Just curious. I don’t know anything (Except for what I read about him here on ramsondemand!) so can someone give me a little more opinions on Perkins and if he has a chance to be a starter for the Rams in the future or if he is more suited to be a valuable backup QB?
Perkins came in raw, i.e. he needed a lot of work. People disregard him because he's a UDFA. Tom Brady was drafted in the 6th round. Joe Montana dropped to the 3rd round. Drew Brees went in the 2nd round. Russell Wilson dropped to round 3. Dak Prescott went in round 4. All I'm saying is that talent is more important than what round a guy was drafted. Look no farther than Cooper Kupp a HOF player in the making.
Perkins was downgraded because of arm strength (i.e. no cannon arm), poor footwork and his struggles to read defenses. Drew Brees destroyed the myth of rookie arm strength. Good coaching led him to better physical training that improved his arm strength. It's not arm strength that is important. Accuracy is far more important than arm strength. True accuracy is a god-given talent. Accuracy can be improved if the problem is technique related.
Perkins has shown good accuracy out to the middle ranges (20 yds). He's really improved a lot of his technique issues, especially his footwork. Last season he was poised in the pocket as he showed improvement in his ability to read defenses. He's got a ways to go in that regard but he's showing that he's working on it. Cases in point are Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield, two QBs who came in as RPO type one read and run style QBs. Both still can't read beyond their second option. It's why both have yet to prove themselves as franchise QBs. Perkins showed real developmental progress in just one year. I expect more from him this year.
One aspect that hasn't been really talked about is just how fast Perkins really is. Last year Perkins was timed in the 4.3 range in running, not just once but twice. That makes him as fast as Tyreek Hill. So two things need to be addressed in his development. Arm strength is a matter of a proper physical training regime that will also include maintaining his accuracy. Continued development of his ability to read defenses and who better for Perkins to be behind than Stafford.
If Perkins can improve his deep throwing and master reading defenses he can be a very dangerous QB with his speed. He can be a true dual threat. Those qualities are what make Mahomes so damn dangerous. He's already looking good at short to medium ranges which is where the majority of a QB's passes are thrown. He's got 4.3 speed as a runner. If he simply improves his ability to read defenses, IMO he could start for a team as a high tier 2 QB (Goff, Dak, Jackson types). IMO right now he's better than Baker Mayfield because he's a far better runner. So yeah, if he can learn to read defenses he can be a decent starting QB with a decent ceiling.
