I was just going with your theory that the wins and losses lie solely on the quarterback. People tried to point out that our losses can be attributed to our lack of run game, our lack of plays on defense, and missed field goals but you keep hammering home the point that none of that stuff matters, if you lose its your quarterbacks fault... Seriously though, why haven't you taken Trey Wingo's job on NFL Live yet? Your insight on football is other-worldly! You are SO MONEY!
Colt McCoy is a prototypical successful College System QB, very accurate but lacking the knowledge and preparation required to have any immediate success against next level defenses. 1.) Too used to having an offensive line giving you enough time to make accurate reads. 2.) Inferior Defenses who can't cover well or bring effective blitz packages on a regular basis. Inferior competition is one of the biggest problems. A Quarterback from a lesser known school who has to rely more on avoiding the pass rush and making pre-snap blitz adjustments seems to be an overall better NFL-ready prospect. There is a reason QBs from winning programs traditionally struggle at the next level. Heisman Winning QBs make very poor NFL QBs. QBs from big schools who are 1st round picks often struggle as well. For every Peyton Manning there is a Rick Mirer, Heath Shuler and Todd Marinovich. For every Carson Palmer there is a Matt Leinart, Jamarcus Russell and Rex Grossman. Lately the trend seems to be finding a guy from a smaller school with great measurables. Ben Roethlisberger, Phillip Rivers, Joe Flacco come to mind. Guys like Jake Locker, Ryan Mallett (if he comes out), and Jimmy Clausen are all going to be considered much better QB prospects than the likes of Tebow, Bradford and McCoy.
Top 15 QBs in Passer Rating... Brett Favre (Southern Miss) Drew Brees (Purdue) Peyton Manning (Tenn) Aaron Rodgers (Cal) Tom Brady (Michigan) Matt Schaub (Virginia) Phillip Rivers (NC St) Ben Roethlisberger (Miami OH) Donovan McNabb (Syracuse) Kurt Warner (Northern Iowa) Eli Manning (Ole Miss) Tony Romo (Eastern Illinois) Joe Flacco (Delaware) Kyle Orton (Purdue) Carson Palmer (USC) I'd say Manning, Brady and Palmer are your "Traditional Powers" QBs. Rodgers is iffy. Warner, Romo obviously came out of nowhere. Then out of your other starting QBs you've got Garrard from East Carolina, Matt Ryan and Matt Hasselbeck Boston College, Cutler Vanderbilt, etc.
I think the percentage of no-name-college QBs gets even bigger when you start including the backups. For such "small" programs they sure do churn out an unusually large portion of active NFL QBs.
A lot of people are saying Clausen is going to succeed in the NFL because he's in a Pro-Style offense. I laugh in their faces. He's about as clutch as Robert Horry in bizarro world.
Could this be due to the "Traditional Powers" utilizing more of a system which, in turn, means that the quarterbacks' success is due to said system? I'm not saying it is or am trumpeting this theory but it DOES make you think. Case in point: Matt Leinart
Matt Leinart is a good example of being an adequate piece of a system that works well, a system in which the collective of players in said system is very high caliber, but none of them are so extraordinary that they, being 1 piece specifically make the entire team better. Pete Carroll built SC back into a Power House behind Carson Palmer. Ben Roethlisberger at Miami Ohio is an example of an outlier, a player so good he makes the entire team better. He alone made that program a top 15 school and a BCS threat. A guy who has extra-world agility and pocket presence and escape ability, yet also a cannon arm. A great example of a system being more important than any individual is the Florida Gators under Steve Spurrier. Those offenses put up prolific numbers season after season but most of the skill position players failed miserably at the NFL level despite their collegiate success. All the QBs were NFL flame-outs as well as virtually any WR.
Derek Jeter has four Gold Gloves, and Adam Everett has zero. Jeter is clearly the superior defender! Also, do you remember the three quarterbacks (five, counting the two that actually played) that withdrew in order for Young to get that slot?
Pro Bowl voting is fan vote. They look at stats, and vote for their favorites. But when it comes to non-skill position players they are completely clueless. Case in point, Antonio Cromartie made the Pro Bowl in 2007, then in 2008 had possibly the worst season by a CB in NFL history.
So it's not OK to use stats in argument til the stat, however arbitrary it may be, favors your argument? Got it. Thanks.
It has enough of an effect. Case in point: http://www.nfl.com/probowl/story?id=09000d5d80d3969d&template=with-video-with-comments&confirm=true
Yeah... like we've all been saying, football is a team sport... almost every position is dependent on others in order to succeed. Put any QB on a team with crappy WRs and watch him suffer. I'm sure Moe can think of examples that I can't. O WAIT, JAY CUTLER... LULZ!
