Quarterback Comparison

Are we talking the O-line, RBs, and WRs? As in the rest of the offense? And would we rank by their ability with respect to their surrounding talent?

Ranked by speculative 2011 performance:
Bradford
Fitzpatrick
Palmer
McNabb
Henne
Sanchez
Alex Smith
Hasselbeck
Troy Smith

Ranked by surrounding talent (offensive talent):

Palmer
Sanchez
Fitzpatrick
McNabb
Henne
Alex Smith/Troy Smith
Bradford
Hasselbeck

(#1 has the most offensive talent around him):
1. Chad Henne
2. Carson Palmer
3. Mark Sanchez
4. Sam Bradford
5. Brett Favre
6. The Smiths
7. Ryan Fitzpatrick
8. Matt Hasselback
9. Donovan McNabb

I think 6-9 is a toss-up (the Bills o-line is terrible), quite frankly, and yes I do think the ‘Skins surrounding talent is that bad. I think Dan Snyder is a freaking idiot, but I don’t subscribe to the theory that NcNabb is 100% finished and the reason that team is underperforming when they can’t block, run, or catch. I also weighted o-lines heavily, particularly pass-blocking (as per football outsiders) because if you give an average QB time he can look like Joe Montana.

1. ’’Sanchize’’- Well he’s got to be no.1- he’s got Holmes, Edwards, Keller in the passing game. Cotchery and Smith aren’t that bad. He’s got a run game, LT is an excellent receiver out of the backfield. The pass blocking is pretty good. His poor numbers are really inexcusable, he can’t use the rookie excuse. Of course there’s always the possibilty that all the tools above are overrated

The guy had a decent game against Seattle Sunday, still fresh in our minds. But I don’t think he did anything special. He dumps the ball off to Brian Westbrook who gets 80 yards on horrible coverage and broken tackles and now Alex Smith is Joe Montana? I ain’t buyin’ it. Dude is in dead last until he actually, say, wins three games in a row and plays well in all of them. He has good surrounding talent and a defense that will typically keep him in the game so fewer excuses than most.

I think McNabb is likely a victim of horrible surrounding talent and could be a winner in a better situation. I’m not convinced that Hasselbeck isn’t in the same boat. He’s definitely lost something, but smart and accurate enough to be a decent game manager on a team with good surrounding talent. I believe the Jets, for example, would be better right now with McNabb or Hass. That said, it’s still possible that Sanchez develops into a good Qb.

Bradford looks great. There are probably 20 teams in the league that would cut their starter for Bradford if given the opportunity.

Favre is toast. Too much drama. Too many ints. Has probably, finally, overstayed his welcome. Carson Palmer looks horrible on a team with good offensive weapons. I think he’s toast too.

Ryan Fitzpatrick a good game manager with limited upside. That’s what I’ve heard about Henne, haven’t really seen much of him.

Ok, here’s the deal. Drew Brees is injured and our list will QB the 2010 Saints the rest of the way. Here’s how they fare:

1) Sam Bradford
2) Donovan McNabb
3) Ryan Fitzpatrick
4) Matt Hasselbeck
5) Chad Henne
6) Mark Sanchez
7) Brett Favre
8) The Smiths (I am human and I need to be loved)
9) Carson Palmer

I mean, you take Luck over Fitz in a heartbeat right?

Surrounding talent, to scale, and this is under the assumption that the team is semi-healthy/optimum conditions/max capability. (I.E. I gave Favre partial credit for having Moss at one point and Sidney Rice at one point from a talent standpoint, however not full credit since he didn’t have either of them for much time. He does have AP though. Dude should be performing better.)

Sanchez
.
.
.
.
Favre
.
.
.
Palmer Henne
.
Hasselbeck
.
.
McNabb
The Smiths, Bradford
.
.
.
Fitzpatrick

Also, I think EVERY QB on this list, including Favre, does better with the Seahawks talent than does Hasselbeck. He is too old, too slow, too immobile, and too lacking in arm strength for the surrounding talent of the Seahawks.

(Though I also think Hasselbeck would do better with the talent of a couple of these guys, Sanchez in particular. Give Hasselbeck an upper tier OL to protect him, a RB who can pound it (Shonn Greene) and one who can catch out of the backfield (LT), a TE who can catch and doesn’t have to stay home to block, and a couple WR’s with tackle breaking ability and route running talent (if A.D.D. hands.) and he wins a ton of games.

Does Matt’s 0.0 mean he is league average or simply that on average Matt’s play this year has had zero effect on our expected points score given field position and down and distance? Are those two things the same?

I’m guessing it’s the 2nd…which is scary.

I don’t think the stat has a built in method of working out how suck filled your team is though, correct? It seems this stat would be swayed too much by the quality of your team and the quality of your opponent.

Side note- this is a great post John. I like the interactive opinion polls that you have not given your two cents on in the opening (occasionally). We should do more of this.