The 2011 NFL Offseason Thread

The point was that he had similar numbers to Bradford and he doesn't get nearly the same level of criticism.

 

I like how you assert your opinions as facts. We are not going to win right now. Especially with orton. He's incredibly average and will not carry a team to victory. Tebow has already shown that potential and, as the team stands right now, I'd rather go with Tebow.

 

For what it's worth, I wouldn't want Tebow to start REGARDLESS of who he is, for the simple fact that he's only entering his second year, and has a litany of mechanical problems. Not being able to throw properly is kind of a problem, when it's your chief job requirement.

I never understood the mentality of rushing QB prospects into the starting role. The Matt Ryans and Joe Flaccos of the NFL are the exception, not the rule. Bottom line: Tebow needs to spend more time in the film room and less time under center. There are many reasons why he's mediocre; he'd be remiss not to address them. All the intangibles in the world cannot make up for that. He might be able to start in 2012, but not in 2011.

On the other hand, Kyle Orton is a stopgap at worst, and a Pro Bowl alternate at best. All the mouth-breathers who post on the Denver Post's website need to stop crying foul and acting like he's the worst QB this side of Jimmy Clausen. There were many, many things wrong with the Denver Broncos last year, but the QB position was hardly one of them.

In other news, they inked Ty Warren the other day. It'll be interesting to see how he shifts to a 4-3 DT. I've always liked Warren, but I'm also wondering if there's a reason NE let him go.

 

Not quite. A cursory glance shows Brady, Rivers, Rodgers, Ryan, Cassel, Flacco, Freeman, and Vick did better than Orton in that department. What really hurt him was his 59% completion percentage. I recall more than a few passes thrown into the dirt, but by the same token he could also place the ball very well downfield.

The notion that he cowers or disappears in big moments is silly, considering he's yet to be placed in any. I'll take Orton over Eli Manning any day, that's for goddamned sure.

 

Well, the picture has cleared a bit since this. They signed a pro-bowl center, a good young safety(donte whitner), Braylon Edwards, and Carlos Rogers since this. Also Madeiu Williams who I really don't know much about, and may just be a wash. Gore is on the verge of ending the hold-out. Things are starting to look mediocre again in San Fran, which is better than they were starting to look.

 

SF, Baltimore (09, '10), Jets and that's just off the top of my head. 4th quarter and down a score is the last place I want to see Orton. I can't count the number of times Orton racked up garbage time stats in blowout losses. He'd get us close enough to give everyone hope and then throw a backbreaking interception or fumble retardedly. So yeah, you want pretty losses then go with him.

Maybe if Sack had actually watched the games he'd see that. But please, keep telling us about the state of the locker room. Obviously Lloyd speaks for everyone in it.
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I'll reiterate: Orton's yet to play in any high-stakes games, or crucial playoff moments. But a few midseason games of a lackluster season? That's your argument? Only 1 of those 4 games were lost because of Orton. I know, because I watched. Ray Rice going H.A.M. and defensive/special teams implosions were the theme of the others.

The main thing to keep in mind here is who is NFL-ready. Orton clearly is, Tebow clearly is not. Orton is simply in the unfortunate position of being one of those guys who, when he plays good, everyone loves him. But the minute he does anything bad, everyone wants him benched/traded/released.

Sort of like every player from every Philadelphia sports team, ever.

 

What are everyone's thoughts on the new QB ratings system being implemented this season? It sounds promising.

 

Instead he just winds up with a mouthful of piss. Evidently it pairs well with Favre semen.

 

When I notice you at all, I marvel at how you continue to make your way through the world every day without anyone beating you to death.

Anyway. Has anyone found a reliable way to stream NFL games on either the internet or with a Roku? The quality of some of the streams I've found in the past look like a guy in Denmark has a shitty webcam aimed at his Mom's TV from the 70's.

 

It seems to be more representative of the actual QB parts of the job, the yards in the air, the pressure situations, etc. I like that they made it an out-of-100 system. I like that it won't be possible to have a perfect rating. I like that they show'd us three examples of past "perfect QB ratings" being flawed and what their score would be in the new system in that article.

I think traditionalists are going to bitch for a while, but that this will soon be accepted as the legitimate stat.

 

Yeah, it's been a long time coming that the old stat was overhauled. What I find curious is that, according to the new QBR, Michael Vick would have been put in a higher tier than Phillip Rivers, even though Rivers had better numbers across the board, except their respective TD/INT ratios were 21/6 and 30/13.

That's just me being nit-picky, though. All of the other QBs from last year appear to stack right where they should.

 

First, the fact that ESPN is devoting an entire 60 minute show to their unveiling of a statistic is ridiculous. Sometimes I just hate how self-aggrandizing this network is.

Here is a more detailed explanation of the new rating system.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/6833215/explaining-statistics-total-quarterback-rating

I like a lot of the stuff previous posters have already mentioned. However, I'm hesitant about rewarding "clutch" situations, especially when ESPN acknowledges that they're leaving out the strength of the opponent's defense for the sake of "flexibility." First, I think we've had many TiB discussions about whether "clutch" is an actual trait in football or any other sport. Next, you can make the argument that the best quarterbacks keep scoring points and wearing down the clock so the other team is never in a position to make it a close game. Also, I dislike not giving the QB any credit for YAC. If he doesn't throw the ball while the receiver is in stride, the WR will probably be tackled close to the place of the catch and never get a chance for the extra yardage. And perhaps that is nitpicky, but they're faulting the QB when the pass is thrown to a place where the WR can't make the catch, but they're not crediting the QB for when the pass is thrown so the receiver can gain extra yardage. [Edit in response to Jets22: my bad then.]

Verdict: I guess I believe that you'll never create a perfect rating for quarterbacks. That said, I do like this better than the old rating. We'll see how well it takes off among stat geeks.

 

Unless I read it wrong, YAC still receives some weight in the rating, just not as much since most of the time it's the receiver's doing and not the QBs.

The clutch thing is interesting, and I'm curious to see what effect it has as the season goes on. ESPN ran a chat that took questions on the new system and some of them had to do with this.

The gist of it was that the rating will be weighted more towards situations when the game is close, whether that's in the first quarter or the last 2 minutes. A play in the first half when the game is still close is going to carry more weight than a last minute play in a blowout.

 

So you're saying that because it's the regular season that they're not important? Tell John Elway that. Against SF he had a fumble that put the game out of reach. Against NYJ he fumbled a snap during the game tying drive (though this might not have been his fault, can't remember) and against Baltimore he curled up in the fetal position every time someone almost touched him. Did the defense help? No, but neither did Orton.

 

Did anyone hear about how this isn't the god damn Tim Tebow thread? Cool.

Uhhhh..... Go Vikings, and stuff. Add another QB past his prime to the list of QBs past their prime that we've tried to win with over the past ~forever. I'm at least glad they're making an attempt to win now instead of some bullshit QB learning period while simultaneously wasting the rest of AP's prime.

 

I still don't understand letting Sidney Rice go and then not try to sign better than what was signed to replace him when we bring in another veteran QB. Fitzs' contract is up after this season and he's from MN, maybe we'll go after him next year. I'm thinking an 8-8 or 9-7 season.

 

We should have at least made a pass at Malcolm Floyd before the Chargers resigned him.

 

Patriots sign Patrick Shaun Ellis
<a class="postlink" href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AtTrTervLLvjsyq4MVC89Ds5nYcB?slug=ap-patriots-ellis" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=A ... iots-ellis</a>

If a guy sacks your franchise QB twice in pivotal AFC games...well you know how they say in the NFL. "If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em."

'Atta boy Bill...