NO QB in RD1- Bollinger not Leinart/Cutler!!

I think that us picking a QB is ridiculous. Even if we assume that Penny cannot come back, and Ramsey will still suck, I think Bollinger could be a very good starting QB. He improved every game last year and made us competitive in the last games. Had a fantastic game against Miami. In addition, the Jets had to have had one of the worst OLines ever last year. Morever, he was crippled by Herms insistance on running on first and second down and only allowing him to throw in clear throwing situations. Even worse he would not really try passes in the red zone other than the corner timing play, rather than going play-action or mixing it up. It was criminal.

Despite all that, Bollinger actually did pretty well. He showed a LOT of grit and heart. He was mobile and made plays on the move. His touch get better and better each game. He has a very good arm and made very good long passes.

None of this changes the fact that most Jet fans seem to vilify him and cast him down as the root of all our problems. That is not true and we have a fourth round pick to prove it Was he an elite QB last year? No. Did he have to perform in one of the worst situations possible yes. And i think he distinguished himself.

For the sake of argument, let's consider him a rookie QB, which he essentially was. Since we have a NY team and the best AFC QB is Peyton let's compare his first year results to the Mannings. Ny Giant fans on the other hand are convinced that Eli will turn out to be a franchise QB. Here are the numbers:

Peton Manning
YEAR TEAM G CMP ATT PCT YDS AVG TD LNG INT RAT
1998 IND 16 326 575 56.7 3739 6.5 26 78 28 71.2

Eli Manning
YEAR TEAM G CMP ATT PCT YDS AVG TD LNG INT RAT
2004 NYG 9 95 197 48.2 1043 5.3 6 52 9 55.4

Brooks Bollinger
YEAR TEAM G CMP ATT PCT YDS AVG TD LNG INT RAT
2005 NYJ 11 150 266 56.4 1558 5.9 7 60 6 72.9


To me they are very similar. Peyton obviously had more TDs, but as mentioned before the Jets scheme was a big factor there, and Peyton did have better offensive weapons than Brooks. Brooks QB rating FWIW was much MUCH higher than Eli's and for that matter higher than Peytons. Bollinger splits the difference in Yards per attempt but again is ahead of Eli. Brooks had a positive TD/interception ration while the other two did not.

Now, I am not saying Brooks will be Peyton. Nor I am saying that Eli will be a bust. What I am saying is that Brooks had solid objective performance numbers in his first season as a starting NFL QB. Comparable to the best, and one of the most highly touted prospects in the league. How can one look at that, and watch the games and not think that Brooks has a chance to be a good or excellent starting QB?

If we get OL line help and some offensive play makers Brooks is almost guaranteed to be much better. And QBs can make huge leaps when they get a playmaker. Look at Brees rookie year and after Gates arrived:

Drew Brees
YEAR TEAM G CMP ATT PCT YDS AVG TD LNG INT RAT
2002 SDG 16 320 526 60.8 3284 6.2 17 52 16 76.9
with Antonio Gates
2004 SDG 15 262 400 65.5 3159 7.9 27 79 7 104.8 (pro bowl)
2005 SDG 16 323 500 64.6 3576 7.2 24 54 15 89.2

He is now a ProBowl QB. Notice again how similar first year numbers are. Brees may have actually been the best of all.

Look at it another way. Say we draft Leinart. His numbers will probably be at best in line with what Brooks did. And most people here would defend him to the end saying "he was a rookie QB".

Well Brooks was too.

Because of this I say it is much too early to select another QB in RD 1. We may have the future one already on the team. Now factor in Chad coming back and Ramsey's potential and it seems obvious to me that we are pretty set at QB. We certainly do not need to spend $30M on someone who would quite possibly not even put up the numbers Brooks did. I say stay where we are QB wise, and let Brooks honestly compete for the starting job. Get OLhelp and a playmaker (Davis would be the ultimate) in the draft and we may be all saying in a year how wonderful it is we gave Brooks a chance.

NO QB in Round 1 !!

Disclosure: I am in favor of taking Croyle day 1 in RD2 or RD3

 

But isn't that part of the problem? People seem to be judging Bollinger on the fact he was a mid draft pick and a #3 QB, rather than an objective look at his performance. If what we hear is true about Mangini, then he will probably watch every snap Bollinger has ever taken. If he decides that Bollinger is never more than a 3rd QB or needs to be cut then I guess I have to defer to that opinion. However, by objective measures his performance was not bad, and nothing close to the horrible performance many here seem to think he had. I think in this case, Bollinger IS getting pre-judged because he does not have "pedigree" or a perceived upside. I think he deserves a chance. If I am correct in that, then we have plenty of ammunition at QB and do not have to take QB at 4.

One more thing: after last year, I do not value ANY opinion of the coaching staff, specifically Herm the Politician and Dumberdinger. They gave up. They were focused purely on winning now, and since Bollinger had to develop like all rookie QBs do, they were unwilling to go through the process to let him develop, and ruined any chances he really had. So, those two were not really saying we can not win with Brooks, they were saying we cannot win with him now. Big difference. What those two did last year with the entire team was criminal in its lameness.