Well I think not having a back up has cost the Steelers dearly. Ben holds on to the ball; Ben gets banged up and Ben misses games. Landry Jones is hapless.
OT: Landry Jones
- Thread starter pittdan77
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Except for that Tom Brady guy. He worked out.
Actually, there have been a lot of good NFL QB's drafted after the first round. Most end up playing for other teams though. But I think having a "good" backup makes some sense. Charlie Batch was just good enough to not screw things up. That's pretty nice to have.
And it's STUPID to complain about "Ben holding the ball", Ben's won more games because he's held the ball too long, than he's lost by being injured. It would be interesting to review every TD pass and ever completion over 20 yards in his career and calculate how many would have ended up an incomplete pass by a conventional QB throwing the ball away?
Del is insane when it comes to Ben and the pirates. Best to avoid getting into it with him on those two subjects. Regarding ben holding onto the ball, that's his greatest strength. The things that he has accomplished with extending plays has never been seen in the nfl. It is what makes him great. I swear to you, I noticed this ability in his rookie season. He had this incredible "pocket presence." In dallas game, he was about to get sacked and just seemed to move within the pocket just at the right time, avoid getting murdered from behind like so many QBs would.
Steelers just signed former UNC QB Bryn Renner. (LINK HERE).
If nothing else, the Steelers are getting a high-caliber person. Bryn is a really good dude. He's definitely a pro-style QB...no mobility to speak of. He's got a decent arm though and wouldn't kill the Steelers if he had to start a game or two, IMO. Here's to hoping you'll see him doing this dance in Heinz Field at some point this season, lol....
If nothing else, the Steelers are getting a high-caliber person. Bryn is a really good dude. He's definitely a pro-style QB...no mobility to speak of. He's got a decent arm though and wouldn't kill the Steelers if he had to start a game or two, IMO. Here's to hoping you'll see him doing this dance in Heinz Field at some point this season, lol....
Yes, there are NFL Draft Outliers, too, just like star rankings. However, overwhelming evidence suggests you aren't going to find a capable starting QB outside of that range and backup QBs are interchangeable to the point that you should never spend real money or picks on prospects to find them.
There aren't 32 good QBs in the league and you guys are freaking out about a backup? Get a grip if Ben goes down then so does the season and you can include any other team with a franchise QB
That's an oversimplification. Having a backup that gives you a slightly below 50% chance of winning is doable. There are huge differences between someone like AJ McCarron/Matt Hasselbeck who can actually win games and someone like Ryan Lindley who is so bad you might be better without a QB at all. The Steelers window is now and they shouldn't implode because they have a QB who can't go 2-2 with Ben out.
Possibly - I wonder if there are any kids in Wisconsin named Lombardi Jones?
Can't wait to recruit Wannstedt Jones from Fox Chapel.
Right, I was arguing against the theory that backup QBs are - by implication of the fact that they're not starters - terrible and a waste of resources to develop. It's not that they are hopeless, it's just that all of them since Leftwich have been.
That's what the data tells you. Spending draft picks on QBs is a waste unless you are at the top of the 1st round. You can look to the Patriots as a great example of that. The Steelers have also routinely wasted picks on QBs. You either draft a franchise QB at the top of the draft or you are likely throwing the pick away.
Well....besides Brady, you have Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Russell Wilson, and Kurt Warner who were all drafted well outside the "top" of the 1st round. That group is, what, 4-2 in Super Bowls and includes 2 sure-fire HoF guys, one likely, and one possible. Romo, Dalton, and Derek Carr are all good choices as well. And that's just active players.
Yes and there are many, many more QBs who have been drafted in the last 15 years who have been awful picks. And it gets worse and worse the later you get into the draft. I can't find the article that looked at the entire draft, but below is a link about just QBs in the 1st round and the considerable downside to drafting them outside the top 10.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/when-should-you-draft-a-quarterback-in-the-first-round/
Again, the issue is not whether are are more than 32 QBs who can play well for 20 games per season because obviously there aren't. My point was that "if your QB misses 4 games, give up" is a foolish strategy. Almost every QB misses time. Teams -including the Steelers - have proven that certain backup QBs can win games, even playoff games, while holding it down for the starter. Playoff teams need to identify and develop those kinds of role players. In that, QB is no different from any other position.
But the data shows that it is different, largely because the chances they ever contribute positively is essentially nil. Great to have a very good backup, but NFL is patently different than NCAAF because there is a constant cost/benefit for every draft pick or dollar of cap.
So when Charlie Batch (who makes $2m) goes 2-1 in spot duty and the Steelers end up 12-4 and in the Super Bowl, that contribution is "positively nil?"
Charlie Batch didn't make $2M. He made league minimum. There was no development or investment. They gave him a $25K signing bonus. He could have been cut at anytime with no pain on the salary cap. He was a cast off that was free and no one wanted.
Exactly. So why are you assuming I suggested that the Steelers or anyone else spend a high draft pick on a backup QB?
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