Saturday, April 28, 2007

NFL Draft upset

Brady Quinn was passed on by Oakland - no surprise.

The Detroit Lions took a wide receiver with their first pick - been there, done that.

The Cleveland Browns had the option to take a Dublin Ohio native quarterback from quarterback U, who had played for one of the best friends of the head coach, and they are in desperate need of a QB. So, naturally, they would draft Brady Quinn.

Nope.

The Browns drafted Joe Thomas, an offensive lineman, instead of the hometown hero, in a big upset.

Now the Bucs are on the clock, and they could take Quinn, despite their long-term relationship with Chris Simms and newly signed Jeff Garcia. Gruden has some ties to the Irish, and was in town last month to talk at the coaches clinic and work out Brady Quinn. He came away impressed, but can they really take a 3rd QB with that high of a pick?

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The Bucs don't give into temptation, instead taking Gaines Adams, defensive end out of Clemson.

This puts Arizona on the clock, a team that just drafted a quarterback last year.

They will not draft Brady, but they could trade the pick.

However, my team (the Skins) is sitting right after Arizona, with the opportunity to make the move that would set them up on offense for a long, long time.

Of course, this also means that it is highly likely that my team will just plain piss me off, passing on the best QB to come out of college in the last 10 years to take some 20 year old defensive end.

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My Redskins are on the clock, after the Cards took Levi Brown, OL from Penn State.

Brady is on the board, and he is the answer to all of our needs.

If they don't take him, I'll become a Bears fan.

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Washington drafts LaRon Landry, safety out of LSU, thereby cutting the cord to my allegiances.

Heretofore I renounce my allegiance to the Washington Redskins, and declare that I shall now forever be known as a Bears fan (with the caveat that I might change that later in the day, depending upon where Brady actually goes...)

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The Vikes pass on Brady as well, selecting the injury prone Adrian Peterson.

The plummet continues, as Atlanta is invested in Michael Vick.

It's looking more and more like Brady will be a Dolphin, playing under Cam Cameron. I hate this idea, as Cam Cameron is not a great head coach. At this point, I'm hoping that Brady falls to the Broncos, Giants, or Eagles so he can play for a good team.

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The Dolphins pass on Quinn, taking Ted Ginn, Jr.

Now we are in a section where there are a bunch of teams that have solid QBs.

Where does this slide end?

Will I ever get to study today?

Has everyone in the NFL lost their damn mind?

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49ers (#1 overall pick Alex Smith at QB) pass, no surprise.

At this point, getting into the middle of the 1st round, don't be surprised if a team like the Bears or Ravens decides to make a strong move to trade up and grab Quinn.

Quinn has been taken into the Commissioner's green room for now, away from the cameras, to wait out this weird turn of events. I'm so confused right now, I have no idea where Brady Quinn will end up going today.

At least I know he won't drop past Chicago.

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Bills stick with J.P. Loseman, er, Losman, and take Marshawn Lynch.

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Carolina trades their 14th pick to the New York Jets... intrigue, my friend.

Mangini is from the Parcells/Belichik family, but the rumor is that they are taking Leon Hall from Michigan.

We'll see what happens...

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Jets take Derrell Revis, cornerback out of Pittsburgh (and not Leon Hall).

Pittsburgh takes Lawrence Timmons, a LB from Florida State.

Green Bay is looking for a successor to Brett Favre, but they played this game a couple years ago when they picked up a slipping Aaron Rodgers 24th overall.

Jacksonville is next on the clock after Green Bay, but they have Byron Leftwich and a solid backup in David Garrard. This is the weakest starting QB in this group, but still not a need for this team.

Then, Cincinnatti. Obviously, they aren't looking for a QB with Carson Palmer lighting it up for them.

Tennessee has Vince Young, their first rounder from last year, and the surprise success story in the NFL this year.

The Giants come after Tennessee, where they have quite a bit committed to the younger Manning, who hasn't really developed as they had hoped.

Then Denver (who has had a carousel of QBs lately) who are starting Jay Cutler, last year's top pick for them.

At this point, there is a distinct possibility that Brady Quinn goes 22nd overall to the Dallas Cowboys (I just threw up a little in my mouth).

Mortensen is reporting that the Browns are calling teams to try to trade back into the 1st round to pick up Quinn.

It's time to settle in for a long wait...

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Brady won't be a teammate to his brother-in-law A.J. Hawk, as the Packers took Justin Harrell, a defensive tackle out of Tennessee.

