No matter what's being said publicly, the Browns quarterback position...

[OconRecon]

Very supportive of Mangini's approach to the QB situation.

 

Mangini is continuing to grow on me.

 

No matter what's being said publicly, the Browns quarterback position is Brady Quinn's to lose.

By Ed Thompson

Scout.com Senior NFL Analyst

Posted Jun 11, 2009

 

Based on comments coming out of Cleveland, it appears that head coach Eric Mangini won't officially name a starting quarterback until at least mid-August. He's said he wants to see Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson in a wide variety of situations before he makes that call. And that makes a lot of sense.

 

But that doesn't mean that it's not obvious that Brady Quinn is the better quarterback in Cleveland.

 

Mangini is playing the smart hand, especially when you consider that Anderson's ego has to be shaky at best. He's coming off of a rocky 2008 season that has undoubtedly damaged not only his confidence, but the confidence of some of his teammates as well.

 

Anderson was 3-6 as a starter last year. While it's not fair to put those losses just on his shoulders, as the leader of the offense, his performance wasn't nearly as sharp as it was in 2007.

 

"The big one for me is huddle presence and the ability to run the offense," Mangini explained during a press conference. "Who can most effectively run the offense? Who can look at the defense, understand what the coverage is and go to the right place with the ball? Who can see a blitz look and put us into the right play?

 

"There's always going to be some right answer. And the ability for us offensively to get to the right answer in a short amount of time, under pressure -- that's what's going to drive the decision."

 

Sure sounds like Quinn to me. He's the calmer, more focused and athletic quarterback. He's hungry to lead and has a field presence that his teammates should respect.

 

But I like the way Mangini is playing the cards that he's been dealt. The best thing for his club right now is a quarterback competition that shows equal support for Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson -- at least for now.

 

Imagine this scenario. Mangini hands the starter's role to Quinn now or early in training camp. Then the unthinkable happens and Quinn is sidelined with an injury. Anderson tries to salvage some respect while he inherits the starter's role by default. How well do you think he's going to play in that situation?

 

Instead, by dragging out the competition and withholding his proclamation, Mangini hedges his bets. If Quinn is injured, Anderson becomes the starter, powered by the illusion that he was possibly going to win the job outright.

 

Bottom line, intended or not, Mangini's strategy is a confidence builder for a veteran

[choco]

wel, we hadn't had a "here's what i think" QB article in a while.

 

whew....crisis averted.

[Oldcrow1945]

even though ESPN said Alex Smith has looked vastly improved

 

Amazing transformation! After 4 years of looking generally awful, ESPN is reporting he is suddenly better. Yeah, ok.

[OconRecon]

Yeah, all stuff we pretty much knew, but its off season, so most stories are light weight.

[Kingphisher]

I like the idea of the competition. Good thread OconRecon! I think Quinn has the upper hand right now simply because of all the extra time and effort he has been putting in (Mangini stated as much when he gave Brady first reps in OTAs). I do think that this is an open competition though and do think that DA will be given every opportunity to win or lose the job. When he was winning the year before last I thought "oh crap, we wasted two picks on a new QB we don't need". That was until I saw the 2nd Cinci game that would have sealed the deal for the playoffs. DA shat the bed and has not recovered since. After the first part of last year it seemed apparent that he was not making good decisions at the line. If the Browns had had a good season last year I would have been all over the "trade Brady now bandwagon" but we sucked. I don't care who wins the job, as long as we start winning. Right now I am kinda leaning toward Quinn though simply because he seems to have that Peyton Manning style swagger and confidence (sure hope he turns out to be Peyton-like on the field if he wins the job). Maybe its just the media playing it up, but DA seems to have all the confidence of David Carr after his record-setting sack year. He has the tools though, we've seen glimses of it. Should make for an interesting pre-season. Go Browns!

[NW Ohio Brownie]

I don't usually comment on the QB threads because it can be draining, but in my estimation there's one significant negative to Mangini's approach: Number of repetitions.

 

It's essential that the #1 QB work with the #1 offense as much as possible. With this approach, DA and Brady are not getting the standard amount of reps a clear-cut #1 would get.

 

That being said, I don't think it's very detrimental to the team performance at this point. However, if it's mid-August and we're "flipping a coin" that won't be good.

 

Bottom line, Coach Mangini needs to name a starter by the first pre-season game and go with it. Most, but not all, signs point to Quinn.

[Gips]

I agree completely in my mind it is quinns job to lose but i cant see that happening unless bq keeps avoiding the deep pass and DA vastly improves on his short and medium passing game along with some acting classes to sell the playaction to the defense...hehehehe

[Lumbergh]

Very supportive of Mangini's approach to the QB situation.

