IMO: Why Culpepper has to go

[SCall13]

There are plenty of things about Culpepper, besides his physical ability/limitaions, that I don't like and I believe have been, and will be, a hindrance to this team. But let's talk about his physical and mental limitations:

Daunte Culpepper can not make quick reads. Any Daunte supporter will dispute this, but that has ALWAYS been a negative about him. He is a guy who has to get creative with his feet to create something with his arm - unless he can just wing it up to someone. I mentioned in another thread (and I've always felt this way) that Culpepper is a back yard QB who is exposed by defenses that confine him to the pocket. His high completion percentage is due to alot of dump off passes because, when kept in the pocket, he is unable to get comfortable going through his reads, so he chooses to dump a quick pass off to a TE or RB. His yards per attempt is pretty good, but this is skewed by some of the long bombs he throws after scrambling around until the play becomes a broken play or he just has a reciever flat-out outrun a defender down the field.

His inability to read a defense doesn't only effect his passing, but it also has other adverse effects. Daunte Culpepper's inability to read where a BLITZ is coming from results in him actually scrambling TOWARD the pressure and taking unnecassary sacks. Culpepper has averaged being sacked just under THREE times per game over his career. And that was BEFORE he came to Miami. That was WHEN HE HAD A VERY GOOD LINE in Minnesota. That is an extremely high number and is not a reflection of his offensive lines. It's a reflection of problems Culpepper creates for himself.

As a result of taking unnecassary sacks, Culpepper has averaged a staggering ONE fumble per GAME over his career. Think about it: He can, on average, be counted on to fumble the ball once every game. So great, he has a decent TD to INT ratio. But that's because he either dumps it off short, hits a wide open reciever streaking down field AFTER he ran around out of the pocket, or he gets sacked and/ or fumbles.

Culpepper has a strong arm and is a physically imposing guy. But his mental toughness and his lack of ability to think quickly and understand an offense hurts him in many aspects of his game. Now that his mobility has been lost, (and he will never regain it fully) it's safe to say Miami would be better off letting him go and moving on. The risk of wasting another season is simply not worth it.


There have been some folks who really have put a lot of time and energy into trying to look at all of Culpepper's positives and deflect blame from him and protect him. And I can appreciate a fan wanting him to succeed because if he succeeds, then it would help our TEAM. But you have to look at everything, not just the good parts and not just one great season. Culpepper has many issues as a QB that can't be coached out of him. And now that he has limited mobility, those issues will be magnified.


Lastly: We have a new coach in here now. He has a brand new philosophy. He has his own ideas of what his type of QB is. Culpepper, even when playing in an offense that he KNEW and admittedly was comfortable in, struggled and looked very very average. Now that he will have to learn an entirely new terminology, how much further will it set him back considering his apparent history of struggling to understand offenses in general.

 

[PhinsRock]

Looks like conjecture and personal opinion to me, disagree with almost everything you have to say.

Cam's specialty is developing QB's, no reason he can't take Daunte's good skills and improve them, and turn around his shortcomings, turn him into a better QB than he ever was. Personally I'll accept whatever decisions Cam makes about Daunte, and thank God its Cam deciding and not you (or me either).

 

[Enforcerfin33]

Brother, if he can make Rivers, who really fits that "average" definition, look good, I dont see why CP, couldn't adjust to it.

 

[phinfan77]

first i would like to say this is a very well thought out and argued post.

I respect your opinion and must concur on some of culpeppers faults- he does tend to hold the ball more,bbut some of that is in direct relation to what type of QB he is. Culpepper is a long ball qb, as opposed to the short,quick reads needed by Garcia, haslebeck, and others. He will scramble, but unlike a certain vick, culpepper will scramble to by time for an open man downfield and if unavailable will dup off the ball.

but you are right about some of his problems, which have magnified since the knee injury. He is running the wrong way from pressure and seems to want a hug from the DE. he was also appeared to be much more indecisive last year.
but can these problems be fixed by time and decent coaching?

 

[Shamboubou]

While you do make very valid points though your post, one thing that you cant argue is success in the past. You can give me 100 different reasons why he had success, but the fact is he has had success. Not but 2 years ago he would have easily been MVP of the league had Peyton not went on a terror. He has been to multiple pro-bowls, and highly regarded though the league as a top QB. Had it not been for his knee injury we would have never been able to touch him for what we got him at.

I dont know that he is the best QB for this team. I wasn't a supporter of him coming here when Saban got him instead of Brees. I have supported him since then though because he wears the colors of my team.

