The current personnel was built to win now but the reality is they are not good enough to win now. Not one person on that QB list can win with the current personnel. No true number one receiver with speed, A missing CB next to revis, Lb's who can not cover on pass plays, a missing saftey next to rhodes and two useless defensive ends in a pass happy league does not constitute a win now team. That is a first round of the playoffs one and done team at best.
Need we bring up wasted draft picks. If so lets not stop at Clemens and Gholston at this point and time they both suck. Nugent is another one. DAMMIT
Didn't Clemens do the same thing in 2007 in Camp against the second and third stringers. Those who forget the past are doomed to relive it. The starting Qb will get the job by playing well in preseason against the starters of other teams.
So what does that prove? Vinny was the best QB we've had since Namath and Chad was a rookie. There wasn't even a competition, it was Vinny's job.
Nugent for Doug Jolly which in all actuality could have been the T/E for the Steelers that we passed on. If we go back to the 80s and 90's it really gets ugly. Lol... Dan Marino, Emmit Smith, Warren Sapp. Etc, Etc, Etc.
That nine times out of ten the job is the Vets unless he stinks up the joint so bad they have to bench him. Clemens should have stayed in after the Baltimore game in 07. I really think the Coaching staff screwed him up. If they were going to handle the situation like this they should have let Chad stay in the rest of the season.
And I have zero faith in our former coaching staff. Pennington was not a clear favorite in TC and that says something considering his experience and how well he played this season. He had a slow start, throwing an INT in each of his first 6 days of camp, but he did improve. And about preseason, yes Ratliff played very well, but Clemens wasn't that bad either. Against the Redskins he went 5/12 for 63 yards and looked pretty bad.... but you also have to consider that he had four passes dropped that were on the money, had the backup center trip him up twice, and a couple bad snaps. The three passes that weren't complete or dropped were either tipped or batted down, which with pocket familiarity and o-line experience, are an easy fix. Also.. I might be mistaken on this, but I don't remember Clemens being given a shot at the deep ball. If the coaching staff thought Ratliff was a better option, they would have made him 2nd on the depth chart.
2 or 3 real shots? He wasn't winning a QB competition as a rookie. That rarely happens against a veteran QB. Last year was his only real shot and the team sucked dick. It's always used as an excuse for Penny - wouldn't that make matters worse for a guy seeing his first NFL action? This year he wasn't starting over Favre. So, he had one shot on a shitty team with a shitty o-line. I think we should at least give him a chance with an improved o-line and better players around him.
The reason Clemens was listed as 2 and Ratliff 3 was they wanted the 2nd QB on game days to have had in-game NFL experience. Makes a ton of sense, considering Favre was expected to miss a play or two at best in games, and you want a guy who can come in somewhat calmly, not seeing his first regular season action ever. According to many reports, Ratliff had moved past Clemens in practices this season. That said, I don't think that Clemens has had a legit shot yet, considering how awful the offensive line was in 07.
They didn't hate him when they drafted him (obviously). He earned that over time. Oh, and I am sure they also hate Gholston..probably more. 30 or 40 million (20 guaranteed) for 1 solo tackle not on special teams, wouldn't you?
So he would have been better if he came in a few weeks earlier than he did? Seriously, what difference does that make? Stop making excuses for the guy. The team was bad, yes, but he did nothing to improve it.
Two rookies won jobs and took their teams to the playoffs this year, because they are good QBs. Clemens was the guy this regime used a high pick on, he wasn't ready in 2006, wasn't ready in 2007 and inspired them to trade for a QB in 2008. Think of a good QB and it usually doesn't take years for him to get it. Look at Brady, Bledsoe was the established franchise guy in is prime, by the time he came back from his injury the job was Brady's. That's how it works in the NFL if you're a good QB. By the way, I just realized you changed your name back from "Broadway Brett". Hope that bandwagon didn't run over your leg when you jumped off. :lol:
Didn't he get that chance this year through camps and most of preseason, and still wasn't doing well enough to win the job?
That's horseshit. All reports of training camp stated Pennington had an edge early on, but Clemens narrowed the gap and neither Pennington nor Clemens distinguished himself in any way or established himself as a clear favorite.
You know better than this, and you know damn well rookie QB's rarely, if ever start over a seasoned vet. Flacco didn't win the job in training camp. Boller got injured and Troy Smith became very ill. He won by default because he was the last guy standing. He also had the luxury of playing on a team with a solid o-line, running game, and fantastic defense. This is a team that even Pennington could go far with. I do like Flacco though, he seems like he'll be good. I first saw him in the semi-final game of the DII playoffs last year and said damn this kid is real good a couple times. Matt Ryan was the 3rd overall pick and had to battle with Chris Redman and D. Shockley. Chris Redman has started 10 games in his 8 year career and Shockley hasn't started any. Look, I honestly haven't been impressed with Clemens, but I don't think it's fair to say he's had 2 or 3 shots. He's had 1 real shot in his second season as a pro and that opportunity was behind a shitty o-line with banged up receivers no TE's of note, and no FB. edit: As for the "bandwagon", I'm hardly a bandwagon fan. I've been a Jets fan since '86 when I started watching football and Favre has always been one of my favorite athletes. He still is. I think he's done though and I'm a Jets fan first so I'm back to my normal name. You had to figure that was a 1/2 year deal max anyway.
Another revisionist. Pennington had it won and it wasn't even close. But believe what you want, just a word of advice. Don't bet your paycheck on Clemens ever being the starter on this team again.
