Feeley Should Start

[inFINSible]

I understand the post Infins. But do we not all know that no matter how Feeley or Frerotte play this year we are going to pick a QB to groom next year. Neither has shown to be a capable starter for a NFL team. These coaches have been doing this longer than any of us and have a better understanding of players and the players they have currently on the roster. So if we knew we would finish with the same record starting either QB then we should start Feeley. But if we are looking at Long term solutions and knowing we are going to draft a Qb, unless somehow Feeley goes to the Probowl, which I don't think will happen, IMO, why not start the player who would give us the best chance to win. I'd much rather go 8-8 or 7-9 with Gus or Feeley if they gave us the best chance. But to give Feeley on the opinion of giving him his due or so we see what we have and then go 5-11 and a top five pick will hurt us more in the long run. We can't afford to have tons of high picks. It screws you in the cap. I'd rather have the guy who the coaches and the team believes we will win the most with, even if its only one more game. That one win could save us lots in cap dollars which we need to build the proper depth..

Okay but, the point that you're missing is, will we need to draft a QB in the first round in the hopes that he can start immediately and grow quickly, costing us tons of money against the cap....and risking the possibility of an extremely painful bust from a finacial view....or Can Feeley improve enough to become a decent QB that allows us to grab a QB prospect that may not be ready to play for a few years but, will carry much less risk to the franchise?

I believe that in fairness to competition, Feeley should get the start against the Bucs unless Saban does not believe that he is capable of playing against 1st stringers. Then we compare Pitt game against the Bucs game and choose a starter.

I agree.



300 posts!....

 

[Finaddict]

exactly right with that reasoning. Gus and feeley are both bad. So I think you are correct in your reasoning. Might as well play feeley and get him some experience this year.

:yeahthat:

 

[Canadi-Phin]

Do you believe we couldn't get a good QB in the 2nd rd this year say with the 7th pick in? This is one of the better QB classes in awhile and that's not even thinking of the underclassmen. At least this is what I have read, I haven't unfortunely had the ability to see all these QBs. I'm not disagreeing with you. I just believe that if either of these Qbs would be able to take care of the team for a year or two while we get that young QB next year but also allows us to finish with a little better record each year, for cap reasons, then start that guy. Don't care which just the one who wins the most games. If we had 7th pick this year or somewhere around there we maybe able to pick one of the top Qbs prospects but not have to pay 20m bonus it would be more like 13m. If a QB wasn't present then choose one of the 2nd rounders and pay him even less and use our 1st pick on the best player we need, say OL or secondary, even if Poole is healthy next year. I'm trying to focus only on the long term. I want us to win today but would rather win tons a few years down the road and be consistently winning like we are all used to.

 

[FinaticPatch]

Did you watch him play yesterday ?

From your post i assume you didnt.. he actually made good decesions and steping up in the pocket. On one play he stiff armed Blitzer to get the pass off..
The guy is improving...

With the clock running down throwing the ball so that it stays in bounds after caught is dumb. In third grade even I knew you have to throw the ball on out routes so the guys can get out of bounds and stop the clock.

 

[Dphins4me]

With the clock running down throwing the ball so that it stays in bounds after caught is dumb. In third grade even I knew you have to throw the ball on out routes so the guys can get out of bounds and stop the clock.

Don't ya think the defense knows this also and was taking the out routes away?

 

[Sal Lisitano]

The Dolphins would be better served to lose 11 games with Feeley at QB than to lose 11 games with gus at QB.

gus looks as bad, if not worse, than any QB that has come through here in the last 5 years. We're not going to the play-offs with gus as our QB. There are no if's, ands, or buts about it. If gus survives the whole season as a starter without getting injured, we'll be drafting in the top 10 and we won't know jack-**** about Feeley.

Let Feeley be the starter, learn the system by playing in it, and if he survives the whole year without getting injured we're either going to be exactly where we'd be with gus, except that we'll KNOW what Feeley is as a QB,

......or we're going to watch Feeley get better and better throughout the season.

With Feeley as the starter it's a win win even if we lose lose.

Start gus and it's a lose lose and more lose.

I have mixed feelings on this InFins. I've supported A.J. and was really pulling for him and hoping he would become our starter...but it does not look like it so far.

I just don't think he'll beat out Gus...especially from reading what the players are saying...McMike and Evans...it looks like the decision has already been made.

I just don't know man...I wish he would have ran away from the competition...but he has not.

Gus and A.J. have been pretty equal IMO...so I totally understand your viewpoint...it would make more sense to start A.J. over Gus at this point but I think Gus will get the starting job...but who knows for sure?

Go Fins!!!

