Chris Mortensen on FNZ

I fully expect to hear about passing on Harrington for the rest of the time that Weinke is here. Live in the now and get over it already! Julius Peppers was the pick as he should have been.
Please, Get the hell over it. Everyone is going to try to look like a genius now and state how much they loved Harrington and knew he was the real deal and how they should've picked him no matter what. Point of fact: Harrington hasn't done shit yet! Give me a freak'n break!!! BTW: The Panthers NEVER seriously considered Harrington as an option. Isn't that interesting...

Mort stated the obvious IMO. Fox wants a QB that isn't going to turn the ball over. Weinke may not be that guy. I personally would like to see them develop Fasini and keep the vet QB backup around even when Peete goes.

Fasini can win us games back there if he can continue to progress and be taught to mimimize turnovers. If he can't, Fox will be looking for a QB with accuracy in the offseason. All signs point to a veteran or a later round (2nd on) QB in the draft. Doesn't appear that Fox believes in spending early 1s on QB.

I love Fox's style and he is gonna win with defense, the running game and minimizing turnovers. That receipe has worked through the years more often than any other IMO.

 

Bledsoe was worth it. I don't know that Weinke is.

 

Bledsoe's contract was structured so it would be possible. His bonus wasn't paid the year he signed it...it is payable over several years...kinda like Pepper's contract had about 35% of his bonus coming next year.

Dollar amounts and years of contracts are deceiving because of the way the deals are structed for the salary cap....the whole purpose of his big extension was to lessen the cap hit in the short term.

 

IF we had picked Harrington the Jay Williams would still be here sucking and people would be saying we should have picked Peppers

 

Yep, and if we're gonna pick a rookie qb I'd prefer Leftwich.

 

Bledsoe was worth it, yeah. The thing is Buffalo has most of their talent already so missing some picks won't hurt them as much as, say, Tampa.

Now if they only had a better coach.

Weinke will probably get cut if it's time to get him go. Trade would be nice, obviously.

I never liked Harrington. He's probably closer to what we'd want, if you believe the sunshine the team's blowing up Peete's ass, but I liked Carr by a lot.

Even then, Peppers was the best player in the draft, at one of our two worst spots. I wanted Jammer, partly because I didn't fully trust Peppers. I tended to get turned off by the mindless hype that sometimes followed him. I also didn't believe the ideals that were being brought forth - one, that a better rush would make our corners better (you need quality corners no matter what), and two, that Peppers would immediately draw double teams and free up others (unless they actually block another player with no one, a DL still does have to get free).

But in the end I'm happy we got him because he's the playmaker. We have no playmakers. Fuck that dumb shit about Jammer not wanting to sign, we wanted whoever to sign and gave up the drawers to get him in.

So if I'd have made the pick, maybe I take Jammer, maybe I take Peppers. But never Harrington, in my mind. If people want to scream and yell about us not taking Joey, fuck them too.

 

Now my worry is whether we'll be up there for him.
To answer what you were asking earlier, Brunell is 32 this month. Not as bad as I thought, so I'd guess they would hold off another year. Still if you're going to give a player two years to develop before he's thrown out there, now's a good time.

Even still, I don't know that Coughlin will still be there in two years either.

 

With the $$$ it takes to sign a top five pick, it's pretty tough to keep them on the bench, particularly with the cap cost of Brunell.

The only really sucky teams that I see needing a QB above us would be Dallas, Cincy, Maybe Baltimore, Maybe Arizona. The other sucky teams seem to be sucky for reasons other than qb. (Detroit, Houston, Jacksonville, Minnesota)

I wonder if Foster is going to be perpetually injury prone. If not, I think QB, WR would be tip top needs for us. I'm psyched to see how our CB situation turns out. We may not even need one.

But I digress, it's only week 1.

 

I'm not terribly worried about Foster's durability because Smith should be here a while, and when he's not here I'd expect a mid-round backup.

Leftwich, I imagine, could start immediately. Wouldn't want him to, but not too much choice either.

 

Unless we are #1 we will have to get very lucky to get Leftwich. You could say the Texas, Lions, Falcons and Titans would be the only potentially bad teams that would pass on him.
That said I really think Fox will end up looking QB in round 2 on.
Here is a list of possibles:
1. Eli Manning.....Mississippi.....6'4", 210.....4.90/40*
2. Byron Leftwich.....Marshall.....6'6", 250.....5.10/40
3. Carson Palmer.....Southern California.....6'5", 235.....4.66/40
4. Ken Dorsey.....Miami(Fl).....6'4", 205.....4.80/40
5. David Ragone.....Louisville.....6'4", 252.....4.85/40
6. Rex Grossman.....Florida.....6'0", 218.....4.80/40*
7. Chris Simms.....Texas.....6'4", 225.....5.20/40
8. Brian St. Pierre.....Boston College.....6'3", 218.....4.72/40
9. Seneca Wallace.....Iowa State.....5'11", 193.....4.56/40
10. Juston Wood.....Portland State.....6'0", 203.....4.79/40
11. Jason Thomas.....Nevada-Las Vegas.....6'4", 241.....4.77/40
12. Kliff Kingsbury.....Texas Tech.....6'3", 213.....4.90/40


I think Fox will look later in the draft for a QB, unless he can get a "can't miss guy". If Leftwich keeps his numbers up (ie. Almost 70% completions and 38/7 ratio) then he will be picked.
Eli probably stays in school. Otherwise - he needs to keep his INT down to make him a no brainer.

Other than those two he waits till 2nd or lower...
Carson Palmer looked good in his first game this season and was very efficent.
Chris Simms might be there in round 2 and will be consider, no matter how much no one will like it. If he is efficent this year - someone is gonna get him early. Might be in rd 2 - but still early.

Two very doubtful:
Wallace and Thomas don't fit what we are looking for IMO.

Overated and should be avoided:
Grossman and Dorsey. Grossman's size will hurt him and Dorsey doesn't have the pro arm.

Underated: John Navarre JR Mich - great size and good arm. Good accuracy as well. Doesn't jump out at you but is a solid prospect.