FWIW, I think Rod was good but inconsistent. I am not so sure that Rod invented back shoulder plays as much he just was inaccurate and Fitzgerald made great adjustments.
When Rod was on, he was absolutely excellent. I think he generally tended to make very good decisions and he would stand in longer than most anyone else I can remember at Pitt except for maybe Tom Savage. He was very well coached and disciplined in his craft.
But, for as strong as that arm was, he was often scattered armed. He would break his wrist a decent deal when throwing and had a lot of ducks or would just go through phases where he was off for periods (longer than most QBs as everyone has these phases).
Larry made Rod look a lot better than he was. That is easily a fact. And, he played for a QB coach that could make guys look better than they were. That is also easily a fact. I think that is why Pitt fans are a lot more skeptical of Rod in terms of his numbers, because most everyone saw that in both ways. It is not that Rod was not good though, because he was.
I sense a race inference in your post; I do not think how Pitt fans feel about Rod had anything to do with race. I think most just think he benefitted from arguably the best college WR of all-time. And, a great offensive HC that pulled the strings.
Since Rod, I think Pickett is the best guy. He has physical talent, has learned to use it better and makes good decisions now. But, I have no problem if someone wants to say that at his best, Savage was better.
I think Rod was better than Peterman, Tino and Stull (and the other guys that came and went). If you want to go back to the full Harris era, I think he was the best guy besides Palko (better than Gonzalez, Turman and Priestley easily). I think Palko, Savage and Pickett were/are better than him. But, he could play, no doubt.