I think Culpeppers future with this team is really on the fence and its going to come down to how he looks in training camp and what happens with the draft. If by some miracle a good QB like Quinn or somebody falls down to us I think the Rookie starts.

Who really knows though, with Lemon already knowing the system that is being brought into here he quickly becomes higher in the mix of taking a starting spot. Should be interesting, we really can complain about having to pick between possible 3 good options of starting QB. Joey in a good offensive system for a few years could also be good. Its a decision that I am glad our team has a chance to make.

 

[adamprez2003]

There are plenty of things about Culpepper, besides his physical ability/limitaions, that I don't like and I believe have been, and will be, a hindrance to this team. But let's talk about his physical and mental limitations:

Daunte Culpepper can not make quick reads. Any Daunte supporter will dispute this, but that has ALWAYS been a negative about him. He is a guy who has to get creative with his feet to create something with his arm - unless he can just wing it up to someone. I mentioned in another thread (and I've always felt this way) that Culpepper is a back yard QB who is exposed by defenses that confine him to the pocket. His high completion percentage is due to alot of dump off passes because, when kept in the pocket, he is unable to get comfortable going through his reads, so he chooses to dump a quick pass off to a TE or RB. His yards per attempt is pretty good, but this is skewed by some of the long bombs he throws after scrambling around until the play becomes a broken play or he just has a reciever flat-out outrun a defender down the field.

His inability to read a defense doesn't only effect his passing, but it also has other adverse effects. Daunte Culpepper's inability to read where a BLITZ is coming from results in him actually scrambling TOWARD the pressure and taking unnecassary sacks. Culpepper has averaged being sacked just under THREE times per game over his career. And that was BEFORE he came to Miami. That was WHEN HE HAD A VERY GOOD LINE in Minnesota. That is an extremely high number and is not a reflection of his offensive lines. It's a reflection of problems Culpepper creates for himself.

As a result of taking unnecassary sacks, Culpepper has averaged a staggering ONE fumble per GAME over his career. Think about it: He can, on average, be counted on to fumble the ball once every game. So great, he has a decent TD to INT ratio. But that's because he either dumps it off short, hits a wide open reciever streaking down field AFTER he ran around out of the pocket, or he gets sacked and/ or fumbles.

Culpepper has a strong arm and is a physically imposing guy. But his mental toughness and his lack of ability to think quickly and understand an offense hurts him in many aspects of his game. Now that his mobility has been lost, (and he will never regain it fully) it's safe to say Miami would be better off letting him go and moving on. The risk of wasting another season is simply not worth it.


There have been some folks who really have put a lot of time and energy into trying to look at all of Culpepper's positives and deflect blame from him and protect him. And I can appreciate a fan wanting him to succeed because if he succeeds, then it would help our TEAM. But you have to look at everything, not just the good parts and not just one great season. Culpepper has many issues as a QB that can't be coached out of him. And now that he has limited mobility, those issues will be magnified.


Lastly: We have a new coach in here now. He has a brand new philosophy. He has his own ideas of what his type of QB is. Culpepper, even when playing in an offense that he KNEW and admittedly was comfortable in, struggled and looked very very average. Now that he will have to learn an entirely new terminology, how much further will it set him back considering his apparent history of struggling to understand offenses in general.

Great assessment. I think it comes down to whether Cameron feels he can coach up Daunte. I have no idea how those conversations are going to go so I wont conjecture. I have faith in Cameron's assessment due to his track record with QBs. Daunte to me is Steve McNair now without the savvy. If Cameron thinks he can turn him into a productive QB I'll support him

 

[Rich]

Why decide now? Why not put Dante through another training camp? See what he can do then? Kick the can down the road. Fix other problems first.
************
"that his mobility has been lost, (and he will never regain it fully)"
-- I don't know that this is a fact. Culpepper had surgery recently. Maybe he's fixed now.

"Daunte Culpepper can not make quick reads."
-- Dante holds the ball too long. No question. It is unclear if this is "Gutsy" or "Stupidity". Gutsy means 3 out of 4 times he launches a long throw(1 in 4 he is sacked)... and 2 of those times it's caught. I haven't seen enough to make this judgment. This season, "1 in 4 sacks" became "2 in 4 sacks" for various reasons (lack of mobility, poor blocking, too many long passes called).


"ONE fumble per GAME"
-- In which most of these were recovered. "Fumbles lost" for Culpepper is on par with the rest of the league.

"WHEN HE HAD A VERY GOOD LINE in Minnesota"
-- We won't have a top-notch offense if we don't have a "very good line". Fix the line.

***********
Very well articulated post. I have a different opinion, though.

 

[daniel3]

first i would like to say this is a very well thought out and argued post.

