Of all of Brett Favre's retirements, this has to be one of the strangest. After all his years at Green Bay, he was old and it was accepted, fine, you're going to retire. Then the Jets came into the picture and he reconsiders one more year. Then for retirement number two: he's done his years at Green Bay, done his extra year with the Jets, he's finished. And all through the summer, the Minnesota Vikings banged on his door and begged him to join them for a year. He says no. No through the OTAs, no through the real training camp, and then, oh, go on then... And then it finally happens! The old Brett Favre is back! In one of his best seasons in yeeaars, he takes the Vikings to within one painful play of reaching the Superbowl.
Is he done now? I refuse to believe it. All summer long the bookmakers have had him as favourite to return but on Wednesday it was announced that he would decide to retire. Espn's writers wrote frantic blogs, Espn Football Today called an 'emergency podcast', and it seemed that this was it. Until Thursday when news filtered through that Favre "will play if he's healthy"...
Well all I have to say to that is this: HA HA HA! I'm sorry, I just think the whole thing is ridiculous. First of all, I firmly believed from the start that if he was going to retire, he would have done so a short time after the Vikings season ended - this was the respectable way to go. All through the summer he's been saying he's unsure and couldn't make a decision; yet at the same time, he decided to undergo the ankle surgery he had which was obviously done in prep for a 2010 season - he wasn't getting microscopic ankle surgery to mow the lawn or play tag football. And as for health, this is Dr James Andrews we're talking about. He's the best, bar none. He would have known all along whether Favre surgery was going to work out, and I believe that being as he is, Favre would have come out and spoken publicly if the had been any doubts raised about whether it would heal properly. For the fact that he's still lingering, and we're 1 week away from preseason, tells me one thing and one thing only: "I'm going to retire, or not, or well, maybe not if I'm healthy" = "Guys, look, I'm old, I can't really be bothered with preseason but I know I'm going to look lame if I just sit it out, so I'll be on my couch for a while and I'll give you a call in a few weeks when Tavaris and Sage have made your hair go a little grey."
Nothing else. It's the great Favre sit out. And for as good as he is, it's acceptable. Get him at Tampa and I'd let him sit the first few games if he came to play the last fourteen for us!
But as for whether he'll retire or not, there's no doubt in my mind that he'll be back and only two possible ways that he'll stay retired: 1) He drops a fruitbowl on his ankle in the next few weeks, 2) He actually really isn't fit enough and has just madly mis-timed his decision to retire. For his sake, I hope it isn't this. If the interception against the Saints was going to be his last snap in NFL football, he should have retired soon after the game; and it would be sad to see things end this way.
So that's my take on it - he'll be back. I just watched NFL Network and in a heated discussion between Mooch, Eisen and Irvin, Marruicci was talking about the situation. He didn't say much but I could I swear I saw it in his eyes :) he'll be back.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
NFL Quarterback breakdown for 2010
When I say QB situation, I don't mean “QB Controversy”. No no, I simply mean “Do they have options?” “OK, well what should they do?!”. Hence, the Pats, the Colts, the Rams, Dallas, and the Saints do not feature in here. ...and after next week, neither will the Vikings...
As for the Bucs, I'm pretty confident. Our QBs are as unknown as an NFL roster gets but I'm happy with them. I've got a lot of faith in Josh Freeman and I can really see him turning out to be a solid NFL player. Sure, he wasn't great last season but he was thrown into things late, after Leftwich and Johnson fell. A couple of notable games were his debut against the Packers which we won in the final minutes, and then the overtime finish against the Saints (who, of course, went on to win the Superbowl). He reminds me of a younger McNabb. I've heard a few people say he's like Vince young but I don't think he has Vince's speed. He is, nonetheless, much bigger than Vince, and is tough to knock down. All in all, I'd take Vince Young or McNabb quarterbacking my team anyday, I'm happy with him starting this season.
