A consistent theme from readers about my approach with the Browns is that I’m not giving Brady Quinn a fair shake, that he’s joined a bad team and people should not expect much from him in the first year he’s starting.
First, he’s been in the league two full seasons, plus this one. Theoretically, he spent those two years getting ready to play. So … no, it’s not fair to compare him to other first-year quarterbacks — because mentally he should be more ready.
But … I do recognize there is a bigger issue at play here.
Quinn had a good quote about this Wednesday when he was asked if Mark Sanchez of the Jets and Joe Flacco of the Ravens set the bar high for young quarterbacks.
He said: “Yes, I think so. They’ve done a great job. You have to give them a lot of credit but I think you have to give their team a lot of credit as well. Whether it’s Matt Ryan in Atlanta or Joe Flacco or Sanchez in New York, I think you’ve noticed that their whole team is really producing well. They have a solid running game, their special teams is putting them in good positions to make plays. It kind of opens things up more downfield for them.”
This is a great statement on Quinn’s part to defend himself, but it’s also fairly accurate. SI.com’s Ross Tucker pointed out that Flacco and Sanchez were one of a few quarterbacks to hit the jackpot on draft day.
“As in ‘Congratulations, you've been given the keys to a ready-made winner, just don't screw it up,’” Tucker wrote.
One could make the case that Quinn was not drafted to the same level of team as Flacco, or Ben Roethlisberger. But Matt Ryan was drafted to a 4-12 team and Flacco was drafted to a 5-11 team. Their teams turned things around with them starting as quarterback. The turnarounds were not solely because of the quarterback, but the quarterback helped the cause.
At this point in Cleveland, the Browns team is holding Quinn back, but he is also not helping his cause or the team’s. The more I think about him, the more I’m convinced he’s tied in knots mentally, and he’s playing to avoid a mistake as opposed to playing to win. No NFL quarterback can win playing to avoid mistakes. The position demands too much, the game is too fast and the other team too aggressive.
Quinn deserves time. He could still be fine. These could be normal growing pains. But other teams experience the same growing pains, yet they still manage to win. Either the team is better, or the quarterback plays well enough to actually … well … you know … help the team win. That’s not happened in two games with the Browns.
Is it all Quinn’s fault? Of course not. Can he play better? Absolutely. Is there reason to wonder about him? There’s reason to raise eyerows, but there’s no reason to think of abandoning him. That being said, if there is a chance to win a game, the Browns should do what they have to do to win the game, even if it means making the call to the bullpen. Is Quinn holding the offense back? It’s hard to say, but he’s sure not advancing it.
The point is not to compare any two players, their numbers and statistics in ‘x’ number of games. The point is that teams can turn things around with a new, young quarterback starting. It’s not impossible. It can be done. And it’s up to the team to make that happen.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
All of these Parcells/Belichick guys don't seem to want to play rookies. Jared Mayo last year for the Pats…I don't remember him getting lots of time even though he was a 1st round pick. This coaching tree seems very dedicated to playing veterans. Also, I remember Bledsoe telling Parcells during a game via NFL films, "You gotta let me throw the ball, Bill." Romo had a very tight reign on him when Parcells was there….and until Moss got to New England, they moved the ball "in a methodical way" down the field with Troy Brown and the RB who they got from Cincy (name escapes me right now)
My point is….that with this whole coaching tree, EVERYTHING is methodical and unless they are winning, you see the kind of frustration we saw with Romeo, with Parcells in Dallas, and what we are starting to see now.
Quinn stinks.
He's a less-accurate, weaker-armed, more tentative version of Tim Couch.
From what I gather there are three factors that explain everyone's fascination and hence high likability and expectations of him.
1. The infamous picture of BQ in a Browns jersey as a little kid.
2. His movie star looks.
3. He went to Notre Dame.
As the discerning reader will gather, none of these factors mean much in one's ability to be an above average NFL quarterback; that is unless you count putting up numbers against the service academies.
In spite of the first sentence of my post, my point isn't to flame Quinn. I simply think that if #1 didn't exist, he looked like the author, and he went to college at UCLA, BQ would be holding a clipboard (at best) in the league right now.
"SI.com’s Ross Tucker pointed out that Flacco and Sanchez were one of a few quarterbacks to hit the jackpot on draft day." Was this correct English, or was this written incorrectly? Seriously, I want to know, I honestly don't know the answer. Anybody with a doctorate in English out there? I'm thinking it should it have been "Flacco and Sanchez were *two* of a few quarterbacks to hit the jackpot on draft day," but I might be wrong. A singular and plural mix-up? larry d. is usually pretty good at analyzing these things. Perhaps it was akin to writing something like, "Pat was really mesmerized and enjoys staring at the huge pair of Courteney Cox's big fake boob," but I don't know. Somebody help me out here.
You're overthinkin' it, Alan. Is her pair of boob really fake?
Anyone else here really tired of the supposed "Parcells tree?" If Romeo and Mangini are the apples, they fell far from the tree of success. I can't stand control freaks, and I'm guessing the ego-laden NFL players can't either.
