Commentary: Yet Another Quarterback Article

[AtticusFinz]

My biggest problem with starting AJ is that everyone knows that Gus is better at this point.

Who's everyone?

 

[PerfectSZN]

Just friggin win baby!!! Be it Gus or AJ. The coaches are paid to make that decision and I believe they already have.


I say...Go get them Gus. Win some damn games.

 

[jlfin]

The QB play this preseason has not been awful. That statement alone marginalizes your opinions.
True, neither QB has been consistently superb, but they have shown some good things. Keep in mind that in the last 2 preseason games, they have played against 2 of the top defenses in the NFL.
Which of our opponents' starting QB's (Big Ben, Leftwich) has looked great against our defense? Neither (unless you consider avoiding sacks and running for your life the sign of a great QB).

 

[RWhitney014]

The QB play this preseason has not been awful. That statement alone marginalizes your opinions.
True, neither QB has been consistently superb, but they have shown some good things. Keep in mind that in the last 2 preseason games, they have played against 2 of the top defenses in the NFL.
Which of our opponents' starting QB's (Big Ben, Leftwich) has looked great against our defense? Neither (unless you consider avoiding sacks and running for your life the sign of a great QB).

Are you saying that it's been good? I hate to say it, but the defenses aren't going to be getting easier in the regular season.

 

[NYinBostonFin]

By the way, who liked the joke at the start?

Thanks.

 

[jlfin]

Are you saying that it's been good? I hate to say it, but the defenses aren't going to be getting easier in the regular season.

Frerotte looked good against the Bears. He had several dropped passes against the Steelers ( it was a forgettable performance by the entire offense).
Most of the defenses in the regular season will not be as good as the two we have played the last 2 weeks. J-ville has one of the best interior defensive lines in the NFL (better than any in the AFC east) and a solid LB corp and d-backs.
The Steelers have the best defense in the NFL, period.
Did Roethlisberger and Leftwich look great? I guess their fans ought to be panicking too, then.

 

[Hostile 17]

I agree that it was a good article and the conclusions are ones with which I agree. However, like a previous poster, I would also disagree with lumping in Billy Volek with those other stiffs.

Volek has done things none of those other guys have done (including AJ and Gus): he has dominated like a top-shelf quarterback, played well under pressure and put up tremendous numbers on a consistent basis when he did play.

 

[zephon]

Do you guys expect him to suddenly stop acting like the guy we've seen for a year and turn into a world beater? .

it's interesting that you put it that way....it's exactly what Drew Brees did with San Diego!

Now, I'm in NO way saying that AJ has equal skills to Brees but at least physically...he's not that far from Brees.....Menatllly, well, that's likely another story. :confused:

as for you saying that you'd rather have the best player playing at the start of the season...well, there's nothing wrong with that. I"m sure that there are a lot of players who think the same way. The want to try to win as many games as possible so they just want the best guy out there. That's a very fair argument for starting Gus at this time.

I just think that since there is currently very little difference between the two guys that Feeley has the better chance of being much better than Gus by midseason but the only way to take advantage of that chance is to start AJ...

..I'll say this again (I've put it in other posts :) )...If Gus starts, AJ will not be back with this team next season.

Which, if we aren't going to play him.....then there is no reason for him to be here anyway as his contract balloons up starting next year. Honestly, I'm of the opinion that IF AJ doesn't win the starting job then we should look to trade him for a 6th round pick or whatever we can get. There is just no reason to keep AJ on the team if Gus starts. Yes, it's very likely that Gus will get hurt...I think Sage can back up almost as goodi as AJ because AJ will go into a "pouting mode" or something similar. If AJ's developement is squashed then I have a feeling that AJ will not go thru the entire season as the "good little soldier" and tow the team's party line. We've already heard him speak of frustrations on what he feels has been an "unequal" competition (translation...he's getting screwed in his mind). That will only get worse if he has to stay on the sidelines and watch Gus play. Trade him or start him

Win or lose the "competition" Gus will be back with the team next year to backup and tutor the young guy that we bring in. I'm not worried about Gus's psychi (or however it's spelled). He's been a backup and he will be one again next year. He can hadle it. Beisdes...I'm postive that Gus will get to play from the backup roll as AJ seems to get hit as hard or harder than any QB I've ever seen. It's almost like AJ stes "into" the hit :) that's a joke btw.

