Delhomme

yeah, I do remember him having problems with throwing in 04. That happens. Rest helps, and not having to throw a full year in 05 helps, too. He'll make somebody a great Doug Pederson for a year, a guy who'll start the season in a WCO system knowing he'll give way to the rookie/young vet ASAP. I wouldn't want to go into a season starting him, and not having him be the afterthought to what's behind him.

I think his time as a long term starter are way behind. And teams don't live year to year, not comfortably anyway, unless they're patching up Ryan Leaf-type problems. For that matter, I wouldn't be comfortable with Garcia in that role, either; maybe Warner.

 

Most definitely. Are you saying your opinion is right and mine is wrong? That's fucking special.

 

Yes, I am. There's certainly room for disagreement as to whether or not Delhomme is an above average or below average quarterback, but saying that he's one of the better QBs in the league is absolutely indefensible. Would it be any more acceptable for me to say that he's one of the worst QBs in the league? No, as that would also be obviously ridiculous and invalid.


magnus:
Minnesota isn't a WCO.

 

Then what is it? They kept the same offense Denny Green was running. Denny Green's a WCO guy. Linehan was a WCO guy.

 

Green hasn't been a true WCO in a decade. They certainly incorporate short routes with the TE and backs, but his WRs are much more vertical than you see in the WCO, and they also primarily use non-WCO formations. Just because Green is a Walsh disciple doesn't mean he's a WCO guy. Linnehan tended to be even more vertical, as evidenced by the Dolphins (reportedly Saban didn't keep Trestman in part because he didn't want a WCO guy).

 

I'm not arguing that Linehan's running the WCO now.
But by that same rationale, there really isn't anyone actually running the WCO, and certainly, there is. It's right to call Billick, a WCO guy, a guy not running a normal WCO. But the MN playbook is WCO.

 

No, it wasn't. They used a lot of shotgun and 3 WR sets, which is most definitely not a WCO thing. And as mentioned, they went vertical far more than a WCO calls for. The Vikings' playbook certainly had WCO influences, but just about every team in the league has incorporated aspects of the WCO to varying degrees. That said, there are teams that are primarily West Coast offenses, Minnesota just wasn't one of them.

 

shotgun isn't something the original WCO had, but of course, it's kinda silly to say that even Bill Walsh didn't use a number of 3 WR sets. He did, and it was in the earliest playbooks of his. To say that formation and deep routes make it non-WCO is incorrect.

 

Umm, 3 receiver sets is DEFINITELY a part of the WCO. Where did you get that it's not???

 

Agreed. The West Coast offense is more than about formations and short versus long routes. I did some searching and found this slightly dated article that adds some pretty good primer information for those not in the know.