Alex44
Chicago Bears GM
Scroll to very bottom if you just want to see my ideal mock.
I've seen a lot of posts by people on this site give their opinions on the draft and Quinn. From posts hailing him as the next Brady to people calling him the next Joey Harrington. At this point anyones opinion has the possibility of being what happens, but I thought I would try and make a run through of all the Quinn pros and cons.
Let's start off with what we know about Quinn:
He was a four year starter at Notre Dame who could possibly have been a top 5 pick in last years draft after a great Junior year. He struggled his first two years at the helm, before Weis took his game to new levels his Junior season. His passing percentage climbed his first three years from 47.3% to 54.1% and then 64.9% his Junior year. His senior year failed to put up the same types of numbers, as both his accuracy (61.9%) and yards per completion (from 8.71 to 7.34) fell from his previous year. The odd thing however is that he actually improved his TD to INT ratio, throwing five more TD's than the year before (37) and throwing the same amount of interceptions (7). We also know that he was unable to win any of his 'big games' and this has some fans concerned.
Now that we know a few facts about Brady we should look at some of the arguments being made against him.
The Joey Harrington comparison:
Honestly I have no idea where this one comes from, other than the fact that neither has what you would call a rocket arm. Harrington in college didn't have a great TD to INT ratio for a college player, or at least not nearly as good as Quinn. His best season was his senior year when he threw 27 TD's, ten less than Quinn's senior year and 6 INT's which was one less than Quinn. Harrington also never completed 60% of his passes in college, in fact he was down right awful as far as completion percentage goes. Posting years of 0% (only one pass), 53.2%, 52.8 and 58.8% respectively.
The Big Game:
Quinn was unable to win the big games in college, in fact his team was flat out dominated in some. However one player does not win a game, and Notre Dame as a whole was outmatched in all of their losses. In watching the USC game this year Quinn really had his team let him down, I watched him hit receivers in the hands over and over simply to see the ball fall to the turf. We all know one man can't win football games alone, it just doesn't happen. It takes a team effort, and from watching some of his games I can say he didn't fold under pressure.
Those are the two biggest knocks against Quinn to this point, either could end up being valid. At this point however I just don't see it.
The Draft and Quinn:
Teams possibly looking at Quinn ahead of us include:
Detroit
Cleveland
Minnesota
I see Detroit as the main threat to take Quinn, also there is the chance of a team trading ahead of us to #6 seeing as Washington wants to trade down due to a lack of first day picks.
The fact that Detroit was able to aquire a starting RT takes them out of the Joe Thomas sweepstakes. They now have solid starters at both tackle spots, and so I can't see them taking Thomas here. They have Tatum Bell and Kevin Jones, so Peterson isn't really an option. Reportedly they really like Gaines Adams, so I could see them possibly trading back and drafting him. However Detroit taking Quinn is a very strong possibility.
As far as Cleveland goes I think Oakland will take Calvin Johnson. That means they will most likely take Jamarcus Russell, with Adrian Peterson being a strong possibility. Russell is the kind of guy who could come in and make some electric plays for them day one with his big arm and offensive weapons. If not Russell I definitely think the choice is Peterson, being that Jamal Lewis has not played well recent years and signed a one year contract. I just don't think you can pass on Peterson because you have a one year player.
Minnesota of course invested a second rounder in their QB last year. So I think that they won't take Quinn. However they may not see what I do in Jackson and decide Quinn can be a franchise guy. With all their needs though I just don't see it happening.
My overall opinion on Brady slipping is this. If Oakland takes Johnson, Detroit passes on Quinn, and no-one trades up to get him we have a great shot of landing him. Thats a lot of if though.
As far as whether we should draft him, I say yes. I love Culpepper and hope he comes back. Being realistic however I just don't see it happening, and even if it does it is always better to have two QB's than one. Just look at San Diego, they are in great shape now because of the move they made to take Rivers.
Lastly my three round ideal mock, some of these players may not fall but remember I'm saying in a perfect world this is what I would want.
If Quinn falls to #9:
1) Quinn
2) Ryan Kalil
2) Brandon Merriweather
3) Justin Blaylock
Quinn doesn't fall:
1) Reggie Nelson (After trading down a few spots)
2) Ryan Kalil
2) Kevin Kolb
3) Justin Blaylock
I have doubts about whether Kalil will make it that far, and also Blaylock. However that would be my idea of an absolutely great draft.
