Well, I guess the obvious question is who do we go for in the top 3, or 5, assuming we finish the season at the same rate we have been going? This isn't meant to be one of those "Let's lose out to get the #1 pick" statements, I'm just asking the obvious question that goes with this thread.
Personally, I have no clue. On one hand, I have ZERO faith in Culpepper, I have NEVER liked him, I never wanted him, and I was EXTREMELY mad when Saban made the trade for him. It's the first thing I have been pissed at Saban for (besides starting Reggie Howard
). I don't believe he is "the future" and I don't believe he is the fix to our QB problems. The guy was CRAP last season, BEFORE the injury. You add a serious knee injury to a QB who was already going downhill and who relies on his legs to make plays, and that is NOT a good combination, definately not a round 2 combo. I am sick and tired of the whole "one person's trash is another man's treasure" outlook for our QB situation. We need to just draft a young QB and start grooming him to be the future, because every person we have tried since Dan Marino has been a career backup that is thrown into a starting role. Fiedler, Lucas, Rosenfels, Griese, Heupel, Frerotte, Feeley, Lemon, Berlin, Culpepper, Harrington, Vick. THOSE are our answers at QB since Marino left :rolleyes2. Only ONE has ever done anything worthwhile. I hate to bring up the most GLARING screw up, but we passed up DREW BREES for JAMAR FLETCHER. We could be sitting pretty right now with Drew Brees throwing to Chambers, McMichael, Booker, Welker, Hagan, and Brown. Instead we have Gimpy McSuckpepper and Joey Heres-The-Ball-Defense-Ington. I am not a negative person, and I usually hold out on judgement, good or bad, til I have given the players a fair amount of time to show something. Well, enough time already, our QBs SUCK and we need to DRAFT a QB (that isn't a round 6 QB named Heupel). It's time to invest in our future, and get a RETURN on the investment. Not toss away a round 2 pick on a has-been.
On the other hand, who the hell do we take? Say, hypothetically, we do have a top 3-5 pick. We need a QB super bad, but there are two problems. The first, QBs (or any pick for that matter) that high take up a LOT of cap room. That is only a minor problem though, the other is, do any of the QBs DESERVE a pick that high? Everyone will toss out Brady Quinn's name, but honestly, he showed one great season and he looks like CRAP this season. I think last year's success was due more to the fact that the defenses hadn't seen Weis' offense than it did with Brady Quinn's talents. Don't get me wrong, I like the guy, I'm by no means bashing him, but is he worthy of a top 3-5 pick? He has fallen this year just as fast as he rose last year. Troy Smith? No thank you. I don't care what "experts" say, the guy ISN'T Vince Young. They just compare them because they are both successful black QBs. I would take Young over Smith any day. Smith has had Ted Ginn Jr (and Sinorice Moss last year) to bail him out, Vince did it all on his own. Limas Sweed, Texas' #1 WR, didn't break out til THIS year (even though the potential was always there). Plus, Young isn't destroying the NFL like he did the NCAA, so why should we think Troy will be any different?
Who does that leave for QBs? For seniors we have Drew Stanton, Jordan Palmer, Kevin Kolb, Chris Leak, and Joe Ayoob as the top guys, and Chad Henne and Brian Brohm as the top juniors. None of them are worthy of a top 5 pick. We have our RB, we have our TE, we have our WRs, so which way do we go with this one? Offense is obviously our problem, with the exception of the secondary, which I don't think is as glaring as the offense, but it needs to definately be addressed.
What's everyone else's take on this? What position/who do you think we should go with assuming we have a top 3-5 pick?
If I HAD to chose, and we couldn't trade, I'd snatch up Brady Quinn. Despite his troubles he HAS put together some impressive comeback drives this year, and it's obvious he can be coached up because he went from nobody to Heisman candidate in one year with Weis.
I would have LOVED to grab Cutler last year though. I liked him before all the hype started and I knew he would be good in the NFL because he was used to the pressure of a bad team and having to carry the team in his back to get wins. Leinart was TOO used to winning, I figured he'd have trouble going from the top to the bottom, but Cutler was already around the bottom, so it wouldn't be a drastic change for him.
