Any mention of Graham Harrell? He must be in that book. I remember he didn't do so much in the NFL. Also curious if they talk about Case Keenum when for the Houston Cougars? I recall when he came into the NFL he wasn't even drafted, which shocked the hell out of me. The knock was all he did was throw, and only in the spread offense.
I'm also curious if there is any analysis on June Jones offense in Hawaii, with Timmy Chang and Colt Brennan. They basically ran a run-and-shoot, which if I understand isn't as fast as an air raid (and less deep passes), with more receiver movement. It seems to me it's a variant of this offense that many NFL teams run today, combined with the RPO. Look at Miami for example. A lot of misdirection, crossing patterns, flooding zones, etc. with short to medium passes for the most part.
It's been argued that several college teams don't throw deep enough. I have posted before how being accurate deep is more important than pure arm strength. But when you look at what works (both college and NFL) there are so many complicated offenses designed to confuse defenses and create mismatches, more than getting your track star 1:1 deep.
What makes this more peculiar is so many players are now entering transfer protocol. And some guys are playing six seasons in the NCAA (Penix, Gabriel, Hartman)
Case Keenum was unreal at the Univ of Houston with staggering numbers that are mind-blowing: Over
19,000 yds & 155 TDs - that's over
11 miles in passing yards! Houston didn't run Air Raid nor Run & Shoot but shotgun spread option (Keenum played under Art Briles & Kevin Sumlin - both had coached under Leach). Why he wasn't drafted was a shocker. The only thing I could find was an old Bleacher scouting report before the draft that expressed concerns with his arm strength - that it wasn't up to "NFL standards." That & the fact that Houston played in the old Conference USA where the report implied that his monstrous numbers were against 2nd tier competition.
Graham Harrell was the 2nd QB in Mike Leach's air raid system at Texas Tech after Kingsbury. He threw up huge numbers & holds several NCAA passing records. Graham never made it in the NFL & is a journeyman OC/QB coach with several FBS & FCS programs (note: Mahomes would have been on track to beat Harrell's passing records if he stayed a 4th yr instead of declaring for the draft. Nonetheless, Mahomes holds the NCAA single game passing & TO records of
734 yds &
819 yds).
The Air Raid and Run & Shoot are very similar. The main difference is Air Raid relies more on strict progression through reads, while the Run & Shoot emphasizes reciever motion and "on-the-fly" route adjustments based on defensive coverage. Both can be run out of a huddle or no-huddle offense (though usually Air Raid is always no huddle). And you're right, there's less deep passes with Run & Shoot & more higher percentage shorter quick throws.
The original Run & Shoot was run under center with 4 receivers & a single setback. The QB would take a short 3-step drop & fire the ball on high-percentage shorter throws.
June Jones was credited with modifying the offense to a shotgun formation with same philosophy of quick, shorter throws to wide-open receivers on short routes.
The college FBS has basically become a minor league pro-system for the NFL. Not only are QBs using the transfer portal to transfer to another school where they can play right away, but they're going to schools where they offer more
NIL money.
Case in point with
Carson Beck. First he declares for the draft after his junior year at Georgia. Then after his elbow injury sustained in the SEC title game, he rescinds his draft decision & decides to play another year. However, he transfers to Miami where they offer him
$4M in NIL money -
about twice what Georgia could offer!
You now have QBs playing 5 or 6 seasons having transferred to multiple schools chasing the bigger NIL dough (Bo Nix played 5 seasons - Auburn/Oregon). I saw an interview last season with Nick Saban. He said he's disgusted with this & that players have become college "FAs" shopping around for the NIL money (he said it's one of the reasons why he retired from coaching).
But a player doesn't even have to transfer to make big NIL money. There's some QB at Texas named
"Arch Manning" (ever heard of him? Lol). He's making freakin
$6M in NIL money & he doesn't even play! This is what coming from a legendary QB family will do for you. Lol.
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