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The run of teams set at QB is coming to a close, as the next 3 picks are Jacksonville, Dallas, and Kansas City.

At this point, one of those teams has to take Brady Quinn.

The Cowboys, in particular, like to draft Domers. Romo is not the long term answer for the Cowboys, and Brady Quinn is exactly the kind of splash that Jerry Jones likes to make.

Still, I would have bet any amount of money that Brady would have been off the board by now.

We'll see how it goes.

UPDATE:

Talk is heating up - the Cowboys are fielding calls from teams interested in trading up to get Brady Quinn.

They have 10 minutes on the clock - looks like Brady will go SOMEWHERE this pick.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I keep telling myself that the later Brady goes, the better the line protecting him will be....
(shemeshgirl)

Dear god, he looked so SAD just now on ESPN. You just wanted to pat him on the head.

Wacko said...

Washington has a great O-line...

Anonymous said...

Note Troy Smith's name hasn't been mentioned on commentary in, like, the last EVER. (--sg)

Wacko said...

Troy Smith will come up sometime tomorrow evening, when they start discussing players that will be choosing between Arena Football, Canadian Football, and NFL Europe.

Anonymous said...

holy crap! safe from Cam, for now...

Anonymous said...

the Skins already have a great quarterback in Jason Campbell. Campbell is better than Quinn and will have a much better NFL career than Quinn. He is more athletic, more accurate and has better arm strength. Moreover, he played at Auburn in the SEC. I know Notre Dame has its history; however, they haven't been as good as the Auburn team that Campbell played for since 1988. Campbell led that team to an SEC Championship and was robbed of a National Title. Quinn never got close to earning a National Championship and could never have led a team to an SEC Championship-- Quinn could never up for big games and every conference game in the SEC is a bigfor a team that got robbed of a National Title. I know your a Domer, wacko, but as a Redskins fan, thank your lucky stars that Dan Snyder didn't force Joe Gibbs hand and make him draft Quinn. Not only would drafting him waste the skin's pick this year, the move would have also wasted their first round pick from two years ago that they used on Jason Campbell, which came at a great price as Joe Gibbs traded up to secure the rights to the Auburn quarterback.

Also, Wacko, I'm not saying this to attack Notre Dame or Brady Quinn. I was born an Irish Catholic, raised in Washington, DC , and three of my relatives went to ND. So as a kid, I forced to be an Irish fan and still casually root for Notre Dame. Moreover, I'm a die hard Tennessee fan who does not like Auburn, or any other SEC fan for that matter, very much. As an adament Skins fan, who this past year dressed up as Hog for Halloween, and a Notre Dame fan, I am happy that Gibbs did not draft Quinn and recommend that you do not switch NFL allegiances based on this decision. There are many other stupid decision that skins have made in recent history that would have justified doing so; however, this was not one.

Wacko said...

The allegiance has been switched, and it is not based solely on this pick.

Since Dan Snyder bought the team, they have drafted and acquired a bunch of players and coaches that are questionable at best in character.

Bringing back Coach Gibbs was a great move, but this Redskins team is no longer the Redskins I fell in love with growing up in Vienna, VA.

This team consistently fails to do what is necessary to improve the football team, and passing on Brady Quinn was a mistake.

You obviously have bought hook, line and sinker the ESPN line on Notre Dame, and have dismissed Brady Quinn's achievements because he didn't have an SEC defense backing him up.

Brady is better than Russell, and far better than Campbell.

So, screw the Skins.

And, if the Cowboys pick up Brady, well:

HOW 'BOUT THEM COWBOYS?

Anonymous said...

Switching allegiances from the Skins is understandable based on the decisions made by the organization since Dan Snyder's take over. The team simply has not been the same since Jack Kent Cooke ran things.

With that said, had the Redskins drafted Quinn, it would have been a terrible mistake. The move would have made no sense at all. I can't even believe that I am having this argument. Drafting a quarterback was never(and should have never been) debated in the Skins war room. The Skins made an significant investment in Jason Campbell two years and have continued to further invest resources in developing the young QB. Had the Redskins held the first pick of the draft, they wouldn't have, nor should they have used it on a quarterback. And even if that were the case, they would not have used that pick on Quinn-- they would have used in on JaMarcus Russell (as the Raiders did) who college performance clearly warranted him being selected higher than Quinn--just pop in a tape of the 2007 Sugar bowl as proof.

