Richard Sherman wanted to die. He had been fooled again. With two consecutive pump fakes, he had avoided two sacks with his seemingly divinely inspired footwork, and then the pass was thrown. Relying on his powerful physique, Richard managed to slam on the brakes, but it was too late. He could only throw his body forward, hoping to hit Julio and disrupt his catch.
Unfortunately, it was too late. Everything was too late.
Even Superman wouldn't have made it in time. While Richard was still in mid-air, he saw Julio calmly catch the pass with no suspense. Richard then collided hard with Julio, but couldn't tackle him. The fierce impact still sent Julio stumbling back several steps and out of bounds.
A small mercy in the midst of misfortune was that Julio didn't continue to advance.
But Richard couldn't be happy about it. He scrambled to his feet and started yelling at his temporary teammates. "Shit! What the fuck are you guys doing! That clown is moving around like he's in his own backyard. Aren't you going to do something? Shit!"
This roar immediately lit the fuse. Von also jumped up. "Is your head full of straw? The fake passes were so obvious, and you still fell for them?" Von, like an angry bull, strode over. "How many yards did you give up? Another seven yards! Jesus Christ, why don't you just let him run into the end zone and end this complete and utter disaster!"
At the twenty-four-yard line, Lu Ke and his temporary teammates had moved from the twenty-yard line on the other side of the field all the way to the twenty-four-yard line on this side. His outstanding performance made everyone's jaws drop.
The defensive players were completely broken, and chaos reigned. The offensive players, on the other hand, were high-fiving each other and in great spirits.
Adam Klein knew the outcome of this scrimmage was no longer in doubt. Young players are too unstable and irrational. Lacking the experience and guidance of veteran players, they can easily lose their way. Under repeated pressure, the entire defensive unit's tactics and mindset had fallen apart.
More accurately, it had been dismantled under the masterful command of number eleven.
Adam had a ridiculous misconception: number eleven had a keen sense for opportunity. After barely escaping an interception and succeeding on the second down, the tactics for the next two downs were intentional, gradually dismantling the opponent's defensive strategy. He even thought that on the fourth down, number eleven was deliberately using two pump fakes and intentionally avoiding two sacks to successfully complete the ultimate provocation.
But this was too absurd. Even the elite quarterbacks in the league couldn't do this. How could he be so sure he could avoid Von Miller's sack? How could he be sure he could avoid a second sack? And how could he be sure his fakes would fool the opponent?
After thinking it over, Adam dismissed the possibility. Unless he was Iron Man with a computer's help, it was absolutely impossible. But Adam couldn't figure out why number eleven's performance on the field was so inconsistent. On the second and fourth downs, number eleven's footwork was absolutely incredible, top-tier in the league. But outside of those two downs, number eleven was a perfectly normal pocket quarterback.
Every quarterback has his own abilities and characteristics. While they're all different, quarterbacks can generally be divided into two types: pocket quarterbacks and mobile quarterbacks.
A pocket quarterback, also a traditional classic quarterback, mainly stays in the protection of the offensive line's pocket and leads the team to advance through observation, reading, tactics, and strategy, like a "Little Li Flying Dagger."
Their strengths are clear: reading the defense, calling plays, passing accuracy, and so on. Their weaknesses are also clear: they lack running ability and have relatively average physical abilities with no distinct advantages.
Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and Drew Brees, the three elite quarterbacks, are all classic pocket quarterbacks.
A mobile quarterback is a new generation of quarterback, a combination of running and passing. Under normal circumstances, they also stay in the pocket to observe, read, and pass. But if the pocket is broken or there are no open receivers, they can use their legs to run out of the pocket, either to continue passing or to run the ball themselves to advance.
Their strengths lie in their mobility, diverse tactical options, and strong physiques, and they are good at dealing with contact. Their weakness, however, is that their passing technique is generally a bit rougher, and when they really need to make a game-winning pass in a crucial moment, they often fail to do so.
Cam Newton and Michael Vick are prime examples of mobile quarterbacks. Michael can be considered a pioneer who completely changed people's understanding of the quarterback position.