 

[nick1]

whether or not Feeley should start or Frerotte should start is still yet to be determined, neither have done enough to win the job

 

[rafael]

The Dolphins would be better served to lose 11 games with Feeley at QB than to lose 11 games with gus at QB.

gus looks as bad, if not worse, than any QB that has come through here in the last 5 years. We're not going to the play-offs with gus as our QB. There are no if's, ands, or buts about it. If gus survives the whole season as a starter without getting injured, we'll be drafting in the top 10 and we won't know jack-**** about Feeley.

Let Feeley be the starter, learn the system by playing in it, and if he survives the whole year without getting injured we're either going to be exactly where we'd be with gus, except that we'll KNOW what Feeley is as a QB,

......or we're going to watch Feeley get better and better throughout the season.

With Feeley as the starter it's a win win even if we lose lose.

Start gus and it's a lose lose and more lose.

I have been away for a few days so I didn't read this whole thread, but there are some basic assumptions that we differ on.

First of all, I don't think AJ should start, here's why:

The QB play has not been equivalent. The stats may be similar but the offense moves much better with Gus in there. The difference in feel for the game is huge. The offense should actually improve with more player familiarity under Gus. Under AJ, the offense will rarely find a groove b/c AJ lacks feel. Feel is not something that AJ will get by knowing the O better. Odds are he will never have it.

I believe that a good QB evaluator can know in a very short time whether a QB is likely to ever be good. You do not a whole season to evaluate it. AJ lacks feel. Without feel, he will never be a good QB. He simply lacks some of the requirements. You might as well take a year to evaluate if I could become the center for the Heat. I have good feet and a feathery touch around the basket. The problem is I'm 5'6". I simply lack some of the requirements for the position.

Most likely we will have to draft a QB and Gus will be the placeholder until that guy is ready. It's better that he gain some familiarity with these players and return this team to it's winning tradition. It will also make him a better mentor to the future QB.

Our QB position is poor, but frankly there is little we can do to upgrade it right now. Playing a QB who has little to no chance of ever being good is not a win-win. It is a waste of time.

 

[minus]

The Dolphins would be better served to lose 11 games with Feeley at QB than to lose 11 games with gus at QB.

gus looks as bad, if not worse, than any QB that has come through here in the last 5 years. We're not going to the play-offs with gus as our QB. There are no if's, ands, or buts about it. If gus survives the whole season as a starter without getting injured, we'll be drafting in the top 10 and we won't know jack-**** about Feeley.

Let Feeley be the starter, learn the system by playing in it, and if he survives the whole year without getting injured we're either going to be exactly where we'd be with gus, except that we'll KNOW what Feeley is as a QB,

......or we're going to watch Feeley get better and better throughout the season.

With Feeley as the starter it's a win win even if we lose lose.

Start gus and it's a lose lose and more lose.

Does it really matter who starts? Gus is slightly better than A.J and that isn't saying much.I think Sage should start to see what he has.We all know Gus is a career backup and Feeley was a mistake.

 

[Dphins4me]

I have mixed feelings on this InFins. I've supported A.J. and was really pulling for him and hoping he would become our starter...but it does not look like it so far.

I just don't think he'll beat out Gus...especially from reading what the players are saying...McMike and Evans...it looks like the decision has already been made.

I just don't know man...I wish he would have ran away from the competition...but he has not.

Gus and A.J. have been pretty equal IMO...so I totally understand your viewpoint...it would make more sense to start A.J. over Gus at this point but I think Gus will get the starting job...but who knows for sure?

Go Fins!!!

Most seem to think a QB is suppose to be solid from the start, and not go through the struggles of the learning process. It rarely happens that way.

Last year most everyone bashed AJ for not beating out JF when he never got the chance to learn the system & had to split all the snaps with JF, & this year most seem to be on the Gus bangwagon when despite being in the offense for 2 years has not seperated himself from AJ who is once again having to split snaps 50/50 with another QB who already know the system, while trying to learn a system for himself..

Both times the experienced QB who had years of experience in the offense have not been able to seperate themselves from AJ. Does that mean AJ is good? No. It does mean the experienced QBs are not.

Even if next year Miami spends a high No. 1 on a Qb. Most likely he will struggle & look like a bust. Aikman was horrible his first year. Elway was not much better. Most young QB will struggle. Young also does not mean age. Young mean experience & AJ is lacking there.

 

[inFINSible]

I have been away for a few days so I didn't read this whole thread, but there are some basic assumptions that we differ on.

First of all, I don't think AJ should start, here's why:

The QB play has not been equivalent. The stats may be similar but the offense moves much better with Gus in there. The difference in feel for the game is huge. The offense should actually improve with more player familiarity under Gus. Under AJ, the offense will rarely find a groove b/c AJ lacks feel. Feel is not something that AJ will get by knowing the O better. Odds are he will never have it.

I believe that a good QB evaluator can know in a very short time whether a QB is likely to ever be good. You do not a whole season to evaluate it. AJ lacks feel. Without feel, he will never be a good QB. He simply lacks some of the requirements. You might as well take a year to evaluate if I could become the center for the Heat. I have good feet and a feathery touch around the basket. The problem is I'm 5'6". I simply lack some of the requirements for the position.

Most likely we will have to draft a QB and Gus will be the placeholder until that guy is ready. It's better that he gain some familiarity with these players and return this team to it's winning tradition. It will also make him a better mentor to the future QB.

Our QB position is poor, but frankly there is little we can do to upgrade it right now. Playing a QB who has little to no chance of ever being good is not a win-win. It is a waste of time.

, "Feel" is so subjective especially when you try to say whether it can be learned or unlearned. I say unlearned because I can show you scouting reports that say AJ is poised in the pocket, shows good athletic ability and can vary the speed on his passes....Vary the speed on his passes? Have you ever seen him do that?? I haven't. What's the deal with that? Why would this guy say he looked poised in the pocket, why would he say he can vary the speed of his passes? Or.... What would make him not fit that description??

Well, here's my theory for that...If you're not poised, you're nervous right? If you're nervous you just might want to get rid of the ball quickly right? Throughout AJ's NFL career, he's had reason to be nervous in the pocket, whether it's starting for the first time, with the pressure of a play-off run dumped squarely on your shoulders, whether it's going to a new team and trying to learn a new offense at the same time as trying to win a starting job with almost no help from what can loosely be called a coaching staff, or whether he had to run for his life behind what could literally be called an offensive line, he's had something to be nervous about at nearly every point in his development. Perhaps, once he gets comfortable behind a competant O-line and when he is confortable knowing what to do with the ball through his knowledge of the offense, or when he's comfortable that one mistake isn't going to cost him his job, we might see what Dave Te' Thomas saw in Feeley back when AJ was comfortable leading his team in college and throwing 12 TDs to 1 INT...
Now, whether my theory is true or false, neither of us can say, the only way we can find out is to work towards getting him comfortable and see what happens then. Next year his salary jumps to 3.5, I don't know about you but, to me that says we better find out this year because I don't want to have to run this experiment on him next year.

Sorry Rafael, I'm not swayed by your argument. But your last sentence is perfect. I completely agree, playing a player who lacks requirements for the position is a waste of time.

Let's talk tangible skills for a minute...

Do you know gus has a career completion percentage of 54.6? That's a 12 year average so, it's pretty accurate as to what he is....A QB who can barely comlete more than 50% of his passes.....As a starter he's never completed more than 57% for the season.....The year he went to the "pro bowl" he completed 50.7%....

Now, if that doesn't prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that gus does indeed lack a basic requirement for the QB position and would be a waste of time, then must be wasting my time.:)

"gus is gus, In AJ we trust"

 

[Chevagus]

It's almost senseless to think gus is all of a sudden going to be anything other than what he's been his whole career. 12 years is a pretty good barometer of a player. Old dogs that learn new tricks are few and far between and gus is one old dog that's a couple of years away from being euthanized.

The Dolphins would simply be wasting any benefit we can get from this season by letting gus crash the bus.

I think after last year it's just as senseless to let Feeley start and I don't think differently after 1 preseason game against the Steelers back-ups. In a perfect world we would have Feeley's physical skills without his mental lapses. Unfortunately, I don't think this is something that just goes away with repetitions. Think Jeff George, Ryan Leaf et al.

Neither player is the long term answer and I think most people would agree with that. For this reason, I'd rather have gus start. He did play poorly but I think he's likely to make far fewer mistakes than Feeley. This team won't be lead by quarterback play and the best that can be hoped for is a quarterback that won't thwart the progress of the rest of the team or ruin its chance to win games. If the defense keeps us in games I do believe we'll be competitive. I just think Feeley is far more likely to lose us games with his lapses than win games for us. Though Frerotte might not win us many games, I don't think he'll lose them for us.

I know your whole point is unless we play Feeley we'll never know what we have but I can't buy that. Saban thinks we can win now or next year and I think he has to play the hand that gives us the best chance to do that. If he doesn't feel that person is Feeley after training camp I'm not sure what anyone here sees that makes them a better judge of that than the head coach. If Saban thinks Feeley has cut down his mistakes enough to be the QB then great but up till now what have we seen that would lead us to believe this?

 

[DeathStar]

gus stinks.

why hasn't he been a starter in this league for the last few years?

its b/c he sucks.

 

[DeathStar]

if we are goign to have a poor season, might as well be really bad so the pick will be really high.

we need to endure another year of pain to solve the qb and ol problem.

 

[Ottoevans]

ok Gus, has won games when his team needed him to, hes played in college and the NFL.

AJ has not played a whole season since High School. He hasnt had an "OK" season since he was a senior in High school.

If AJ is our started we would have the worst starting Qb in the league.

Id Gus starts he would at least be better than the Bears qb