides knew. … We’d sit in our meetings and say, ‘We’re really gonna turn it up on them; they’re not gonna see it coming.’ We had that meeting at the beginning with everyone in the room and said, ‘Look, raise it up a little bit. Let’s make this game stick around.’”