 

Mangini is continuing to grow on me.

 

My guess is you like Mangini and his approach because you found a pro-Quinn article.

 

Something tells me that you'll quickly hate Mangini and his approach if Anderson starts on opening day.

 

tool for future use: don't put much stock in the opinion of random "senior analyst guy from another city"

[Lumbergh]

But the situation does favor Quinn, at least purportedly.

 

Interesting how BQ Nation thinks that if they say something over and over that it will eventually become true.

 

Nothing favors Quinn. Not even the imaginary intangibles you like to credit him with.

 

[Lumbergh]

you mean like trent dilfer?

 

No, Dilfer knows people on the team.

 

I know you hate Dilfer cause he ain't a BQ Lover.

 

But he's never said anything about the Browns that isn't true.

[Oldcrow1945]

I know you hate Dilfer cause he ain't a BQ Lover.

 

Actually Dilfer said he likes Quinn a lot.

[OconRecon]

...Something tells me that you'll quickly hate Mangini and his approach if Anderson starts on opening day...

 

Not hate, but would question his decision making.

 

Same goes if Mangini starts Steptoe over Edwards or Hadnot over Thomas.

[Oldcrow1945]

. And I'll support DA if he's the choice.

 

Exactly....Real fans support the uniform. Lummy isn't a real fan.

Does anyone think Lum would pull for Quinn? No way. That's what makes his whole stance on DA and Quinn so ironic and funny. While all of us will be supporting whoever is taking snaps, Lum will still call us all Quinn fags. But in truth we really don't care. We just want to win. All Lum wants is to be right about his his boy DA. I wonder who the real 'Fag" is here?

 

I don't like BE at all. I think he's a head case and a punk. But come Sunday I'll be happy as hell if he catches a few TD's because he's wearing my Brown's uniform!

Just win baby!

[Lumbergh]

Of course things favor Quinn. Quinn has always been favored over Anderson at every level -- high school, college, the draft, and now.

 

hate to interrupt your wet dream but Quinn was a 4 star coming out of high school and Anderson was a 5 star.

 

Anderson twice attended the Elite 11 QB camp in LA. Quinn was never invited.

 

if Quinn didn't ride Ndukwe's coattails to Notre Dame then you wouldn't know who Quinn was right now.

[Tobalaz]

You have chosen to ignore all posts from: Lumbergh.

 

It's nice not to hear the idiot ramble.

[Lumbergh]

toeballs next time you turn off ignore, read my post, and then turn ignore back on, go ahead and let us know about it.

 

 

 

[Kingphisher]

hate to interrupt your wet dream but Quinn was a 4 star coming out of high school and Anderson was a 5 star.

 

Anderson twice attended the Elite 11 QB camp in LA. Quinn was never invited.

 

if Quinn didn't ride Ndukwe's coattails to Notre Dame then you wouldn't know who Quinn was right now.

 

Are you a Browns fan or a DA fan Lumbergh? This is not a knock, just a question. At the end of the day, if there is a W in the Browns column I don't care who is behind center because the best man probably got that W. if its DA, GREAT! I'll support him like i did two years ago. If its Quinn, I'll support him too because I am a BROWNS fan. If Quinn beats out Anderson are you going to support him has the Browns starting QB? I will. I don't care how many stars are after a person's name in high school football. I care about getting a good team again. Why knock people for supporting a local kid for the local team. It's a great story. Were you a Browns fan before DA came here? I know I'll still be a Browns fan after he's gone. Just my 2 cents. Last note, most of us are true Browns fans here, so we shouldn't be attacking each other. If you are feeling frisky and want to post negative things on a message board, go to www.steelerssuck.com and bash some Steeler fans.

[OconRecon]

...I don't like BE at all. I think he's a head case and a punk. But come Sunday I'll be happy as hell if he catches a few TD's because he's wearing my Brown's uniform!

Just win baby!

 

I hear you, but maybe the BE will show up who was quoted in today's PD about practicing in sideways rain:

 

Edwards said there was benefit to practicing in the rain at such an early stage of the preseason.

 

"It's the worst and the best weather to practice in," he said. "You get used to catching in the rain ... and not slipping. Because on game days, this can't be an excuse, raining. So it's good early to get this weather in and get used to it. Because this is what happens in Cleveland."

 

Now, what else is he supposed to say? Yeah, get that, but he could have grumbled off to his locker. If only he can get his head screwed on right because physically he's set. Word is he's in amazing shape.

[AZBrowns]

hate to interrupt your wet dream but Quinn was a 4 star coming out of high school and Anderson was a 5 star.

