BillyC

Evaluating whether or not a QB has what it takes is a tricky business. Throughout history fan's have become fed up with the inconsistant play of QB's in their first few years in the league. Some QB's have been run out of town because a team and it's fans gave up on them. Rich Gannon comes to mind. Awful things were said about Gannon. You had your typical WhoDat's of the world that professed Gannon was a bum because he put up these numbers his first few years:

Rich Gannon
1990 Minnesota Vikings 14 349 182 52.1 2278 16 16
1991 Minnesota Vikings 15 354 211 59.6 2166 12 6
1992 Minnesota Vikings 12 279 159 57.0 1905 12 13

It wasn't just the numbers Gannon put up that the fans were fed up with. It was his leadership skills, he couldn't read defenses, etc, etc... Well, there was never anything wrong with Gannon. Some of it had to do with him experiencing normal growing pains for a 3-year starter and some of it had to do with coaching. Gannon went on to be a very good Qb and disproved all of his critics.

Rich Gannon
2000 Oakland Raiders 16 16 473 284 60.0 3430 7.25 84 28 11 28/124 42 8 92.4
2001 Oakland Raiders 16 16 549 361 65.8 3828 6.97 49 27 9 27/155 45 5 95.5
2002 Oakland Raiders 16 16 618 418 67.6 4689 7.59 75 26 10 36/214 48 8 97.3

Now, I know what your thinking. This is one isolated case and an exception to the rule. Well, I guess I'll just have to put that rumor to rest..........

John Elway
1983 Denver Broncos 11 10 259 123 47.5 1663 6.4 49t 7 14 54.9
1984 Denver Broncos 15 14 380 214 56.3 2598 6.8 73 18 15 76.8
1985 Denver Broncos 16 16 605 327 54.0 3891 6.4 65t 22 23 70.2

Even Hall of Fame QB's struggled in their first few years. Believe it or not, there were fans wanting to get rid of Elway. They complained he ran too much and he couldn't read defenses. The guy was constantly throwing into double coverage. They were sick of him throwing for 20+ interceptions per year. In his 3rd year he was actually worse than his first two. Imagine that. I know the fan's in New Orleans are much more knowledgeable than the fans in Denver. We would have understood and wouldn't have been calling for Elway's head. Right? WhoDat would have stood up for the guy and would have been his biggest supporter. Right WhoDat? You would have overlooked the 23 interceptions Elway threw in his 3rd year?

I could pull up more Qb's. Many more !! I have done that here in the past.

If you are convinced that Brooks is a bum and he's stupid as a rock. You might be right. I don't know. I do know that if we stick with Brooks, that it would be no different than what Green Bay did with Favre, or the Brocons did with Elway. Sticking with a QB has proved to be much more successful than playing mucical chairs at QB.

Maybe we could find our Kurt Warner or Tom Brady. But,I promise you that those are rare. I'll give Brooks some more time. Just in case I could be wrong. I know I might not have the background that some of you have to evaluate QB's. That's why I have to look at history.