And if memory serves the Steelers' plan from the beginning that year was to have Big Ben start the year on the bench. They didn't have a competition like the Jets did, they had a grooming plan.
This is why a QB who started in his freshman or sophomore year is so much more valuable than a redshirt who didn't play until his third year. He already has had the experience of walking into a locker room full of older guys who are sure they know better than him and leading them despite that fact.
Harbaugh couldn't wait to scoot Smith out the door. Couldn't do it right away. Waited. Doug Flutie was about 67 years old in 2001. Brees sat. Eli was NOT ready that first year so he sat, and Maddox is certainly Tommy Maddox. Point is, all those guys sat first, didn't beat out that underwhelming list of vets, and have turned out just fine. And those are just four off the top of my head. Feel free to find more. Geno Smith isn't a bust if he doesn't win the job by his second preseason game, I don't care who the competition is.
Flash, as I just pointed out, the Steelers didn't have a competition. Their plan was for Big Ben to sit. I'm sure if they had a competition he'd have beaten Maddox; but the Bill Cowher philosophy was that it was better to sit and learn than be tossed in the fire. A common, old school, philosophy that was employed with both Brees and Manning. The Chargers brought in Flutie specifically so they could let Brees sit. The Giants brought in Kurt Warning specifically so they could let Eli sit. Also: Alex Smith's TD/INT Ratio the past 2 years = 3.0:1 Mark Sanches' TD/INT Ratio the past 2 years = 1.08:1 Our plan is not, and never was, to let the rook sit for a year. We put him in competition with a bottom 5 NFL QB. If he can't win that battle, he doesn't have much talent.
if he's not good in 4 months he can't get better, got it. good thing theres no such thing as learning curve or development over time, otherwise that theory falls flat. I think you have it backwards; its more detrimental to a struggling 5 year veteran to not be able to separate himself from a rookie, than it is for a rookie to not be able to immediately separate himself from a struggling veteran. the rookie has an excuse the veteran doesn't; they just got here and while they may have talent it often takes time to bring it to a pro level. I don't know why you're so extreme about a rookies abilities, why would it be far fetched to imagine that he has talent but not the enough ability to use it in a pro setting out of the gate? All this competition is for Smith is a test to see if he's ready to go now or later. doesn't mean he's talentless if he loses to a guy thats more used to how things are.
You're exaggerating my words. He doesn't need to be a top 10 QB off the bat; he just needs to be better than a bottom 5 QB off the bat. Sanchez who had a sub 55% completion percentage and a 13:18 TD/INT ratio last year. If he can't be better than that, even as a rookie, then his odds of being a top 10 QB at any point in the future is next to nil. Even crappy Christian Ponder and Blaine Gabbert had better TD:INT ratios their rookie years.
Fair enough. I see the distinction. It doesn't really change the fact that Brees and Manning weren't good enough in the beginning to win a competition. In Manning's case, it was less because he was behind a borderline HOFer and more because Eli sucked the balls early on. Brees had a similarly rocky start and overcame it. He got better. And I know Alex Smith is efficient recently. I also know he was terrible for 6 years before that, including the 2010 season. When Kap was drafted in 2011, Smith hadn't had his last two (best) years. Official competition or not, if Kap lit it up, they would have moved on. Instead, he went 24 for 50 with FIVE picks in the preseason. Now he's better than that. That's not even getting to guys like Romo, who sat for years behind guys like Quincy Carter and Drew Henson. I want to move on from Sanchez too, but if Geno doesn't win the job after 1 preseason (during which he missed time) he's not some automatic bust.
The thought that Geno might not be ready to go at this point and that makes him a bust is really kind of silly. He was the 39 pick. If he's ready to go he's ready to go. If he's not then he'll be ready to go at some point this season. If Sanchez plays lights out and keeps the job for now, well that's the Alex Smith scenario and it didn't stop Colin Kaepernick from playing in the Super Bowl in the second season after the scenario evolved. I doubt the second case though. I don't really think that Sanchez has much left at this point. I think he survived on his attitude the first few years and now the attitude has been beaten out of him. His skills were never going to be the reason he started at QB in the NFL. His potential was all wrapped up in being able to manage a game, shake off adversity when it happened and gamble successfully at the end when that's all that would save the day. Unfortunately you need some major horses around you to succeed in anything if your own skills are somewhat limited and you're surviving on chutzpah. That kind of offensive setup comes around once in a blue moon. Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Drew Brees make major horses out of whatever they are given to start with. None of them needs to be given great players in order to make their offense great. When Brady was given a great player in Randy Moss he went 16-0 with 50 TD passes.
http://forums.theganggreen.com/showpost.php?p=2816895&postcount=62 I mentioned the Mehta statement about the "2 turnover free quarters." I never really realized how often the posts on this board get skipped over. Why? IDK, people don't know how to read, or don't care about what other people say so they just reply right away? IDK. It's just annoying to find something someone said, (even if it is just mehta) post it on here, and literally have nobody notice. It's called reading people. Anyway, I hate that he wrote that because it makes it sound like to fans that he has to be turnover free to get the job. I'm sure as hell that that is not what the front office is telling themselves.
I hate when people mention draft position in a way that correlates to how good the player is. Some people on this board think Sanchez is better than Geno because he was drafted 5 and Geno 39. It does not matter. If we had gotten Tavon Austin at 9, we would have picked Geno at 13. Would that make Geno a better prospect.
Great post. Brady sat behind Bledsoe as well throughout the entire training camp, preseason and into I believe week two. Up until the point of our Jets injuring Bledsoe before Brady had his first NFL chance. Steve Walsh also started the first five weeks of the regular season before Troy Aikman got his chance to start during his rookie season. Sometimes take a couple of weeks into your rookie season. Sometimes takes a year or two. But true franchise QB's make the most of their opportunities. And, it doesn't always happen over night. See John Elway.
not to mock on Geno smith, but actually i still think we should have made a deal with the 9ners getting Alex smith ( wich i belive is better then colin kaep) and their 2º round pick for Revis im sure they would accept it.
Lmao you think Alex Smith is better than Kaepernick? God bless your soul. Dumbest idea trade a 2nd rounder for another Sanchez.
you clearly didnt read lol what i said you would get an EXTRA 2º round pick not to mention that you wouldt pick geno so would make 2 second round picks and milliner in the first , maybe you could even get sheldon.