I respect your opinion and must concur on some of culpeppers faults- he does tend to hold the ball more,bbut some of that is in direct relation to what type of QB he is. Culpepper is a long ball qb, as opposed to the short,quick reads needed by Garcia, haslebeck, and others. He will scramble, but unlike a certain vick, culpepper will scramble to by time for an open man downfield and if unavailable will dup off the ball.

but you are right about some of his problems, which have magnified since the knee injury. He is running the wrong way from pressure and seems to want a hug from the DE. he was also appeared to be much more indecisive last year.
but can these problems be fixed by time and decent coaching?

Yes they can. This team should have done for Culpepper what it did for Joey and that was to simplify the plays and put more of the load on the other playmakers. Force him to get the ball out quickly, run the ball more, and make adjustments to the line in order to improve its play. All these were things they did eventually, which improved things greatly, but they did it for the wrong QB.

Yeah Culp isn't the smartest bulb out there, but neither was our coaching staff to be able to overcome his shortcomings. Look at guys like Rivers, Young, Grossman, etc., none better or any more smarter than Culp, but their teams put them in positions to succeed.

 

[phinphanforever]

There are plenty of things about Culpepper, besides his physical ability/limitaions, that I don't like and I believe have been, and will be, a hindrance to this team. But let's talk about his physical and mental limitations:

Daunte Culpepper can not make quick reads. Any Daunte supporter will dispute this, but that has ALWAYS been a negative about him. He is a guy who has to get creative with his feet to create something with his arm - unless he can just wing it up to someone. I mentioned in another thread (and I've always felt this way) that Culpepper is a back yard QB who is exposed by defenses that confine him to the pocket. His high completion percentage is due to alot of dump off passes because, when kept in the pocket, he is unable to get comfortable going through his reads, so he chooses to dump a quick pass off to a TE or RB. His yards per attempt is pretty good, but this is skewed by some of the long bombs he throws after scrambling around until the play becomes a broken play or he just has a reciever flat-out outrun a defender down the field.

His inability to read a defense doesn't only effect his passing, but it also has other adverse effects. Daunte Culpepper's inability to read where a BLITZ is coming from results in him actually scrambling TOWARD the pressure and taking unnecassary sacks. Culpepper has averaged being sacked just under THREE times per game over his career. And that was BEFORE he came to Miami. That was WHEN HE HAD A VERY GOOD LINE in Minnesota. That is an extremely high number and is not a reflection of his offensive lines. It's a reflection of problems Culpepper creates for himself.

As a result of taking unnecassary sacks, Culpepper has averaged a staggering ONE fumble per GAME over his career. Think about it: He can, on average, be counted on to fumble the ball once every game. So great, he has a decent TD to INT ratio. But that's because he either dumps it off short, hits a wide open reciever streaking down field AFTER he ran around out of the pocket, or he gets sacked and/ or fumbles.

Culpepper has a strong arm and is a physically imposing guy. But his mental toughness and his lack of ability to think quickly and understand an offense hurts him in many aspects of his game. Now that his mobility has been lost, (and he will never regain it fully) it's safe to say Miami would be better off letting him go and moving on. The risk of wasting another season is simply not worth it.


There have been some folks who really have put a lot of time and energy into trying to look at all of Culpepper's positives and deflect blame from him and protect him. And I can appreciate a fan wanting him to succeed because if he succeeds, then it would help our TEAM. But you have to look at everything, not just the good parts and not just one great season. Culpepper has many issues as a QB that can't be coached out of him. And now that he has limited mobility, those issues will be magnified.


Lastly: We have a new coach in here now. He has a brand new philosophy. He has his own ideas of what his type of QB is. Culpepper, even when playing in an offense that he KNEW and admittedly was comfortable in, struggled and looked very very average. Now that he will have to learn an entirely new terminology, how much further will it set him back considering his apparent history of struggling to understand offenses in general.

I agree with a lot of your points but I think you are downplaying his strenghts. The fact is that DC has a cannon for an arm and can run like a stallion. To have a guy that is his size running with that speed is a defensive coordiantors nightmare. More often than not, when the QB breaks contain big plays become available.
The big question is whether he can fully recover from his injury. It was obvious that he wasn't fully recovered/rehabbed last year but I don't know how you can claim he won't get better.

