Tuesday, April 24, 2007

David Carr & Schaub, Brady Quinn & Russell

I cannot say it any better, so here is Gregg Easterbrook on QBs. I wholeheartedly agree with his comments on Carr vs. Schaub (a great quick look at the comparable stats) and Quinn vs. Russell (and the craziness of media hype in determining where players get selected in the draft.)

"In Praise of David Carr: TMQ's immutable Law of Quarterback Talent holds: All quarterbacks suddenly become more talented when the pass blocking is good. Matt Schaub seemed promising in Atlanta, where the blocking was good and a premium running attack kept pressure off the quarterback. Now he goes to the Texans, and we'll see how he looks while being sacked 249 times a game. Actually, that's the total number of sacks endured by David Carr as a Texan, but if you have ever had the misfortune of watching the Moo Cows, it felt like whoever was behind center got hit 249 times per game.

Let's inject a little realism on the Texans' wily quarterback moves. In the 2006 draft, Houston passed on Vince Young, who's from Houston. Now Houston gives up two second-round draft choices -- the equivalent of a first-round pick -- for Schaub, a backup with a grand total of two career starts. A decade ago, Buffalo gave Jacksonville a No. 1 choice for backup quarterback Rob Johnson, and perhaps you remember how that turned out. Schaub's career passer rating is lower than Carr's, while their career YPA and touchdown-interception ratios are essentially the same. That is to say, Schaub has performed somewhat less well than Carr, despite playing in a dramatically better offense. What does Schaub bring to the Texans? The sense that he hasn't played enough to be viewed as a disappointment. Houston management considers this worth the equivalent of a No. 1 draft choice, while considering David Carr worth nothing at all, since the Texans waived him.

TMQ has always admired Carr, who for five years toiled without grievance for a poorly run, losing franchise. The Texans under Carr had a succession of who-dats at left tackle, plus no-accounts at other offensive line positions; never fielded a blue-chip running back; and if you can name a Houston tight end, you are a better man than I am, Gunga Din. Yet Carr performed reasonably well and never complained. As the first overall choice in the NFL draft, Carr might have sounded off. Eli Manning, Carson Palmer, Michael Vick -- several recent first-overall quarterbacks -- have thrown public temper tantrums. Thrust into a bad situation, Carr was a consummate gentleman and the exemplar of the team player. For that he was shown the door. Here's my first 2007 prediction: Carolina will be very happy to have landed the classy David Carr.

Law of Quarterback Talent note: JaMarcus Russell totally outperformend Brady Quinn in their bowl meeting, leading conventional wisdom instantly to transfer the expected No. 1 crown from Quinn to Russell. Maybe Russell will be the better pro; I have no idea. (And, bear in mind, neither does anyone else.) But during the Sugar Bowl, I was counting "one-thousand one, one-thousand two, one-thousand three, one-thousand four" as Russell stood upright like a statute and calmly scanned the field for receivers. When Notre Dame snapped the ball, Quinn rarely had two seconds before he was hit or forced to scramble. All quarterbacks suddenly become more talented when the pass blocking is good! The LSU offensive line provided great pass blocking in the Sugar Bowl, while Quinn spent much of his final two collegiate contests, against USC and LSU, scrambling to his right. Suppose Russell finds himself at Oakland behind a gawd-awful line that last year surrendered 72 sacks, while Quinn lands with a team with good pass protection. Sports pundits may profess amazement that Quinn has suddenly become more talented while Russell has suddenly lost his talent!"

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1 comment:

Hanson said...

Atlanta's pass blocking is terrible. Notice that Michael Vick got sacked more times last year than David Carr. And while the Rob Johnson trade is valid to point out. Also, valid is that the Falcons traded backup QB Brett Favre the the Packers and that worked out pretty well.