As backup to Freeman we've got Josh Johnson, whom I'm happy with too. He lost all three starts with us last season (including the Wembley game which I was at), but I saw a daring attitude in him that I liked. He wasn't afraid of mixing up a play - even though sometimes it ended up worse! Without a solid QB at the Bucs for a long time, and certainly through his rookie years, it's easy to see why he is the way he is, however, I believe, in time he'll do OK as our backup. I was also going to write that I was happy with us picking up Jevan Snead. He'd originally been considered one of the best draft prospects alongside Sam Bradford, though ended up going undrafted, but I've just read that we released him earlier today, so he mustn't have impressed in the OTAs
As for other teams, I think Denver have a situation. It's not necessarily a bad one, but it's a situation. For any of the top 8 teams in the league, picking Tim Tebow in the draft would have been an easy ride. Well, assuming he's prepared to sit as backup for a while. The Pats, Colts, Saints are all fine teams with an excellent quarterback, and with no fantastic backups in any of them, Tebow would have fitted in OK. In my opinion, Minnesota would have been great for him, sitting behind Favre for a year, and then challenging Tavaris Jackson for the starting job... And going to Jacksonville, who slowly seem to be getting tired of David Gerrard, he'd have been a great fit. But Denver is a little odd. Denver invested a lot in Kyle Orton, and he has to be the definite starter for 2010 - and barring any mess-ups 2011 too. But with the inclusion of Brady Quinn on their roster, it's hard to see where Tebow fits. Tebow's coming out of college as one of the most famed college players ever, and many people have high expectations for him, but with Orton starting and Brady Quinn on board, it's hard to see when Tebow will get his chance. Brady Quinn has been a flop, there's no question about it. He didn't live up to expectations, and often struggled to keep hold of his starting job at Cleveland. But now that Denver have picked him up, I think they've definitely got to give him a chance. But how long until he gets it? We'd assume that - barring any mess-ups - Orton will keep his job all season long, but if he was to lose it after that, who next? Tebow already? For me, this is the only way and Brady Quinn will be nothing more than a replacement when/if Orton gets injured, with Tebow will slowly work his way into Quinns job. I really hope it does work out this way because I wouldn't trust Quinn. So, in conclusion to this one, for as long as Brady Quinn is nothing more than a backup boy for year 1 of the Tebow years, until year 2 commences and Timmy is experienced enough to be a backup himself, then I'm cool with it. But if there's one thing I learned last year, it was that you can never predict what Josh Mcdaniels is going to do next. e.g. Le Brandon Marshall saga. But that's another story...
The biggest QB situation of 2010 for me, is in Philli. This was a team that definitely had one QB too many, and for me, they made the wrong move. It was definitely a tough one, but I still can't get my head around what they did with McNabb. This is a guy who'd taken them to five NFC Championship games and a Superbowl.
