In
the first weeks of spring, while little boys are oiling
their baseball gloves and birds are getting frisky, you’ll
find the public relations labs of Akron University on
special assignment. Alchemy, the lost art of turning lead
into gold, is the order handed down by A.D. Michael
Thomas. You see, turning a MAC or any other “small”
conference player into a Heisman Trophy winner is
something tried often, but the results are all but a
foregone conclusion. Just as Isaac Newton and that insane
I.Q. failed to garner the fields of gold he sought, the
Zips will fail in their attempts to land the coveted,
stiff-arming, little bronze statue.
Oh, I
suppose it’s possible, Detmer did it, but the formula
calls for a perfect season. One let down, one loss, one
four interception game and suddenly the Frye name will no
longer appear on those short lists of “Heisman contenders”
that sports pages like to fill space with. Maybe it’ll
come in the first game against Penn State at Beaver
stadium, or the third game in Virginia, but the chances
are that Frye’s Zips will lose a game somewhere along the
way, effectively ending any hope of College football’s
ultimate individual prize. It doesn’t matter.
To
the scouts of the NFL, the Heisman is the wreath of
flowers around a racehorse’s neck, window dressing,
nothing more. In fact, it almost seems the scouts go out
of their way lately to drop the holder of the trophy in
the draft, as though to teach him the lesson of humility
he may have never experienced up to that point. Frye
shouldn’t pay any heed to the press hype, instead
concentrating on making himself as NFL ready as possible.
The
MAC has recently produced some of the more notable
quarterbacks to enter the draft in the likes of Chad
Pennington, Byron Leftwich, and Ben Roethlisberger, the
last two each being the eleventh overall selection in his
respective draft. Frye, though not quite blessed with the
raw power and athleticism of Leftwich or Roethlisberger,
possesses an NFL caliber arm, accurate and strong.
Last
year, Frye was ranked 5th in the nation in
total offense, threw for 3,549 yards and only needs 3,479
passing yards to pass Leftwich for the league record. His
completion percentage should once again hover around the
65% mark, and he will most likely throw two touchdowns for
every interception.
In
addition to his arm, the NFL will like many things about
Frye. He is nimble in the pocket, and though the
university is most likely taking some liberties with the
4.6 40-time they attribute to him, he is quick and quite
nimble. Good form in the pocket will mean less work for
whatever quarterbacks coach lands him, and an added bonus
which I love to see in quarterbacks is that Frye sells the
fake very well, freezing linebackers and safeties with
deft hand movements and body English. The university
lists him as 6’4” but when he reaches the combine he most
likely will have shrunk nearly an inch or so and, though
the 224 pounds he carries don’t make him quite as imposing
as someone like Roethlisberger, he is strong, benching in
excess of 300 pounds, and wiry. He played nine games in
2002 with a broken right thumb and still managed to
complete 65% of his passes. And, according to the
coaches, he has a voracious appetite for film study.
There
are however a few things which should keep him out of the
upper echelon of players in the upcoming draft. Last
year, he cut down on his interception percentage, but in
my opinion, he could’ve had a few more touchdowns had he
been a bit more aggressive with his throws. His 148
efficiency rating last year is nothing to sneeze at, but
he doesn’t appear to see the field as well as Rivers or
Roethlisberger from this year’s draft, and therefore
throws some ill-advised passes which NFL linebackers will
either bat down or pick off.
He
throws well when the offense is in rhythm and he doesn’t
have to check off to a secondary receiver, but last year
there were times when he took far too long to go through
his progressions. Though he throws well on the run, he
can get reckless when he’s on the run, with the ball as
well as with his own body, which means he’ll probably have
to get the snot knocked out of him in a couple of NFL
games before he gets smarter and learns to just slide.
And, though playing with a broken thumb for nine games is
the stuff of manly lore, I’m not sure he’d be quite as
proud of that feat had he hit the injured thumb again
before it was healed and caused a permanent disfigurement.
Frye
will garner a lot of attention and I have to confess I’m
pulling for him to have a special year, just because I’m
tired of the MAC quarterbacks getting the disrespect of
the fans simply because their team doesn’t come from a
University that’s guaranteed a BCS bowl berth if it wins
the conference. He won’t get drafted as high as his MAC
predecessors, but he’ll get a shot at the NFL and I expect
him to stick in some capacity. And, you know what? Maybe
a Heisman trophy in Akron wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
But I’m not holding my breath.
