NFL scouts mining baseball diamonds for next star QB

Scouting dual-sport athletes is a growing trend in the NFL.

Much like All-Pro tight ends Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates, and Jimmy Graham, who honed their distinguishable talents on the basketball court, baseball is becoming a breeding ground for NFL quarterbacks.

Take three of the league's top passers, for instance.

Russell Wilson was a Colorado Rockies draft pick and spent two years in the minors before winning the starting quarterback job with the Seattle Seahawks. Kyler Murray is the first to ever be a first-round pick in both MLB and the NFL. The Heisman-winning quarterback famously turned down a pro career with the Oakland Athletics to enter the NFL draft, where he was selected first overall by the Arizona Cardinals. And then there's Patrick Mahomes. The son of an 11-year MLB veteran was a three-sport prep star and Detroit Tigers draft pick in 2014 before he became a Super Bowl champion with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Is it merely a coincidence that three of the NFL's best young stars are elite quarterbacks who could have pursued baseball careers? Or is there a correlation between baseball and the position?

Tom House, the throwing coach for Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and other NFL QBs, specializes in the biomechanics of throwing with the use of motion analysis. In his research, the former MLB pitcher and pitching coach discovered that, despite the obvious differences in throwing a baseball and football, the pure mechanics of throwing are incredibly similar.

"Everybody thought it was two distinct throwing motions until we started capturing in a thousand frames per second and three dimensions and we saw that throwing a football and throwing a baseball were exactly the same thing," House said.

Biomechanically, with timing, sequencing, balancing, posture, stride, and momentum, House says pitchers and quarterbacks have the same technique. The only difference is the weight of the objects being thrown. Throwing a 14-ounce football requires different arm action than throwing a five-ounce baseball. The lighter baseball allows for more extension.

Wilson, Murray, and Mahomes played all over the diamond. Wilson was drafted as a second baseman, Murray patrolled the outfield, and Mahomes touched mid-90s from the mound. At the various positions, they learned to be comfortable making throws on the run and from different arm slots and angles.

"We always knew that the best athletes on the baseball field were right up the middle, your shortstop, centerfielder, and in some cases your pitcher. But it turns out that throwing a ball from the Derek Jeter-type athlete and the Pat Mahomes-type athlete, the footwork is virtually the same also," House said.

"And throwing at different angles on the run and different positions in the pocket, all of a sudden - because of the success of the Mahomes and (Wilson), and believe it or not Drew Brees was also a shortstop and tennis player - it was just a natural transition."

Bobby Stroupe is Mahomes' personal coach and trainer. He's been overseeing the phenom's development since he was a fourth grader.

Stroupe said playing baseball allowed his client's body to become more comfortable making unorthodox throws, the ones that wow audiences and stun defenses on Sundays.

"So is that an asset for guys like Kyler and Russell and Patrick? There's no question about it," Stroupe said. "Do I think that guys that play the game of baseball are going to have a naturally quick release that's going to be way more efficient? Yeah, I do. I think that is a huge factor.

"Do I think that having a very consistent and repeatable platform is something that they need? Nah. I think they're probably less attached to something like that and I think, in today's game, that's an incredible advantage."

Even Mahomes credits his three-sport background for the plays he's able to make on the gridiron.

"We started doing (those no-look throws) as a joke, but then we saw how it started working and now it's on its own level," Mahomes said to Bruce Feldman of The Athletic in 2018. "I think a lot of it is from baseball and how I could sling the ball across the diamond. I played shortstop my whole life. I never had my feet under me. I was always making throws across my body."

Make no mistake about it, the decision-makers and talent evaluators in today's game have taken notice.

"It's out there. I'm sure all the scouting departments for all the football teams are looking for quarterbacks that played baseball," House said. "It's not a well-kept secret inside the game, but the everyday fan probably doesn't realize."

No longer are NFL teams shackled by the search for a traditional quarterback with the perfect measurements. As Murray's draft status proves despite his 5-foot-10 stature, franchises are looking for athletes at the position.

"It used to be a straight drop-back, the traditional quarterback was a pocket passer and moving in the pocket was all that was necessary and throwing on the run was just a thing that happened but it wasn't actually taught," House said. "Well, now with the way these young quarterbacks are run-pass option guys, RPO guys, throwing on the run and throwing in the pocket are taught on both sides and are accepted on both sides."

The common thread between the likes of Mahomes, Wilson, and Murray is they did not specialize in a singular sport in their youth. They were encouraged to play multiple sports and, as a result, were able to pick up skills that they were able to add to their tool belt.

Mahomes didn't start sport-specific training until he was in high school. House encourages cross-specificity training, which allows athletes to develop a range of experiences, attributes, and interests.

With the added benefit of the physical traits they picked up from other sports, Mahomes, Wilson, and Murray molded themselves into elite-level athletes.

That's not to say any baseball player could excel at football and any prospective pitcher could be the next Super Bowl MVP.

"No. Not every pitcher can demonstrate that type of velocity or execution when they're off the mound. And that's what makes these athletes special," Stroupe said. "But I would say there are a lot of them that could, not a lot that could to the level of those three. You're talking about three of the greatest athletic talents regardless of sport that this world has ever seen. I mean that. I've got a lot of respect for all three of those guys.

"But you can't take just some first-round pick from the Orioles and say since this guy throws 100, he could be a quarterback if we just worked with him right. I think that's very false."

Both experts are in agreement that baseball can yield some unique athletic attributes that translate to other rotational sports.

"I do think there's a correlation, but I don't want everyone reading this article to think, 'If I just put my kid in baseball and football then that's it,' cause it's not. There's way more to it," Stroupe said. "But I certainly respect the correlation and I think it's a real one. And I think Kyler and Russell would tell you the same thing."

Those in football front offices would likely say the same, as the league's vision of the prototypical NFL quarterback has evolved.

"It takes a breakthrough athlete, like a Mahomes, to make it quote-unquote acceptable in the eyes of the people who make decisions in football," House said. "And obviously the game of football has changed."