And for what??? A second round pick?!? Crazy stuff. Fine, the guy's almost old enough to be my dad, but the second I heard about his move to the Redskins, I was in disbelief. If you want to get rid of him, fine, but to your biggest rivals?! And I mean, your biggest rivals who have just hired Mike Shannahan and are one Albert Hainesworth situation away from chasing your tail!? When the news was emphatically released by Adam Schefter (how I want to be that guy...) on Easter Sunday, I wrote “Retribution awaits the city of brotherly love”. And I sincerely hope it comes. October 3rd – Week 4 – right after Kolb's taken them to just one win in three... :)
The only way I can make sense of the situation is this: on the one hand, they want a clean up their roster; they've got some good young guys in (Maclin, etc) and they did have one QB too many. If they'd have gotten rid of Kolb, they were left with a great guy who hasn't got many more years in him, and a guy who used to be excellent, but has spent the last few years behind bars in an orange jumpsuit. Consequently, losing Kolb wasn't an option. As for Vick, he's special. this is a guy who Atlanta built a team around for three solid years, and before he got arrested and jailed, he took them to the NFC Championship game. Then the year he broke his leg in preseason they went on to lose all but two games. He was the Atlanta falcons, and granted he might not have been the greatest passers in the game, but he was something special, almost magical. When lacking inspiration, I still load up youtube and watch his top ten greatest touchdowns. That infamous run against Minnesota? Extraordinary. He had a spark that made you want to watch the Falcons games; and all last year, I just had to watch the Philli games he was playing, just in case! At any one moment he could turn a dead play into something unbelievable, and it was awesome. If he could come close to recreating what he once was, then Philli have gotten themselves something great for not a lot. For this reason they weren't shipping Vick. Of course, there's also the fact that they weren't exactly getting anything like the McNabb offers, but remember, they did have to pay him a $5million bonus to keep him there for this season, so they definitely have some belief in him. Anyway, enough of the Vick admiration and back to the QB situation... What do I think Andy Reid has in mind? Kolb is the obvious starter. He's been there for enough seasons now and knows Reid's playbook back to front. Only two games in all the time he's been there, he definitely deserves a chance. How long? It depends on his success rate. I belive Philli are good enough to make the playoffs this season. Why? Well every year there's the Dallas hype, and I hate to buy into it - I can't stand Romo - and New York are a wild card team for me, as in, I think they're hard to place. If Philli's expectations are to make the playoffs, then I'd give Kolb the first three games: Green Bay, Detroit and Jacksonville. If he loses all three, he's out. Anything else and Reid's just got to look at the way he's playing and make judgement based on that. The one thing that worries me is that the Eagles might be scared to start Vick, even if Kolb fails. It looked like he just got in the way last year with the whole wildcat formation, and with himself and Kolb competing on a level playing field, it's going to be hard to see it working. All in all, I still have faith in Vick, and if Philli don't, it could end up costing them. He should at least be given a couple of games in the preseason.
Tennessee will be interesting too. I was a big fan of Kerry Collins. Not the old Kerry Collins, no. But that guy who started for the Titans in the season before last, wow, he was good. Then he went and lost his first six games of the 2009 season and I'll admit it, I was with Jeff Fisher all the way in deciding to keep him in his starting job for those six games. And then, out of nowhere, Vince Young returned! And no, not the Vince Young of recent years. It was seemingly the rookie Vince Young that went to the pro bowl in 2005! Yes, I think he's back :) and it could mean very good things for Tennessee this year. As for Kerry Collins, Fisher can't start him after the finish Vince Young had last year; he'll just have to sit and wait until Vince does something crazy again...
The Bills are the team which I'd say are in the worst position. Trent Edwards is ok, but as a starter? Not a prospect I like the sound of. As for Ryan Fitzpatrick, he's famous for being only the second person to get 100% on the Wonderlic test, the genius kid from Harvard. However, one thing he's not famed for is being a great NFL QB. If I'm being honest, he symbolises everything I think about the Buffalo Bills right now: not good enough. Basically, a piece of advice for the Bills: finish last, pick first, take Jake Locker. Enough said.
And then the Vikings? Ohh, I went there... Silly isn't it? Because Favre is coming back. There's no question. It was reported that he told a team mate that he'd never shirt-up again after that Saints game last season but the simple fact is that if he wasn't coming back, he'd have said something by now. So, unless he breaks his foot in the next few weeks, or stubs his toe, he'll be back for week one of the new season.
That's all I have for now. Most other teams are fine with one QB in place. Whether they're great teams like the Pats and the Colts, or as bad as it gets with the Lions and the Rams, they've all pretty much got it sorted.
As for the Bucs, I'm pretty confident. Our QBs are as unknown as an NFL roster gets but I'm happy with them. I've got a lot of faith in Josh Freeman and I can really see him turning out to be a solid NFL player. Sure, he wasn't great last season but he was thrown into things late, after Leftwich and Johnson fell. A couple of notable games were his debut against the Packers which we won in the final minutes, and then the overtime finish against the Saints (who, of course, went on to win the Superbowl). He reminds me of a younger McNabb. I've heard a few people say he's like Vince young but I don't think he has Vince's speed. He is, nonetheless, much bigger than Vince, and is tough to knock down. All in all, I'd take Vince Young or McNabb quarterbacking my team anyday, I'm happy with him starting this season.