I'll fully blame the Browns for letting Brady Quinn rot for 2+ years. If anyone EVER tries to sell us the bogus "let him watch and learn on the sidelines" shtick again, I'll go berserk. We wasted two years. Now we've got a guy who hasn't seen real action trying to turn things around. And he looks horrible. I love Brady. Love his movie star looks, his mag cover, his work ethic. But either he's been ruined, or he truly cannot play at this level. Not til I see marked improvement.
Here's the thing…whether Quinn is a NFL caliber QB or not, we will never know in Cleveland. Since the team has come back to the NFL in 1999, its a joke from the top down. Carmen Policy/Dwight Clark set the franchise back decades by the looks of it. For them, winning the PR battle was more than winning on the field.
The thing I always debate with my friends about when it comes to Browns QB's is this…guys like Tom Brady, Roethlisberger are in some circles listed as top 5 QB's in football today. Had Brady been a 5th round pick for Cleveland, there's a very good chance he'd never have been heard from again once his time in Cleveland was done. And even if another team picked him up, a good team, he wouldn't be a 3 time SB champion, wouldn't have name recognition that a Giselle Bundchen would want to meet and then be with him. Ben Roethlisberger in Cleveland? No way there are 2 SB's in his career, wouldn't have the name recognition that a motel clerk decides this is the guy I'm gonna say raped me, none of that in his life.
You guys who say DA sucks, or Brady will never lead the Browns anywhere…well, no SB winning QB in HISTORY would have taken these Browns over the last 10 years to any consistent respectable level. But had any of them been in Cleveland over the last 10 years, there would be countless people saying they don't deserve the starting QB gig for Cleveland cuz they suck.
I'm not saying put Tim Couch or Spergeon Wynn on NE and either one of them would have 3 SB victories cuz there have been bad personnel decisions too. With Couch, there is absolutely no reason the Browns shouldn't have taken the whole Saints draft in trade so Ditka could draft Ricky Williams and we could draft a team. But then again, we would have needed a strong personnel guy to make those decisions, not Policy/Clark.
Those saying Mangini is an idiot for trading down and not drafting Sanchez need to take a step back and look at the whole picture. While it looks pretty good that Mangini is an idiot, the same lot of you would be calling him an idiot for drafting Sanchez instead of a LB with that pick because Sanchez would not have come close to 2 wins in his 1st 2 starts with the Browns and chances are good he'd be looking quite as pathetic as Quinn has these 2 games.
@Jason,
At least Quinn put up numbers against the service academies. That's more than you can say for Terelle Pryor.
Quinn's situation goes way beyond not having a "ready made team" to slide into. At this point he has a NO TALENT team where he just survives to play another day. No running game, half an offensive line and one pro-quality receiver that makes catches if the spirit happens to move him that day. I suspect the uber-conservative play calling is the coaching staff hoping to steal a win by not losing the game with turnovers and praying for the other team to self destruct. What choice do they have? I just hope Brady survives with all his marbles and not have to use a walker at the end of this season.
Yes, Matt, her pair of boob is really fake. http://xr.com/40y
Don't take too long with Quinn's "development". The longer it goes on the more it hurts the rest of the team. Edwards didn't learn to run patterns with Frye's sandlot style and the rookie receivers won't be served by Quinn at his current rate. There's been plenty written about the culture of losing with the Browns. "Seeing what we've got with Quinn", as so many want to do may only add to it. The players want to win and they can see a guy on the bench that can win some games.
"The players want to win and they can see a guy on the bench that can win some games."
Yep. True. They see a guy on the bench who threw 8 TDs and 9 INTs last season. Woohoo! A guy who only 2 years ago was beaten out for the QB job out of camp by Charlie Frye (3rd string QB – OAK). A guy who has been beaten out by a guy who held a clipboard most of the past 2 seasons. A guy who led his college team to records of 8-5, 7-5, and 8-6. Diminishing skills. Nope. Never had the skills of a champion. A guy who was a 6th round draft choice a few years ago, and was kicked to the curb by a pretty good judge of talent – Ozzie Newsome.
Leave Quinn alone. He'll be fine.
open the offence up go down the field I AM TIRED OF SEEING DINK AND DUNK FOOTBALL lets go for it win or lose thats why I respected Bill Cower we had balls
Uh … Dan. Bernie Kosar and his gas-powered bread chainsaw went to exactly the same number of Pro Bowls as that guy Ozzie Newsome "kicked to the curb." How is it relevant to anything that Anderson was drafted in the 6th round? So what? Kinda silly to even bring it up, don't you think? In what round was Tom Brady drafted? How many touchdowns did Anderson not get because a guy dropped the ball, and how many interceptions were caused because some goof ran the wrong route? And who cares if he originally lost the job to Chaz Frye? I'd question the moron who made the original choice that Frye was better than Anderson. Steve Young eventually beat out Joe Montana. Would it have made you feel better if he beat out Mike Phipps' daughter? Who cares who originally beat out Anderson? Who cares in what round he was drafted? Who cares what their college records were? If you want to bring up college, Quinn had more losses as a Notre Dame quarterback than any other Notre Dame quarterback preceding him in Notre Dame's history. So what?
Seriously, if somebody is going to knock Anderson, at least have the courtesy to yank something relevant out of the caboose.