If you say that I have bought into ESPN's opinion of Quinn or the SEC, so be it; however, those opinions are reasonably justified. Just as the Skins have not been the same since the Jack Kent Cooke era, Notre Dame has not been the same since the late 80's, though they seem to be reversing that trend. Quinn, statistically, is the best QB in ND history, though he will never come close to Theisman, and I was suprised to see him fall as far in the draft as he did.

And as to that comment about SEC defenses, give me a break. Notre Dame is supposed to be the king of college football. Being continually out-preformed by its opponents is a disgrace to the school's football history. Given your fair weather nature, wacko, I'm suprised you didn't give up on the Irish a long time ago. Though Notre Dame should be expected to be able to compete with SEC caliber teams, it never does. If Notre Dame had to fill its schedule with only teams like Alabama, Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, or Auburn, the Irish would be lucky to post a .500 record. SEC teams are not fortunate enough to be able to play Navy, Army, North Carolina, and Stanford every year as Notre Dame does. Week in and week out, SEC must play the toughest teams in the country. Power house teams must even bring their A game against weaker teams in the division such as the two Mississippi schools in the conference. I realize that Notre Dame does play tough opponents each year, such as USC and Michigan; however, they haven't preformed well against elite teams in recent years. This past year, ND beat only one ranked opponent-- Penn State.

Though Quinn has no control over Notre Dame’s schedual, the caliber of teams that Quinn played against must be taken into consideration when analyzing his statistics.
Quinn created an impressive resume by playing for an above average team that mainly competed against average or below average teams. I would respect his statistics even more had his performances against elite football schools been consistent with his play against the average teams he play against on an almost weakly basis. It cannot be denied that Quinn flopped in nearly every big game that he played in. In fact, I can think of only one big game off the top of my head that he played in where his performance warranted the hype given to him--the USC game two years ago. Against Michigan, USC, and LSU, its other ranked opponents in 2006, the team were blown out in each game. Incidentally, Quinn played terribly in each of those games. Against Michigan, Quinn threw 3 ints, against USC, 2 ints, and in the Sugar Bowl, 3 ints and completed only 15 of 32 passes.

Had Quinn played at an SEC school, I am certain that he would not have been as successful as he was at Notre Dame. I am not saying that Quinn would not have lasted in the SEC, only that he would not have been as impressive as he was had been forced to play against schools like LSU, Tennessee, Florida, and Auburn every week. You said that Quinn’s achievements are “because he didn't have an SEC defense backing him up.”
This may be, but Notre Dame’s lack of an SEC-caliber defense would not have significantly affect Quinn’s statistics and when faced with such defenses, Quinn’s record is not that impressive. In the NFL, Quinn will face defenses that are much more complicated and talented than those of teams in the SEC.

As I admitted before, I like Brady Quinn and think that he is a good quarterback who should have been a top 10 pick in the draft. He is fundamentally sound and has been taught and mentored by Charlie Weiss, one of the best coaches in the NCAA who knows a thing or two about coaching great QB's. Just ask Tom Brady. But if a team does not need a quarterback, they should not waste a draft pick on one simply because he is a good player. For the most part, teams draft players based on the needs the team. At team should only ignore their needs if there is a player available that is simply too good to pass up. An example of this would be the Detroit Lions drafting Calvin Johnson, the overall best player in draft, despite not needing a Wide Receiver. Brady Quinn may develop into a Hall of Fame player, but as of right now, he is not the type of play that would warrant such an unorthodox move. I believe that Jason Campbell is better and will have a better career than Brady Quinn. We can argue on that ad nauseam; however, had the Redskins drafted Quinn, it would have been one of the worst decisions in the history of the NFL draft.

Finally, I cannot believe that any Redskins fan would be upset by Joe Gibbs decision to draft LeRon Landry. LeRon Landry is a great player and in my opinion, the best defensive player in the draft—and that’s not my SEC bias talking. Just ask Brady Quinn if Landry is a dynamic player. Drafting Landry gives the Redskins one of the most dynamic and scary secondaries in the league, an area that was one of the weakest for the Skins last year. If you wish to change allegiances over something so foolish, go ahead. But the addition of Landry to the Gregg William’s defense and a year of Al Saunders’ complex offense under the team’s belt might just have fans in Washington singing “Hail to the Redskins” next year while Brady Quinn is comfortable home in Cleveland.