All I really know is I can't wait for the draft to be over and for the season to start.
I've seen a lot of posts by people on this site give their opinions on the draft and Quinn. From posts hailing him as the next Brady to people calling him the next Joey Harrington. At this point anyones opinion has the possibility of being what happens, but I thought I would try and make a run through of all the Quinn pros and cons.
Let's start off with what we know about Quinn:
He was a four year starter at Notre Dame who could possibly have been a top 5 pick in last years draft after a great Junior year. He struggled his first two years at the helm, before Weis took his game to new levels his Junior season. His passing percentage climbed his first three years from 47.3% to 54.1% and then 64.9% his Junior year. His senior year failed to put up the same types of numbers, as both his accuracy (61.9%) and yards per completion (from 8.71 to 7.34) fell from his previous year. The odd thing however is that he actually improved his TD to INT ratio, throwing five more TD's than the year before (37) and throwing the same amount of interceptions (7). We also know that he was unable to win any of his 'big games' and this has some fans concerned.
Now that we know a few facts about Brady we should look at some of the arguments being made against him.
The Joey Harrington comparison:
Honestly I have no idea where this one comes from, other than the fact that neither has what you would call a rocket arm. Harrington in college didn't have a great TD to INT ratio for a college player, or at least not nearly as good as Quinn. His best season was his senior year when he threw 27 TD's, ten less than Quinn's senior year and 6 INT's which was one less than Quinn. Harrington also never completed 60% of his passes in college, in fact he was down right awful as far as completion percentage goes. Posting years of 0% (only one pass), 53.2%, 52.8 and 58.8% respectively.
The Big Game:
Quinn was unable to win the big games in college, in fact his team was flat out dominated in some. However one player does not win a game, and Notre Dame as a whole was outmatched in all of their losses. In watching the USC game this year Quinn really had his team let him down, I watched him hit receivers in the hands over and over simply to see the ball fall to the turf. We all know one man can't win football games alone, it just doesn't happen. It takes a team effort, and from watching some of his games I can say he didn't fold under pressure.
Those are the two biggest knocks against Quinn to this point, either could end up being valid. At this point however I just don't see it.
The Draft and Quinn:
Teams possibly looking at Quinn ahead of us include:
Detroit
Cleveland
Minnesota
I see Detroit as the main threat to take Quinn, also there is the chance of a team trading ahead of us to #6 seeing as Washington wants to trade down due to a lack of first day picks.
The fact that Detroit was able to aquire a starting RT takes them out of the Joe Thomas sweepstakes. They now have solid starters at both tackle spots, and so I can't see them taking Thomas here. They have Tatum Bell and Kevin Jones, so Peterson isn't really an option. Reportedly they really like Gaines Adams, so I could see them possibly trading back and drafting him. However Detroit taking Quinn is a very strong possibility.
As far as Cleveland goes I think Oakland will take Calvin Johnson. That means they will most likely take Jamarcus Russell, with Adrian Peterson being a strong possibility. Russell is the kind of guy who could come in and make some electric plays for them day one with his big arm and offensive weapons. If not Russell I definitely think the choice is Peterson, being that Jamal Lewis has not played well recent years and signed a one year contract. I just don't think you can pass on Peterson because you have a one year player.
Minnesota of course invested a second rounder in their QB last year. So I think that they won't take Quinn. However they may not see what I do in Jackson and decide Quinn can be a franchise guy. With all their needs though I just don't see it happening.
My overall opinion on Brady slipping is this. If Oakland takes Johnson, Detroit passes on Quinn, and no-one trades up to get him we have a great shot of landing him. Thats a lot of if though.
As far as whether we should draft him, I say yes. I love Culpepper and hope he comes back. Being realistic however I just don't see it happening, and even if it does it is always better to have two QB's than one. Just look at San Diego, they are in great shape now because of the move they made to take Rivers.
Lastly my three round ideal mock, some of these players may not fall but remember I'm saying in a perfect world this is what I would want.
If Quinn falls to #9:
1) Quinn
2) Ryan Kalil
2) Brandon Merriweather
3) Justin Blaylock
Quinn doesn't fall:
1) Reggie Nelson (After trading down a few spots)
2) Ryan Kalil
2) Kevin Kolb
3) Justin Blaylock
I have doubts about whether Kalil will make it that far, and also Blaylock. However that would be my idea of an absolutely great draft.
All I really know is I can't wait for the draft to be over and for the season to start.