This is an under-the-radar prospect at the quarterback position that I think NFL teams are secretly onto more than the media. He's got a wild story as far as his trip through college and the unfortunate things he's done to get where he is. His story reminds me of how Ryan Mallett could've gone if he was a little less careful than he was, but the big difference is that where Mallett was rumored to be into drugs like marijuana, Lalich has always just been a partier with alcohol. Lalich started off as a big time national recruit at the QB position. He was a four star player, tall with a good build and a huge natural arm, but also a reputation as a guy that really knew how to attack defenses. He got to University of Virginia as a freshman and actually played in 8 games as a true freshman. Someone put out a lot of his tape from that year, and you can find all of it (coaches tape) in these three videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPhKr2Kim0U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXX_VGiLZe8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOIYRM9Qo3U What you have to keep in mind there is that was a TRUE freshman, straight out of high school. There's a lot of moments on that tape where he doesn't look anything like a true freshman. Then there are some moments when he misses a throw or he starts to get rattled by pressure in the pocket, where you realize this is a guy that still can't even go to the NFL even if he wanted to for another 2 years. Aside from the obvious (big, solid, strong arm, fairly accurate) the thing that really stood out to me in those videos as a true freshman was the decision-making. His high school coach said he always knew how to attack defenses and understood it well, and I don't think he was BS'ing. Lalich headed into 2008 with UVA as the starting quarterback. He'd previously had two traffic citations he was found guilty. He was at a house party in July of 2008, and at 20 years old he wound up being charged with purchase and unlawful possession of alcohol as a minor. He was put on probation. Then something strange happened. Somehow a probation officer walked away from a session believing that Lalich had admitted to smoking marijuana. He'd passed all of his athletic drug tests during the probationary period and when he had to appear before the courts, he insisted the probation officer misheard him, that he was actually admitting to having drank some alcohol (which is a violation of his probation) and he provided the records of the passed drug tests to corroborate. Being honest worked from a legal standpoint, the judge decided to keep him on probation rather than sentence him. However, from a football standpoint, Al Groh had enough and kicked him off the team. So he transferred to Oregon State and redshirted all of 2009. He turned 21 during this time. But then he was boating on Lake Shasta and police arrested him under suspicion that he was navigating his boat while drinking. Dumb, but in the words of his future California-PA head coach John Luckhart, Since he had already transferred to Oregon State because of previous alcohol incidents, Oregon State head coach Mike Riley dismissed him from the program immediately. He transferred to California-PA and had to redshirt again in the 2010 season because of the transfer. In three years at California-PA he has managed to keep his nose clean, to assume the starting quarterback position and to put up some of the best numbers ever seen at the school. If you'll recall, Josh Portis was also a California-PA transfer after being a high profile player at Florida before transferring to Maryland and then being caught cheating on a test at Maryland. These are Lalich's numbers in 2011 & 2012, FWIW...a career passer rating of 101.7: 2011: 283 of 447 (63.3%), 3725 yards (8.3 YPA, 13.2 YPC), 31 TD (6.94%), 12 INT (2.68%), 30 runs, 33 yards, 1 TD 2012: 171 of 271 (63.1%), 2413 yards (8.9 YPA, 14.1 YPC), 21 TD (7.75%), 10 INT (3.69%), 19 runs, 42 yards, 1 TD I have two reasons to believe he's more on the radar for teams than the media believes: 1. His agent is Ralph Cindrich. Cindrich is a big time agent and he doesn't waste his time on guys that have no shot. 2. In an interview he said that during the 2011 season there was a constant flow of NFL scouts coming to visit to look at his tape. He named the Giants, Jets, Packers and Saints but said most of them had been there and he watched film with all of their scouts because he was always in the office watching film anyway and they'd come in looking to see film on him. He said he usually pretended to not know who they were, lol. As for why I would like him as an UNDRAFTED type of guy that you can roll the dice on...a couple of things. 1. Obviously the physical talent and ability to throw the football are right on the mark. He's 6'6" and he played at about 235 lbs but he says he's a guy that has always gained weight pretty easy so during his off season training sessions when they start packing him with creatine and the like he gets up to 250 lbs with a six pack, laughs about it. He moves well at his size. 2. It struck me in particular that in 2007 his decision making was generally very safe with 1 or 2 real exceptions. When his high school coach was saying things in support of him he didn't talk about what a big guy he is or how well he throws the football, he said what he's always known how to do is to attack a defense. Fast forward to his time at Cal-PA and he was actually calling plays. I believe when he missed 4 weeks with a staph infection, he actually called the plays during the game. He's best buds with the offensive coordinator and they talk football all the time. In interview the thing he took the most pride in as a player is that he always gets the team into the