Overall, pocket quarterbacks require more intellectual factors like intelligence, courage, and judgment, and their physical abilities only need to be average. Mobile quarterbacks, on the other hand, require a higher level of physical ability, with their outstanding ability to deal with contact being their trump card.
Aaron Rodgers, the youngest of the four elite quarterbacks, has excellent running ability and can run to advance in a crisis, but he is still a traditional pocket quarterback. Passing is still his trump card, which is different from the new generation of mobile quarterbacks.
From this, it can be seen that the mainstream of the league is still pocket quarterbacks, but a large number of mobile quarterbacks are emerging in the new generation, with Cam being a prime example. So, there is a constant discussion in the league about whether the future belongs to mobile quarterbacks.
Adam's confusion was this: at times, number eleven's performance was similar to Aaron Rodgers', using his legs to create an opportunity in a crisis to complete a pass. But at other times, number eleven was a pure pocket quarterback. His flashes of brilliance were as if Iron Man's armor was malfunctioning, working sometimes and not others, making it impossible to judge.
The ongoing scrimmage on the field proved this point. From the fifth down, number eleven's footwork was back in the pocket, and he was firing on all cylinders.
The opposing defensive players finally changed their tactics, leaving three players in the front line to rush and four players in the backfield to cover, completely killing all of number eleven's passing options. But number eleven became even more composed. He first surprisingly chose Jeremy, completed a successful pass for five yards, and advanced. Then he connected with Logan for another seven yards, and the entire offense was now in the red zone.
On the seventh down, Von Miller created a dangerous situation and knocked the ball out of number eleven's hands, almost getting an interception. But the force of number eleven's pass was too great, and he couldn't control it. On the eighth down, Richard Sherman successfully broke up a pass to Jeremy, causing an incomplete pass. On the ninth down, number eleven once again found Logan in the crowd, a fatal blow for a touchdown!
Game over!
This was the first team to score a touchdown since the scrimmage began. The quarterback leading the offense in those nine downs was the sensational number eleven from the rookie training camp, while the leader of the defensive unit was the strong contender for the number one pick, Von Miller. This result was something no one had expected.
Not to mention the players, even the coaches and scouts were looking at each other, a little bewildered by the result.
This was Adam's true thought as well. This number eleven's poor physical abilities were a deterrent, but his excellent passing skills and on-field awareness were surprisingly amazing. Such a contradiction appeared in one player. What's more, this was a Chinese player, something that had never appeared in the history of the NFL—and strictly speaking, not even an Asian player.
So, how should his scouting report be written? More importantly, there was too little reference material, only two games and one training camp, which was not enough to write a complete scouting report. So, was number eleven even worth drafting?
A headache, a real headache!
Adam turned and saw a wry smile on Blake Simmons' face. "To be honest, I can't quite figure out this number eleven. Is he good or is he bad?" Just three days into the training camp, this roller-coaster ride of a development curve was already giving him a headache, not to mention his NCAA experience before this.
Adam pursed his lips. "If you can't figure it out, then keep watching. Is there any better way?"
"The problem is, the draft is less than two months away. Time is precisely what we lack the most," Blake said with a sigh. "If this number eleven had come out a year earlier, the situation would be different now." At least a full season of data would have given the scouting report some credibility.
Adam also sighed inwardly. "This is a matter of luck. Maybe this is his destiny." He turned to look at number eleven on the field, who was celebrating wildly with his temporary teammates. "But as a Chinese quarterback, maybe he has already prepared himself mentally. He will have to put in ten, a hundred times the effort of others to have a place in the league."
The first Asian player, the first Chinese player, the first Chinese quarterback in NFL history! When would the day come when such history would be made?
"We did it! We did it!" After scoring the touchdown, Logan screamed and shouted, mimicking a glider as he flew past a livid Von Miller and a cursing Richard Sherman. He then ran toward Lu Ke. The two of them chest-bumped and then cheered and laughed freely. "Bambi! We did it, we did it again!"
"Hey, what about us!" Julio also rushed over, a look of disbelief on his face, and patted Lu Ke's chest hard. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but, man, I love your passes." After he finished speaking, everyone laughed. The feeling of happiness even infected the other players on the sidelines.
But for them, this was not good news. The competition was getting more and more intense, especially for Cam Newton.
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