Davis Webb Looking To Shed 'System Quarterback' Label
By Chris Emma--
(CBS) Every so often, there's a quarterback who gets picked up in the middle or late rounds and surprises everybody.
There's that player who proves the scouts wrong, showing in the NFL that he should've been a first-round pick. Revisionist history plays out with each step along the way.
Davis Webb wants to be that guy. His path to proving pre-draft projections wrong began recently in Mobile, where he was named Senior Bowl MVP for a strong performance in leading the South team to victory.
Leadership is where it all starts with Webb, whose intangibles are impressive. A graduate transfer from Texas Tech to Cal, he earned great respect at both programs.
"I was voted the captain after only being (at Cal) eight weeks, and I was voted the captain at two different schools, which I'm very proud of," Webb said. "I think the biggest thing I learned was the different types of leadership styles and the ways of pushing peoples' butts, because they're all different."
Webb's pedigree as a leader is no surprise. His father, Matt, is a high school football and baseball coach, and he comes from a family of athletes, including his mother, Donna, and sister, Allison. Davis hopes to one day follow in his father's footsteps and coach football.
Competition thrives through the Webb family, and so does that ability to lead.
"I love sports, and I love the camaraderie of it," Webb said.
Webb has the right head on his shoulders, and he stands at 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds. He's built like a quarterback prototype.
But projections show Webb as a Day 2 or 3 pick in the NFL Draft. The concerns are to his fit in an NFL system after he played for two Air Raid offenses at Texas Tech and Cal.
At Texas Tech, Webb lost his starting job to Patrick Mahomes, currently deemed as a first- or second-round pick in this NFL Draft. He transferred to Cal and threw for 37 touchdowns, capping his collegiate career with 83 touchdowns.
Webb put up impressive numbers in college, but the worries are in his decision-making. He played in systems that called for quick, pre-determined throws, whereas an NFL offense requires a quarterback to be measured in the pocket.
Adaptability is no problem for Webb.
"I went from Lubbock, Texas, to Berkeley, California," Webb said. "That's enough said."
Webb could have a better arm than Jared Goff, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. He also has shown mobility in the pocket and the kinds of physical tools that make for a successful quarterback. For a man who has aspirations of coaching, he first must embrace coaching to remove the "system" from the phrase "system quarterback."
Those concerns can be answered by a quarterback prospect who has fit well at each stop. Webb is confident in what he can become.
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago's sports scene and more for CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670 and like his Facebook page.