As backup to Freeman we've got Josh Johnson, whom I'm happy with too. He lost all three starts with us last season (including the Wembley game which I was at), but I saw a daring attitude in him that I liked. He wasn't afraid of mixing up a play - even though sometimes it ended up worse! Without a solid QB at the Bucs for a long time, and certainly through his rookie years, it's easy to see why he is the way he is, however, I believe, in time he'll do OK as our backup. I was also going to write that I was happy with us picking up Jevan Snead. He'd originally been considered one of the best draft prospects alongside Sam Bradford, though ended up going undrafted, but I've just read that we released him earlier today, so he mustn't have impressed in the OTAs
As for other teams, I think Denver have a situation. It's not necessarily a bad one, but it's a situation. For any of the top 8 teams in the league, picking Tim Tebow in the draft would have been an easy ride. Well, assuming he's prepared to sit as backup for a while. The Pats, Colts, Saints are all fine teams with an excellent quarterback, and with no fantastic backups in any of them, Tebow would have fitted in OK. In my opinion, Minnesota would have been great for him, sitting behind Favre for a year, and then challenging Tavaris Jackson for the starting job... And going to Jacksonville, who slowly seem to be getting tired of David Gerrard, he'd have been a great fit. But Denver is a little odd. Denver invested a lot in Kyle Orton, and he has to be the definite starter for 2010 - and barring any mess-ups 2011 too. But with the inclusion of Brady Quinn on their roster, it's hard to see where Tebow fits. Tebow's coming out of college as one of the most famed college players ever, and many people have high expectations for him, but with Orton starting and Brady Quinn on board, it's hard to see when Tebow will get his chance. Brady Quinn has been a flop, there's no question about it. He didn't live up to expectations, and often struggled to keep hold of his starting job at Cleveland. But now that Denver have picked him up, I think they've definitely got to give him a chance. But how long until he gets it? We'd assume that - barring any mess-ups - Orton will keep his job all season long, but if he was to lose it after that, who next? Tebow already? For me, this is the only way and Brady Quinn will be nothing more than a replacement when/if Orton gets injured, with Tebow will slowly work his way into Quinns job. I really hope it does work out this way because I wouldn't trust Quinn. So, in conclusion to this one, for as long as Brady Quinn is nothing more than a backup boy for year 1 of the Tebow years, until year 2 commences and Timmy is experienced enough to be a backup himself, then I'm cool with it. But if there's one thing I learned last year, it was that you can never predict what Josh Mcdaniels is going to do next. e.g. Le Brandon Marshall saga. But that's another story...
The biggest QB situation of 2010 for me, is in Philli. This was a team that definitely had one QB too many, and for me, they made the wrong move. It was definitely a tough one, but I still can't get my head around what they did with McNabb. This is a guy who'd taken them to five NFC Championship games and a Superbowl.