 

Anderson twice attended the Elite 11 QB camp in LA. Quinn was never invited.

 

if Quinn didn't ride Ndukwe's coattails to Notre Dame then you wouldn't know who Quinn was right now.

 

 

Two things -

 

1 - Derek Anderson was a class of 2001 high school student. Therefore, the only elite camps he could have gone to were in 1999 and 2000. He was there for 2000 though, however, I don't have a list for the 1999 roster. I saw he was invited back while playing at Oregon State as a counselor, but can't find anything linking him to the 1999 camp as a player.

 

2 - Brady Quinn was a four-star, this is true. However, Rivals didn't give out star ratings until 2002 and I can't find star ratings for Scout on recruits before 2002. So, where is Derek Anderson rated as a five-star?

 

Also, ND wasn't the only school after Quinn so it's pretty assumptive to make a statement like "if Quinn didn't ride Ndukwe's coattails to Notre Dame then you wouldn't know who Quinn was right now." I mean, you're a guy that's all about the facts, right?

[ballpeen]

Just a general reply.

 

My life's experience tells me that great, or even good employees usually don't have a hard time distinguishing themselves from a employee that sucks.

 

If DA sucks as badly as many around here think, Quinn will be named starter early in the process.

 

If not, that either means DA doesn't suck, or Quinn is pretty are close to the suck level.

 

Mangini is smart enough to know it makes sense to name a starter early on if he can so the team can rally around that guy. QB controversies are a nightmare in the making as we experienced with Kelly and Tim. Mangini isn't going to do that as some "motivational" move, or as a way to prop up some guys trade value. He wants to win....trade value isn't something he is considering at this point.

[AZBrowns]

It's a freakin' daily occurrence of watching Lumnuts get caught in lie after lie after lie.

 

He's more delusional the stooler fans reminiscing about their teams of the 70's.

 

For the record, he COULD be right because I haven't found anything (yet) to completely refute what he said.

 

However, the scouting services that gave Brady Quinn four stars did not give DA a grade because, well, for one - Rivals.com started right around the time DA entered college whichthat means it would have been impossible to give him a star-level grade. Also, I am not as familiar with Scout (Probably something to do with me working for Rivals) but I can't find star-ratings of any recruits prior to the 2002 class.

 

Also, I used to be all on the side of Brady Quinn, but I am back to wait and see mode with him and if DA comes in this preseason and blows him out of the water then I have no problem with the dude starting.

[ballpeen]

Not to get in to that controversy, but i do know BQ was given a 3rd round grade by The Sporting News.

 

I proved it some time back by seeking out the rating to post...am not going to do it again....so there were at least some who didn't have him as a top prospect...and his draft slide would indicate that as well.

[AZBrowns]

Not to get in to that controversy, but i do know BQ was given a 3rd round grade by The Sporting News.

 

I proved it some time back by seeking out the rating to post...am not going to do it again....so there were at least some who didn't have him as a top prospect...and his draft slide would indicate that as well.

 

 

I remember that too.

 

I personally don't care, nor look at many ratings and -- without going into the whole Tom Brady, Terrell Davis reasoning -- we should all know why star ratings and draft predictions only go so far.

 

Lums (and everyone else for that matter) should know star ratings and accollades acquired in high school only mean so much.

 

Oregon State is notorious for taking players who are rated as lower prospects and coaching them up. All the BQ/ Oregon State BS aside, Riley is a bad ass coach and, in my opinion, the best game day coach in the Pac-10. I'd like to see what Riley could do with the talent USC annually brings in.

 

It's about what you do with your talent.

[ndneighbor]

Two things -

 

1 - Derek Anderson was a class of 2001 high school student. Therefore, the only elite camps he could have gone to were in 1999 and 2000. I don't have a list for the 1999 roster. I saw he was invited back while playing at Oregon State as a counselor, but can't find anything linking him to the 1999 camp as a player.

 

2 - Brady Quinn was a four-star, this is true. However, Rivals didn't give out star ratings until 2002 and I can't find star ratings for Scout on recruits before 2002. So, where is Derek Anderson rated as a five-star?

 

Also, ND wasn't the only school after Quinn so it's pretty assumptive to make a statement like "if Quinn didn't ride Ndukwe's coattails to Notre Dame then you wouldn't know who Quinn was right now." I mean, you're a guy that's all about the facts, right?

 

Thanks for posting AZ. Great points. I agree with you. This isn't directed at you, rather for general info. regarding facts and assumption. It's unlikely Quinn would have gone "undiscovered."

 

IIRC Quinn also had offers from Michigan and Ohio State. If he had made his college decision on a different day he could have just as easily chosen Ohio State.