Sage is gone next year as well. He'll make a very good career backup. I think he's got the Frank Reich look to him. He'll be pretty good and bail a team out for a game or two if the main guy goes down for a little bit but never quite a starter.

Berlin...Well, If we trade off Feeley, then he makes a perfect #3 QB. Go hold that clipboard and try to learn something rook. Besides...he fits into that Saban #3 mold...young and cheap with a little bit of skill that we can try to develope.

The more and more I think about it....I think we'll either cut or trade (hopefully trade!) either Sage or AJ. Yep, I'm saying it. One of those guys will not be on the roster come opening day.....(unless Gus gets hurt in one of the preseason games)...speaking of hurt, although I shouldn't say this, Gus getting hurt wouldn't be the worst thing to happen...It'll force Saban's hand a bit. OK, I said it....now lets pretend I didn't

 

[NYinBostonFin]

I actually like the article. It's well written, and it is a fair assessment of the state of our quarterbacks. I just don't agree with your conclusion, but if everybody agrees with what you're writing then why read??

I fully understand why you would start AJ. We are not gonna be a playoff team, so let's develop AJ, or at the very least see if he can cut it. I don't agree with that POV at all.

At what point do we recognize the fact that we may have already seen the real AJ? He played for the Eagles and did not play that well. He won some games, but take a look at his stats. Last year in Miami he was horrendous, but it's easy to make valid excuses for him. In training camp all he had to do was beat an average quarterback to win the job. He didn't. I would argue that we have seen enough from Feeley already to determine whether or not he is our quarterback of the future.

My biggest problem with starting AJ is the fact that everyone knows Gus is the better QB at this point. You may have given up on our season already, but the coaches and the players have not given up yet. I mean Seau came back becuase Saban personally asked him to. I would think less of Saban if he did that, then starts the worse quarterback to develop him. Do you not see how that's a slap in the face to the rest of the players?? How can Saban tell thim to play their hardest when he's not giving them thier best chance to win??

You gave Feeley less than a year starting to make an assessment what he can do his entire career in the nfl?

If you do want to start Gus, and he starts doing poorly, when do you pull him? 0-4? 1-6? 0-12?

 

[vinivedivichi]

Who's everyone?

Sorry, there are a some diehard Feeley fans on this board. The guy played about as poorly as possible last year, yet some are convinced he's a diamond in the rough.

 

[Y-TownPhinVet]

Good article!

I've been around for a while, I've watched Griese, Morrall, Woodley, Strock, Kosar, Fiedler, Feeley, as well as a few others. Marino being the "standard" for most younger fans is fine. He was the best ever! Teams win Titles because they are complete, not because of one great QB. Coaching, offense, defense, and special teams make up the completeness that wins games. I'm not going in any direction on the QB position, I want the one who can manage the offense the best, not throw for 50 TDs. History has said that alot of TD passes don't win Championships. Think Marino, Manning, Culpepper, Fouts (air Coryell), and many others. Dilfer has a ring, would you want him starting here? Thought not. I'd love to have a Marino clone behind center, but doubt we'll ever see anyone like him again, so we need a manager behind center. Who is that? Only Saban can answer that come week one!
Hope he's right, but we are in transition and that will take time. Maybe we can draft the next "Dan the Man" next year, or we may have him already, who knows. Only time will tell!

 

[zephon]

Sorry, there are a some diehard Feeley fans on this board. The guy played about as poorly as possible last year, yet some are convinced he's a diamond in the rough.

Personally, I'd like to see if Feeley can play up to his physical attributes in this new offense and new blocking scheme. But, as I wrote above....IF that's just not to be, I say trade him before he becomes a "bad camper".