right play at the line. Some bonus plays: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cIBQYDPiy7g#t=249s https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cIBQYDPiy7g#t=398s https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=sZzxvgw_Mlg#t=3s https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=sZzxvgw_Mlg#t=12s (picked off - player fell down on route) https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=sZzxvgw_Mlg#t=24s https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=sZzxvgw_Mlg#t=101s (get ready for this one, because it's huge, lol...pay attention to the score, time and situation...just watch the whole rest of the video, it's an insane game finish) https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=sZzxvgw_Mlg#t=124s https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=sZzxvgw_Mlg#t=124s https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=rMl5m7rcJ-A#t=24s https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=rMl5m7rcJ-A#t=158s https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=TiJ8dtPeOEI#t=22s https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=TiJ8dtPeOEI#t=38s https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=TiJ8dtPeOEI#t=56s https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=TiJ8dtPeOEI#t=151s (picked off) https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=TiJ8dtPeOEI#t=151s https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=X3rSSi4WHtw#t=33s (picked off) https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=X3rSSi4WHtw#t=33s https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=X3rSSi4WHtw#t=156s https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=X3rSSi4WHtw#t=178s https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=X3rSSi4WHtw#t=189s (picked off - receiver popped it up)
CK, it is my opinion that an NFL team would be wise to employ you in some facet of their organization. Great stuff as usual.
The Dolphins actually sniffed Josh Portis and I could swear I'd heard in the past they sniffed Stephen Garcia...so this would not be out of the realm of possibility. There really aren't many mid or late round QBs in this Draft I would find worthwhile to take a gamble on. Nick Florence was one but he decided to retire from football. Peter Lalich is another.
Oh wow...instead of piecing together throws from game highlights here's some videos from Cal-PA on just the QB throwing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LI7g2mTf68 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_NaLbvFv_M
Thanks CK, your work is always truly appreciated. Definitely agree about you getting a job with an NFL team. Would be interesting if you, Boomer, and Alen started a scouting company and solid your info to NFL teams ala that guy that Ross interviewed and everyone freaked out about him being the next GM. If that idiot Mike Lombardi can be a GM, you all should be able to (not calling you all idiots, just Lombardi lol).
Sad to hear that about Florence. i thought he played well enough to earn a late round selection. it was fun watching him sling the rock.
I came across a pretty interesting story about Lalich this morning: "I've never seen a guy - if you've seen the movie "A Beautiful Mind" - sometimes I'll leave at night and come back in the morning and that's what my greaseboard looks like in my office: Peter will go in there and draw up 60 plays, and a lot of them would be great ideas if everyone could keep up with Pete - including myself. Man it's hard to tell how many plays we could have had in a gameplan. Extremely accurate - yeah, can make any throw - yeah, but the things I noticed is he can throw from different arm angles, his pocket presence and he's just cerebral as can be - Pete made me a better football coach because of the way he made me look at things in the office" Through all his trials and tribulations, the one thing that gets lost in Peter's story is his unmatched football IQ and the respect he gained from his coaches as a true student of the game. Ask any of his prior coaches, from coach Riley at Oregon State to Al Groh and his former staff at UVA, they all use phrases (seriously, at least four former coaches have said this, including current Chicago Bears WR coach Mike Groh) such as: "football savant" and "a real life Will Hunting" when it comes to understanding defensive schemes and the quarterback position." http://www.hogshaven.com/2013/3/1/4055052/swag-champ-the-peter-lalich-story I hop that he does well- a high school student busted for drinking, gets caught drinking while on probation at UVA and tossed. I don't think that course of events served either Lalich or society particularly well- high school and college kids drink all the time, I wish that he was left alone. Anyway, he moves pretty well in the pocket for a guy who's 6-5, 240 and has a sidearm delivery that I think is fine, he's plenty tall enough for it like Philip Rivers. He looks accurate- given the background story and his physical abilities/football intellect maybe he gets drafted, I hope that he does.
This looks like a Qb who could use a shot at playing in either the CFL or that NFL developmental league, assuming it gets off of the ground.
As it stands now, NO. Nothing there to see or be excited about. If we are talking QBs who are ranked 300+, I'd rather go with Collin Klein. Matter of fact, Collin Klein is the only QB I am interested in in late rounds.
Collin Klein can't throw a football to save his life. I have zero interest in him as a quarterback. None whatsoever. Wouldn't touch him undrafted. This guy is 100x more talented as a quarterback than Collin Klein.
Is that a bad thing or a good thing? First QB in Texans history to win a playoff game and he did it as a rookie...
