Hazing the Rookies - part 2
Monday, August 13th
For the continuation of our look at this year’s most notable rookies, I am going to focus on the 2 late first rounders that are of the most interest (to me at least).
Jarvis Moss
Moss could turn out to be a great player, but to me he will always be ‘too little, too late’.
(WARNING: Disgruntled Bronco fan rant forthcoming)
The fact is that the Broncos absolutely needed to draft a pass rusher last year, instead of trading up for Jay Cutler. Don’t get me wrong, Jay Cutler will be a good (possibly great) quarterback in the NFL but he joined a team that was one game away from the Super Bowl. 2007 was the Broncos window: the Patriots had no one for Brady to throw to (and the Broncos own them anyway), the Colts were mentally incapable of getting over the playoff hurdle, the Steelers’ quarterback (literally and figuratively) had a hood ornament tattooed on his forehead and the Chargers has a first year starter at quarterback and Schottenheimer at coach.
Had Shanahan recognized the AFC Championship game loss was due to absolutely zero pass rush rather than Plummer’s bad play (recognizing that Roethlisburger was going to sit back all day and pick apart the Broncos defense with no pressure, Jake pressed, trying to win the game by himself…which isn’t exactly his strong suit), they could have filled that hole with the draft and been in a prime seat to go to the Super Bowl this past spring. Instead, they drafted a quarterback 3 years away from being great which will coincide exactly with many of that team’s best players reaching or passing retirement age (Rod Smith, John Lynch, Al Wilson and most of the offensive line will probably be gone and even Champ Bailey, Javon Walker and the newly acquired Travis Henry and Dre Bly will be approaching at least their 8th year in positions not known for their longevity). So now Cutler gets to look forward to the prime of his career with a brand new supporting cast.
(End of disgruntled Bronco fan rant)
Brady Quinn
Cleveland #22: I think if Quinn had gone any higher he would go down as a total bust, so it is almost fitting he fell so far (yet, I still think the Dolphins should have drafted him, which I recognize makes no sense). I will be shocked if Quinn has a great deal of success in the NFL. I see Quinn as the product of two things: good receivers and a coach working at a higher level (both in his offensive schemes and the waistline of his pants) than the teams they played. A good example was the Georgia Tech game last year when the only offense Notre Dame was able to muster was Quinn just throwing the ball up along the sidelines and letting his tall, athletic wide receivers out-jump shorter defensive backs. Whenever Notre Dame played teams of equal athletic ability, he struggled.
Well, as someone once said, ‘there aren’t any Stanfords on the NFL schedule’. Successful NFL quarterbacks have typically displayed the ability to put a team on their back and drag them to a win before reaching the NFL. Not counting Purdue, did Quinn ever do that?
One last short bonus pick – since I don’t want to go through a whole column without mentioning a Seminole:
Buster Davis
The fact that so many other linebackers were taken before him (7 by my count), demonstrates yet again how NFL GMs (or GMs in any sport for that matter) will always value potential or pure physical gifts more than how someone actually plays in a game. Of course, if they ever learned that lesson, then I wouldn’t have anything to complain about.
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