Now I have NO proof that he'd turn real sour if he doesn't get the starting job but I do feel that some of his interviews have shown us a window into what he's thinking...basically him saying "unequal" in reference to the # of snaps leads me to think that he feels that deck is stacked against him, even though he did stink it up in the 1st preseason game. Of course that was just the very 1st game with not only new players but new coaches, schemes and a different attitude in general. Feeley also kept talking about he hit that didn't let him finish out the 1st quarter...and he said it 2 or 3 different times. Again, while he only missed like one play, the fact that he brought it up more than once and that early in camp just got my gears to working (and that's a scary thing :) )

 

[vinivedivichi]

You gave Feeley less than a year starting to make an assessment what he can do his entire career in the nfl?

If you do want to start Gus, and he starts doing poorly, when do you pull him? 0-4? 1-6? 0-12?

I don't think Feeley has shown his best, at least I hope he hasn't, but history is as good a indicator as there is. After looking at his track record, I think my position has more credibility than yours.

When do you pull Gus?? When you think you have a better quarterback on the roster, or when you give up on the year and want to develop a younger guy.

 

[FinFanGirl]

I want the better quarterback to start, and even the author of the article states that Gus is the better quarterback at this point. I personally don't want to give the ball to AJ and chalk up another embarrassing season. For what?? He can't beat up an average quarterback, so what does that make him?? Do you guys expect him to suddenly stop acting like the guy we've seen for a year and turn into a world beater? I'd rather actually try to win the games with our best players, then if we have to "give up" at the end, give Feeley his chance.

I'm not gonna go back and find all the quotes, but there have been numerous quotes where players praise Gus and don't say too much about AJ. Saban knows it, and so do the players, but some fans still do not.

If you go back and look at the quotes, do me a favor and go all the way back to last yr and check out randy mcmike's quotes about how Feeley was the man when he stepped inthe huddle, and how he demanded respect, during the QB battle with fiedler. In fact i think he may have made the same exact quote as he did about gus this yr.

If you look at it from the perspective of win now, then for sure gus should start, he knows the system. If you look at it from a rebuilding perspective, why not throw AJ, or Sage or even brock in there. All of them have some potential or else they wouldnt be int he league at all. With feeley we may not get the wins now, but we give him the chance to perform without the pressure of winning a job. He gets to "feel" his way into the season without worrying about his back and he gets to either be the "qb of the future" we are all looking for, or we start over again. Either way if we start gus this yr we are back to square one. A feeley with no game experience and two back up qb's. I gotta say tho if the experiment works out for Feeley, then that saves us an awful lot of money on a "franchise" qb.

 

[vinivedivichi]

If you go back and look at the quotes, do me a favor and go all the way back to last yr and check out randy mcmike's quotes about how Feeley was the man when he stepped inthe huddle, and how he demanded respect, during the QB battle with fiedler. In fact i think he may have made the same exact quote as he did about gus this yr.

If you look at it from the perspective of win now, then for sure gus should start, he knows the system. If you look at it from a rebuilding perspective, why not throw AJ, or Sage or even brock in there. All of them have some potential or else they wouldnt be int he league at all. With feeley we may not get the wins now, but we give him the chance to perform without the pressure of winning a job. He gets to "feel" his way into the season without worrying about his back and he gets to either be the "qb of the future" we are all looking for, or we start over again. Either way if we start gus this yr we are back to square one. A feeley with no game experience and two back up qb's. I gotta say tho if the experiment works out for Feeley, then that saves us an awful lot of money on a "franchise" qb.

I just want the best quarterback to play, whether it's AJ or Gus I really don't care. My impression is that the players favor Frerotte, the coaches obviously favor him, and from what I've seen I favor him. If AJ learns the offense in a week and a half and totally reinvents himself, by all means let him start. If he is not the better player, then don't start him. If Feeley wants his "chance," then he needs to start capitalizing when he's in the games. Besides a strong arm, he hasn't shown me any reason to think he should be a starting quarterback in this league. I don't want to sit through a season that amounts to 16 glorified auditions for a quarterback who has gotten probably 10 auditions already. That's just me.