 

Supposing anything beyond that is pointless but consider this:

 

If Quinn had chosen Ohio State there is a chance that Troy Smith might not have won the Heisman.

[ballpeen]

It's about what you do with your talent.

 

I agree AZ.

 

Once a guy is in the pros, where he was ranked as a HS player or college player really don't mean squat.

 

 

For that matter, where is was drafted doesn't matter all that much.

 

With Savage on board, I could buy the argument that Quinn would indeed get a 25 game shot.

 

Now that he isn't here...these new guys don't give a damn what was invested in him. All they care about now is what THEY invest in a player. Cutting Quinn tomorrow isn't something they wouldnt do if they felt like it would make them better(not saying they will, just making a point).

 

Viekune will get a better, drawn out shot that will Quinn because Mangini and Kok have something invested in Viekune....some people will get what i am saying, some will deny what i am saying because they don't like the idea, and some simply won't be able to comprehend the thought.

[PlaygroundLegend]

Just a general reply.

 

My life's experience tells me that great, or even good employees usually don't have a hard time distinguishing themselves from a employee that sucks.

 

If DA sucks as badly as many around here think, Quinn will be named starter early in the process.

 

If not, that either means DA doesn't suck, or Quinn is pretty are close to the suck level.

 

Mangini is smart enough to know it makes sense to name a starter early on if he can so the team can rally around that guy. QB controversies are a nightmare in the making as we experienced with Kelly and Tim. Mangini isn't going to do that as some "motivational" move, or as a way to prop up some guys trade value. He wants to win....trade value isn't something he is considering at this point.

 

Thing is, Mangini was quoted in one of his last two interviews that he's not gonna name a starter until after the preseason games are through. Which means the decision wont be quick, its gonna be long and unnecessarily drawn out like every year.

[BernietheKid]

hate to interrupt your wet dream but Quinn was a 4 star coming out of high school and Anderson was a 5 star.

 

Anderson twice attended the Elite 11 QB camp in LA. Quinn was never invited.

 

if Quinn didn't ride Ndukwe's coattails to Notre Dame then you wouldn't know who Quinn was right now.

 

 

So Quinn started to shave when he was 13 and DA started when he was 15. What does that have to do with being a good NFL quarterback? Nothing, just like what you posted.

[ballpeen]

Quoting that TSN grade is a little crazy because Quinn carried a first round grade from everyone else, including Kiper and McShay and the rest of the known universe, with most putting him in the Top 10. All of the serious scouting services had him between top 5 and top 15.

 

That's why it was said that Quinn fell as opposed to rose... right? Let's not wrap our brains into fettuccine here and give up on any known factors and declare the world a chaotic swirl of gray.

 

Quinn was predicted to go in round one and did.

 

I have no idea who else recruited Derek Anderson, but I know Michigan, Ohio State, and Notre Dame all recruited Quinn. I'm sure you've heard of them.

 

Quinn won the Maxwell Trophy as the best quarterback in the nation his senior year, then got drafted in round one. Anderson didn't... and wasn't.

 

Let's at least keep some semblance of reality here. Lums, you love DA. That's great. Go start a DA board or something.

 

 

 

LOL....Ok....I see your angle, but none the less, people worth the pick don't usually fall.

 

You have to admit that the history of the league shows more people are elevated to levels that didn't earn than those who fell and over achieved.

 

 

But as i said...even that doesn't matter. All that matters is what BQ does with the chance he is given....I know you agree with that.

[Guest Aloysius]

Quoting that TSN grade is a little crazy because Quinn carried a first round grade from everyone else, including Kiper and McShay and the rest of the known universe, with most putting him in the Top 10. All of the serious scouting services had him between top 5 and top 15.

I could be wrong, but I think McShay gave him a late 1st round grade. During the draft process, he was highly critical of Quinn, with his accuracy (especially when under pressure) being the biggest issue.

 

It came up again this year when Sanchez started getting linked to the Browns. McShay said that although he "didn't like Quinn" during the draft process, he felt that the team needed to give him a chance to prove himself.

[Riffer X]

Quinn for the most part was a consensus top 15 pick with some thinking he could legitimately go number one. Supposedly Alz Heimers tried to sign him before the draft to go number one but it was a bit of a lowball and Quinn balked.

 

Ultimately, the wrinkled one went with Jafaticuss and the Browns went with Thomas. When Miaimi lost their minds he ended up falling because nobody needed a QB. Supposedly several teams were scrambling to grab him. Throw the third rounder crap from TSN into the sewer that was pure bullcrap. Quinn was a big time QB coming out just like he was in college. Hell, they don't follow guys around with cameras like ESPN did if they're expected to go late first or second................