I Am A Witness wrote:Id really prefer them not to take a qb in the first round because i believe we have serviceable qbs in frye and anderson if we can get other pieces around them (notably a line and a running game, which we didnt have either last year). i guess id just like them to go after other needs before we go after another first round qb
I'd love to think that Frye is the one, but as much I'd love to see him succeed you've got to realize that he's nothing more than a fringe starter/good backup and the same with Anderson (although I think Anderson is a better quarterback than Frye)...
Frye has the moxie, attitude, and work ethic that you want in your starting quarterback, there's no denying that... The kid is a tough son of a gun who never quits and I love that...
But at the same time his decision making and carelessness with the ball are two huge things that are keeping him from being a good quarterback in this league... Too many times last year did he hang onto the ball for too long or take poor care of it... I mean I understand that he never quit on a play and tried to make things happened but sometimes you've got to learn to take the sack and go on with the next down... He tried to do much and that's what hurt him...
As far as his decision making...it was terrible... He threw balls into bad coverage, never looked off his first receiver and constantly telegraphed his throws... Those three things are why he threw so many INT's...
His accuracy is pretty good, but I think it's so high because we didn't take many shots down the field with the offense focusing on short, intermediate throws...
His arm strength is a another concern of mine but he showed a decent arm last season...
Overall I just don't think he has what it takes to get this team where they need to be.. It's nice and all he's a hometown hero and grew up around here but when you have a chance to get a franchise quarterback, you take it... Quarterback is the single most important position on the football field whether it be Pee-Wee football or the NFL...
I Am A Witness wrote:Also brady didn't win a big game in his entire career. granted that may be because his team wasnt as good but he still didnt lead his team to victory in any of those games (really only came close in that game against usc). im just a little concerned about trusting him with the game on the line
Something I wrote over on another board:
1st Misconception = He can't perform in big games
First of all I'd like to mention that Notre Dame had the 61st ranked rush defense in the nation that allowed 136.8 yards per game... Then on top of it they allowed 203.38 yards per game which ranked 60th in the nation... Overall they were ranked 65th in the nation... If you want to take it even further they gave up 23.8 points per game which was 67th in the nation...
So without Quinn getting a lot of help from his defense, it's kind of hard to win any games when your team is playing a good team... The Notre Dame defense flat out sucked and allowed 41 to Penn State, 47 to Michigan, 44 to USC, and 41 to LSU... So to expect for Brady Quinn to overcome his defense every single "big" game is kind of hard considering that all of those teams defenses were some of the best in college football...
And with the team giving up so much yardage and putting a lot of pressure on Quinn to carry them, the defense didn't do too much to help him by giving him more chances... The defense was 93rd worst forcing only 19 turnovers the whole season...
So the defense giving up so much yardage and not forcing turnovers limits Brady's chances to score...
Just a little factor that also played into big games, was that Notre Dame ranked 83rd worst in penalized yards per game at 53.46 yards penalized... So getting penalized doesn't help your teams chances...
On the offensive side of the ball Brady Quinn's great offensive line allowed 2.38 sacks per game which was 85th worst in the country... So considering the type of protection that he put up pretty good stats, passing wise...
Forcing even more pressure on Quinn the run offense was decent but wasn't all that... They were ranked 72nd and averaged 125 yards per game...
All in all Brady got no where near the help he needed to win those "big" games... And despite that he did pretty well in those big games... Take a look at his stats from the 4 big games:
Penn State: 25-36
| 287 yds
| 69.4 comp. %
| 3 TD's
| 0 INT's
| 163.9 QB Rating
Michigan: 24-48
| 234 yds
| 50 comp. %
| 3 TD's
| 3 INT's (2 of which were tipped)
| 99 QB Rating
USC: 22-45
| 274 yds
| 48.9 comp. %
| 3 TD's
| 0 INT's
| 122 QB Rating
LSU: 15-35
| 148 yds
| 42.9 comp %
| 2 TD's
| 2 INT's
| 85 QB Rating
Now granted he might not have done the best in the Michigan and LSU game he didn't put his team in position to lose and put up some pretty good stats on two of the best defenses in the country...
2nd Misconception = Brady isn't accurate
I've heard that on a couple of sites Brady's accuracy has been in question... Well he is actually a pretty accurate passer...
He threw at a 61.9 rate last season and 64.9 his junior season... Overall he has a 58 completion rate, which is pretty good considering he's been under Charlie Weis which has really helped him the past two years... The first two under Willingham, really hurt him...
What also goes along with accuracy is INT's...He's thrown 32 in his career at Notre Dame but 14 his last two seasons, 7 in each...
So overall he's a pretty accurate quarterback...
He's got it all
Some things to keep in mind when looking for a QB is 4 things (at least that's what Troy Aikman says) accuracy, toughness, intelligence, and intangibles... And I've have to agree with him...
I could careless if a guy could throw a ball 60 yards with a flick of a wrist or 50 from on his knees, but that doesn't mean he's going to be successful... If he can't place the ball successful or make the right throws, those long throws will turn into long interceptions...
Intelligence is one of the most important things... The ability to diagnose coverages, blitzes etc., are key in the NFL... If a quarterback can't identify those things, he's not going to be successful.. Picking on mismatches and picking up the teams plays are things that sets a great quarterback apart from a good quarterback...
The toughness of a guy can tell a lot... You can tell his competitiveness, attitude and leadership abilities... A guy who never quits, picks his guys up and sets the tone are all things you want in a franchise QB...
And finally intangibles... Brady is one of the hardest working guys you'll find... He'll work out in the weight room or be studying film to learn from his mistakes...
Because college stats say so! Duh!
In a report by ESPN's Draft guide, they did a study on the last 10 years QB's drafted and their success in the NFL... Well they came to a conclusion that there are two telling stats that could foretell how successful they would be (not the end all be all)... They were number of college starts and completion %...
Guys like Ryan Leaf started 24 games and had a completion rate of 54%, while Peyton started 45 college games and had a 63% completion rate, big difference...
As the list goes one guys like Phillip Rivers started 51 games, McNabb 49 and Palmer 45... While Jim Drunkenmiller started 24, Harrington 28 and Smith 19...
The numbers go on and list Roethlisberger had a 64 % completion rate, Rivers 64% and both Manning brothers had rate over 60% as did Brees, Leinart, Vince Young. Leaf and Drunkenmiller couldn't complete 55% of their passes. Harrington, Smith and Cade McNown barerly completed that while Kyle Boller barely didn't complete 50% of his passes...
Overall
If Quinn is sitting there at the #3 pick it'd be hard to pass up a franchise quarterback who could turn this franchise around... He's an Ohio born boy which is even better and was tutored by one of the best in Charlie Weis...
As of now it looks like Quinn is on the top of the Browns draft boards, but if Romeo wants to win now they may go with someone who could produce immediately like Adrian Peterson...
Let's hope they make the decision on the best for the team and overall, not the best bet to save a coaches job...