Dennis Shaw
Buffalo Bills
No matter what happened during their first season, Terry Bradshaw is
still a better prospect than Dennis Shaw. Shaw, however, was the second
best quarterback to come out of college in 1969 and gave a fairly good
account of himself as Buffalo's quarterback last season.
It is just too early to tell how good Shaw, 6-2, 209, is going to be. He
doesn't have the rare qualities you see in Joe Namath, Johnny Unitas or
Sonny Jurgensen or have the great speed on the ball of Bradshaw or
Namath but he could be a winner.
Again, it is just too early to tell. When you look back through the
years at the Bart Starrs and people like that, Shaw comes into the
league with more natural ability than they did. He has good size, a
strong arm, seems to show good poise and toughness. He's a natural
athlete and appears to have an excellent attitude.
Shaw has shown signs of stubborness but, at this stage of his pro
career, it is difficult to tell whether to judge this as a strength or
weakness.
He has little speed, as most quarterbacks do, but seems to gauge above
average in overall quickness. Sometimes he hurts himself on long passes
by throwing off balance.
The Bills rookie can throw all day. He's like a baseball pitcher with a
rubber arm. Probably he doesn't throw off his forward foot as much as he
should.
Another problem he has is avoiding the rush, lacking "nifty" feet. He
doesn't appear to set up quickly enough and also has some problems
picking up his secondary receivers. Also throws ball wildly instead of
taking losses when trapped or receivers are covered.
With a year or so experience he could definitely help improve some teams
in the NFL and, with necessary experience in the league, he could make
the Bills a winner.
But Dennis Shaw is only beginning. You can never really judge an ending
by a beginning.