And for what??? A second round pick?!? Crazy stuff. Fine, the guy's almost old enough to be my dad, but the second I heard about his move to the Redskins, I was in disbelief. If you want to get rid of him, fine, but to your biggest rivals?! And I mean, your biggest rivals who have just hired Mike Shannahan and are one Albert Hainesworth situation away from chasing your tail!? When the news was emphatically released by Adam Schefter (how I want to be that guy...) on Easter Sunday, I wrote “Retribution awaits the city of brotherly love”. And I sincerely hope it comes. October 3rd – Week 4 – right after Kolb's taken them to just one win in three... :)
The only way I can make sense of the situation is this: on the one hand, they want a clean up their roster; they've got some good young guys in (Maclin, etc) and they did have one QB too many. If they'd have gotten rid of Kolb, they were left with a great guy who hasn't got many more years in him, and a guy who used to be excellent, but has spent the last few years behind bars in an orange jumpsuit. Consequently, losing Kolb wasn't an option. As for Vick, he's special. this is a guy who Atlanta built a team around for three solid years, and before he got arrested and jailed, he took them to the NFC Championship game. Then the year he broke his leg in preseason they went on to lose all but two games. He was the Atlanta falcons, and granted he might not have been the greatest passers in the game, but he was something special, almost magical. When lacking inspiration, I still load up youtube and watch his top ten greatest touchdowns. That infamous run against Minnesota? Extraordinary. He had a spark that made you want to watch the Falcons games; and all last year, I just had to watch the Philli games he was playing, just in case! At any one moment he could turn a dead play into something unbelievable, and it was awesome. If he could come close to recreating what he once was, then Philli have gotten themselves something great for not a lot. For this reason they weren't shipping Vick. Of course, there's also the fact that they weren't exactly getting anything like the McNabb offers, but remember, they did have to pay him a $5million bonus to keep him there for this season, so they definitely have some belief in him. Anyway, enough of the Vick admiration and back to the QB situation... What do I think Andy Reid has in mind? Kolb is the obvious starter. He's been there for enough seasons now and knows Reid's playbook back to front. Only two games in all the time he's been there, he definitely deserves a chance. How long? It depends on his success rate. I belive Philli are good enough to make the playoffs this season. Why? Well every year there's the Dallas hype, and I hate to buy into it - I can't stand Romo - and New York are a wild card team for me, as in, I think they're hard to place. If Philli's expectations are to make the playoffs, then I'd give Kolb the first three games: Green Bay, Detroit and Jacksonville. If he loses all three, he's out. Anything else and Reid's just got to look at the way he's playing and make judgement based on that. The one thing that worries me is that the Eagles might be scared to start Vick, even if Kolb fails. It looked like he just got in the way last year with the whole wildcat formation, and with himself and Kolb competing on a level playing field, it's going to be hard to see it working. All in all, I still have faith in Vick, and if Philli don't, it could end up costing them. He should at least be given a couple of games in the preseason.
Tennessee will be interesting too. I was a big fan of Kerry Collins. Not the old Kerry Collins, no. But that guy who started for the Titans in the season before last, wow, he was good. Then he went and lost his first six games of the 2009 season and I'll admit it, I was with Jeff Fisher all the way in deciding to keep him in his starting job for those six games. And then, out of nowhere, Vince Young returned! And no, not the Vince Young of recent years. It was seemingly the rookie Vince Young that went to the pro bowl in 2005! Yes, I think he's back :) and it could mean very good things for Tennessee this year. As for Kerry Collins, Fisher can't start him after the finish Vince Young had last year; he'll just have to sit and wait until Vince does something crazy again...
The Bills are the team which I'd say are in the worst position. Trent Edwards is ok, but as a starter? Not a prospect I like the sound of. As for Ryan Fitzpatrick, he's famous for being only the second person to get 100% on the Wonderlic test, the genius kid from Harvard. However, one thing he's not famed for is being a great NFL QB. If I'm being honest, he symbolises everything I think about the Buffalo Bills right now: not good enough. Basically, a piece of advice for the Bills: finish last, pick first, take Jake Locker. Enough said.
And then the Vikings? Ohh, I went there... Silly isn't it? Because Favre is coming back. There's no question. It was reported that he told a team mate that he'd never shirt-up again after that Saints game last season but the simple fact is that if he wasn't coming back, he'd have said something by now. So, unless he breaks his foot in the next few weeks, or stubs his toe, he'll be back for week one of the new season.
That's all I have for now. Most other teams are fine with one QB in place. Whether they're great teams like the Pats and the Colts, or as bad as it gets with the Lions and the Rams, they've all pretty much got it sorted.
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