But, heck, he almost won a super bowl with David Woodley as his quarterback. Miami, clearly the underdog in that game, had a late lead thanks to their defense.
Miami actually was a 3 point favorite, despite the most lopsided quarterback edge in Super Bowl history for the Redskins. Theismann averaged 8.1 yards per attempt in 1982, compared to 6.0 for David Woodley.
That could never happen again. Fans and media are still clueless toward situational influence during the regular season but there has been quite a bit of advancement in statistical research. If an 8.1 quarterback were underdog to 6.0 there would be such mumbling and dismay from the stats sites the theme would carry over to mainstream media, impacting the perception of the game and therefore the number.
Fortunately, the stats guys are so one dimensional they can't comprehend situational variance and how it twists and turns numbers, regardless of category.
It will probably take another 20-30 years before the situational and stats guys concede they have to blend knowledge, similar to trip handicapping in horse racing, which was a reluctant step for many speed figure guys.
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The Dolphins in the early years of the franchise made plenty of personnel gaffes but they were bold and had terrific perspective, leading to the title years. When Rick Norton didn't look like the answer they drafted Griese a year later. Buoniconti was a productive player in the prime of his career and picked up at a value rate. The trade for Warfield carried a high tag but obviously was incredibly astute. I couldn't believe we got that guy. When the backup quarterback spot looked shaky with Jim Del Gaizo in '71 we claimed Morrall for $100 entering '72.
Countless other examples; a talent like Jake Scott sitting there in the 7th round after bolting Georgia for the CFL and some attitude concerns. We struck it rich with several offensive linemen who started elsewhere.
These days Ireland deems it bold to contemplate picking up David Garrard, several years beyond his prime. In sports betting I like value as much as the next guy but I'm making thousands of plays per year so the edge is a steady grind. Ireland has a handful of moves per year and one position that trumps everything else. I have no idea how it's value to subjectively decide a guy is worth $6 million and then refuse to go beyond that, meaning he gets away and you are forced to turn in a completely different direction. That's cutting it too fine, virtually zero margin for error. If you're not going to pinpoint one guy and gamble that you're correct, paying whatever it takes to get him, the only other application of value I detect at the quarterback position is to select several intriguing guys per year until one of them is a jackpot. If that means undrafted guys instead of 3rd, 5th and 7th rounders at certain spots, so be it.
