765 replies to this topic

[Mackus]

I'm lumping him in with Ryan Tannehill in an actual conversation about quarterbacking.  I'm meeting you well more than halfway on "not overrating Flacco". 

[bnickle]

And then what about the other third of the league that doesn't have one of the top handful or so of difference makers or one of those Joe-like guys in the middle?  How sure are you that you can find one of those middle tier guys and is it even a good idea if you need to trade 3 first round picks to do it?

 

You'll probably say that you trust our FO to do better than those other teams struggling to find a guy.  And that's fair, I agree we have  top notch management.  But our fantastic front office gave up a 2nd and future 1st to draft one of those types of guys you mention, and preceded to spend 5 years not getting the middle-of-the-pack performance that was all we needed with an otherwise Super Bowl caliber core.  We were that other third of the league that couldn't find a QB for half a decade.

Maybe you do, maybe you dont have to trade up to try for one of those guys. I'll grant you that the worst case scenario is striking out on a Top 5 pick you had to trade up to get. Thats just the risk you have to take sometimes and  I do trust the FO if they felt like a QB was that good to give up that much value in draft picks. They wanted Matt Ryan and drafted 9th in '08. They felt like they didnt want to do what it took to move up to #3 to get ahead of Atl. Im not sure exactly what the asking price was but it likely wasn't more than  what Philly gave to  move up from #9 to #2 this year. Tells me how much they value draft picks and if they make a major move to go get a QB its because they are pretty damn sure about him. You can also find a number of guys now that go mid  first or later that find success. Could run off the names but you know there are a number of them out there in the league right now. The problem wasn't drafting Kyle Boller. It was making him the starting QB for 3 years when it was obvious he wasnt going to be good enough. You have to be willing to cut your losses on a mid 1st round pick or lower quickly and move on. How many QBs dont flash in their first 2 seasons and then magically turn on a light bulb. Pretty rare. There are obviously risks but I think the lines between the haves and the have nots at the Qb position have been blurred a bit. 20 years ago you either had a good guy or you didnt. Today you dont necessarily need an elite guy to be successful and the middling type guys are becoming more common. 

[Mike in STL]

Today you dont necessarily need an elite guy to be successful and the middling type guys are becoming more common. 

You called Flacco middling about 20 pages ago. So now that you finally admit we don't need to upgrade the QB position...can we move on?

[Biggsy]

Why are we talking about Flacco like he's 35 years old and maybe only a year or two left?

Let me put it this way, if we can claw our way into the playoffs. We've seen what Flacco does when the bright lights come on. He hits another level. If this "mediocre" team can make it to the playoffs this year, I have full faith in our QB. Say what you want about his inconsistencies in the regular season. He makes the plays when they matter.

[Biggsy]

And just to throw it out there, it really annoys me when dum-dums forget what this organization went through to find a good QB. Do you really think they weren't trying their asses off to find a franchise guy before Flacco? What makes you so damn sure this FO can find the right guy instantly again? Or would you prefer another 10 years of Tony Banks, Kyle Bollers, Anthony Wrights, Stoney Cases and Chris Redmonds?

[Mike B]

And just to throw it out there, it really annoys me when dum-dums forget what this organization went through to find a good QB. Do you really think they weren't trying their asses off to find a franchise guy before Flacco? What makes you so damn sure this FO can find the right guy instantly again? Or would you prefer another 10 years of Tony Banks, Kyle Bollers, Anthony Wrights, Stoney Cases and Chris Redmonds?

Stoney Case....I had forgotten that one.

 

He did have one moment---Stoney Case to Justin Armour bomb in OT to beat the Falcons.    Don't think either of those gents are in the ROH.

The Joe hatred is incredible.    Not that many good QB's in the NFL....Joe is one of them.