Yup not bad for a 5th rounder. I wonder how long they will put up with Schaub before handing him the reigns. Yates just needs some exp and hope that that fumbling isn't a long term issue.
Just posting this video which was posted in another thread. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8FPnQ5DSIs Around the 6 minute mark they start talking about Lalich. The thing that intrigues me about him is that this is a guy at 6'6" and 240 lbs with a cannon arm, yet every time coaches talk about him they hardly even mention the physical tangibles. It's always an after thought. The first thing they talk about is how smart he is and how much he understands offense and defense. You have his pretty reputable head coach basically admitting he couldn't keep up with Pete from an X's and O's standpoint. What do you suppose a guy like that will do if you were to put him on the Patriots, for example?
Have to own the good w/the bad Ck. And negative on CFLers, only the elite can really make the jump, Logan/Wake/Browner/Thigpen Watch Chris Williams will be in the league in 2014. That's "the" Chris Williams from 09.
Certainly there are plenty of elite CFL players that have made the jump to the NFL. Whether you've demonstrated any skill in identifying them, on the other hand...
..which has been demonstrated. I've blogged about the Cfl to NFL players for the last what 3 yrs? Picked out Thiggy, Freeman, Browner etc. My whiff is Dimitri Tsoumpas and Resetelli. That is known as ownership brudda, and how is Jarret Dillard doing?
You blog about pretty much every CFL player that is getting any looks from NFL teams whatsoever. You mention them in a sentence once and suddenly you called the shot. Jarrett Dillard is doing about as well as Dimitri Tsoumpas or Ingle Martin (whom if I remember correctly was supposed to be just as good as Jay Cutler because the radar gun showed he had ball speed 1 mph above Cutler's). As for my string of underrated quarterbacks that I like to highlight in the Draft as being worth far more than commonly given credit, yes in 2010 that was Mike Kafka, a player who has started games and become an NFL backup quarterback. In 2011, that player was T.J. Yates, who became the first quarterback to win a playoff game for the Houston Texans and he did it as a rookie. In 2012, that player was Russell Wilson, and I think we've seen how good he's turned out. So if that's what you describe as ownership, that's fine. Personally I describe it as a cheap shot, implying that because I similarly fawned after Mike Kafka and he turned out to be nothing more than an NFL backup then my praise of Pete Lalich is completely irrelevant...while ignoring that I similarly praised T.J. Yates and Russell Wilson. Weren't you the original author of the Zach Thomas to safety theory anyway?
Even if Lalich, a guy who literally nobody other than CK is talking about, becomes only a viable backup in the league that is still a pretty nice call. Not to get on his nuts, but it seems to me that CK's track record is approximately on par with Ireland's, with none of the staff or funding.
I mentioned Wilson years ago, when he was at NCSU. And yes I do, and I'm right far more often than I'm wrong about players making the jump. A CFLto NFLer has made the pro bowl every yr since 2010, so it is worth offering an article about it. Nope, Dillard has 1 more career Td than Thomas had starts at Safety.
Another article: A Reputation Rebuilt: Former Prep Star's Uncommon Road To The Cusp Of The NFL A highly recruited prep star from Springfield, Va., Lalich turned down scholarship offers from Michigan and Miami to attend his home state school. Lalich was hailed as the future of the program, and in 2007 he was the first true freshman to play quarterback for the Cavaliers in a decade. After leaving Virginia, Lalich began an improbable odyssey, but it's one that could lead to the NFL. At 6-foot-5 and 235 pounds, he always had the body that NFL teams crave in a quarterback, but his off-the-field decisions left many wondering whether he could ever be a legitimate pro prospect. Further complicating matters was the fact that after leaving Charlottesville, Lalich's fortunes would get worse before they got better. http://www.thepostgame.com/features...uilt-former-prep-stars-uncommon-road-cusp-nfl
There's a nice emphasis in there on how Al Groh felt about Lalich even after the Virginia admins kicked him out. The report put forward that the admins did it as part of a pissing match with Groh looks all the more believable because of that. Also, the article seems to emphasize that leaving Oregon State and the football program was more Lalich's choice. I'd seen that Riley didn't really kick him off the team, he just pulled his scholarship. He may have had a choice to continue to pay his own way at Oregon State and walk on as a football player. He probably couldn't afford to. It's a fine distinction, but I think it's important that Mike Riley (who has a lot of respect in league circles) didn't really kick the guy out, he just pulled his scholarship. Nice quote from Canfield backing up what everyone else says about Lalich's being a cerebral X's and O's guy. And finally, nice quote from Cal-PA head coach saying he'd trust Peter with his sophomore daughter.
