TedSlimm is correct...Ireland once again demonstrated poor instincts. If he talked with the media regularly he'd have long since understood which comparisons need to remain internal. As is, it's rookie mistakes from a guy who should be well beyond that.
I'm not sold on Robert Griffin as an NFL star but at least his background suggests a hotly pursued quarterback, someone who was considered a blue chipper by top evaluators years ago. Griffin mentioned on the Gruden camp episode that Harbaugh recruited him at Stanford. That was a jolt to me, an indicator that perhaps I've been too low on Griffin's chances. It's reminiscent of top horse trainers who recognize the chief competitor in the other guy's barn very early, while the media is focused elsewhere. Griffin said he chose Baylor to avoid competition with Andrew Luck, who had already signed with Stanford.
Ryan Tannehill was spurned by his top collegiate choice, Texas Tech and Mike Leach. He ended up playing receiver elsewhere. Lots of little questions, points when he's been doubted. You have to wonder about that, would a future superstar fool so many specialists? He's always been tall and athletically gifted. As Michael Lombardi properly emphasized in a Herald column today, great players seldom switch positions. That's the type of big picture focus I rely on, similar to worrying about running backs who redshirted. There had to be something missing, for a coach to give up a year at that position.
Naturally the apologists scramble for exceptions. Nothing hits 100%. It's always comical when a rookie quarterback flops early and the desperate threads show up, listing Peyton Manning's stats as a rookie. The exceptions will wear a hole in your pants and home if you insist they are trivia, only applicable elsewhere.