 

[BLITZKRIEG]

There are plenty of things about Culpepper, besides his physical ability/limitaions, that I don't like and I believe have been, and will be, a hindrance to this team. But let's talk about his physical and mental limitations:

Daunte Culpepper can not make quick reads. Any Daunte supporter will dispute this, but that has ALWAYS been a negative about him. He is a guy who has to get creative with his feet to create something with his arm - unless he can just wing it up to someone. I mentioned in another thread (and I've always felt this way) that Culpepper is a back yard QB who is exposed by defenses that confine him to the pocket. His high completion percentage is due to alot of dump off passes because, when kept in the pocket, he is unable to get comfortable going through his reads, so he chooses to dump a quick pass off to a TE or RB. His yards per attempt is pretty good, but this is skewed by some of the long bombs he throws after scrambling around until the play becomes a broken play or he just has a reciever flat-out outrun a defender down the field.

His inability to read a defense doesn't only effect his passing, but it also has other adverse effects. Daunte Culpepper's inability to read where a BLITZ is coming from results in him actually scrambling TOWARD the pressure and taking unnecassary sacks. Culpepper has averaged being sacked just under THREE times per game over his career. And that was BEFORE he came to Miami. That was WHEN HE HAD A VERY GOOD LINE in Minnesota. That is an extremely high number and is not a reflection of his offensive lines. It's a reflection of problems Culpepper creates for himself.

As a result of taking unnecassary sacks, Culpepper has averaged a staggering ONE fumble per GAME over his career. Think about it: He can, on average, be counted on to fumble the ball once every game. So great, he has a decent TD to INT ratio. But that's because he either dumps it off short, hits a wide open reciever streaking down field AFTER he ran around out of the pocket, or he gets sacked and/ or fumbles.

Culpepper has a strong arm and is a physically imposing guy. But his mental toughness and his lack of ability to think quickly and understand an offense hurts him in many aspects of his game. Now that his mobility has been lost, (and he will never regain it fully) it's safe to say Miami would be better off letting him go and moving on. The risk of wasting another season is simply not worth it.

There have been some folks who really have put a lot of time and energy into trying to look at all of Culpepper's positives and deflect blame from him and protect him. And I can appreciate a fan wanting him to succeed because if he succeeds, then it would help our TEAM. But you have to look at everything, not just the good parts and not just one great season. Culpepper has many issues as a QB that can't be coached out of him. And now that he has limited mobility, those issues will be magnified.

Lastly: We have a new coach in here now. He has a brand new philosophy. He has his own ideas of what his type of QB is. Culpepper, even when playing in an offense that he KNEW and admittedly was comfortable in, struggled and looked very very average. Now that he will have to learn an entirely new terminology, how much further will it set him back considering his apparent history of struggling to understand offenses in general.

Great post!! Couldn't have said it better.....

PHINZ RULE!!!!

 

[SCall13]

I agree with a lot of your points but I think you are downplaying his strenghts. The fact is that DC has a cannon for an arm and can run like a stallion. To have a guy that is his size running with that speed is a defensive coordiantors nightmare. More often than not, when the QB breaks contain big plays become available.
The big question is whether he can fully recover from his injury. It was obvious that he wasn't fully recovered/rehabbed last year but I don't know how you can claim he won't get better.

I did mention that Culpepper has a very strong arm. But arm strength doesn't win games. Look at Brees. He has limited arm strength but is very poised, makes great reads, is very accurate on all his throws, and is very poised in the pocket.

 

[IluvJuMiami]

The fact is that DC has a cannon for an arm

This is why I believe in drafting Ginn Jr if neither Quinn, Russel, or J. Thomas fall to us(all very unlikely). If Daunte is going to stick around, get the guy a speed demon to threaten the defense. Every now and again have him drop back and just launch one for Ginn to chase down. Culpepper to Ginn over and over aginn.

 

[Enforcerfin33]

This is why I believe in drafting Ginn Jr if neither Quinn, Russel, or J. Thomas fall to us(all very unlikely). If Daunte is going to stick around, get the guy a speed demon to threaten the defense. Every now and again have him drop back and just launch one for Ginn to chase down. Culpepper to Ginn over and over aginn.

Yes, but I think as long as Chambers is on the roster they wont go for a speed reciever, which I wish they would.

 

[idaho]

I agree with this post. Daunte looked confused alot last year and held the ball way to long. IMO alot of bonehead panic forced throws.

 

[Finattick]

Looks like conjecture and personal opinion to me, disagree with almost everything you have to say.

Cam's specialty is developing QB's, no reason he can't take Daunte's good skills and improve them, and turn around his shortcomings, turn him into a better QB than he ever was. Personally I'll accept whatever decisions Cam makes about Daunte, and thank God its Cam deciding and not you (or me either).

Developing and teaching an old dog new tricks are two different things:eek: