Young QBs
 

As I am sitting here watching the Colts/Jags game and watching Byron Leftwich throw perfect pass after perfect pass, I find myself asking myself of course, why are there so many young qbs in the league that seem to be having more success than AB? And I love AB so I am not hating on him, it's just a question. Hasn't AB been in the league longer than Leftwich and Carr and Roethlisberger and as long as McNabb and Culpepper? And I am not blaming AB for our record either. I just see receivers outrunning defenders for these guys, and the qb actually hits them with the ball. Leftwich has thrown two passes in this game that I was sure would be over or underthrown cause I was thinking of AB, but they weren't, they were perfect. Do they all have more talent than AB? Is that all it is? Can someone help me out? I will say again, I AM IN NO WAY BASHING AB OR BLAMING HIM FOR OUR RECORD BEING WHAT IT IS. This is just an observation I wanted to get some opinions on. I have my own, just wanted to hear some others.

Young QBs
 

bump.

I saw someone do this in another thread so I thought i\'d try it.

Young QBs
 

Let me say I also root for Brooks. However, I\'ve never seen the guy seem \"comfortable\" at the QB position. He just seems extremely jittery to me. He has all the talent, but no pocket presence.

Young QBs
 

So deberce, in your opinion is that a question of development, or just how he plays? Does he have \"happy feet?\" I know my main problem with AB is his inability to throw a touch pass in any situation. I would have thought the coaches would have worked on him with it like the Texans did with Carr, having him drop a ball into barrels 40 and 50 yards down the field. Or maybe the pressure he gets cause him to not have the ability to set up for a touch pass. I am just trying to figure out why he hasn\'t taken that next step in progression as several 2nd and 3rd and even a rookie qb have.

Young QBs
 

To quote Coach Haslett \"It all comes back to Coaching\" & our offensive coaching,gameplans,&play-calling absolutely sucks!! Fire McCarthy and get somebody in their that knows how to adjust to a defense, attack a defense\'s weekness,& play to your offensive strenghts & find a true idenity for our offense.

Young QBs
 

ive read in several places that Byron and Daunte both struggled in with fumbles and interception and general mayhem early in their careers.
BUT
the offensive coordinators have adjusted their schemes to the QBs by allowing more shotgun formation, more vertical passing, etc, to suit the QBs ability.
SO
we all can agree that AB struggles with touch passes, why dont we throw more long balls?
we all can agree AB sometimes struggles with untimely interceptions and fumbles, why dont we put him in the shotgun and give him some more time to see the field?

also, in response to what i just wrote, when is an interception ever TIMELY? personally i hate them in them in all aspects of our offense.

edit:
i cant recall where i read such information, but im sure its on ESPN.com somewhere, maybe profootballweekly.com

[Edited on 27/10/2004 by jbutts]

Young QBs
 

Culpepper and Leftwich certainly do line up in the shotgun more often than Brooks. And Culpepper has cuty his fumbles drastically. I wanted to get some other opinions but mine is that McCarthy has no idea how to use his weapons in this offense. I think he is stifling Aaron and Deuce instead of letting them grow. Seems he is fine with status quo and not actually improving every year, which is a huge mistake.

Young QBs
 

it seems Mcarthy holds his scheme over his players.
which is flawed.
you have to balance them both, so that you play to strengths of your players, through the scheme.
just as Denny Green.

Young QBs
 

Exactly how I feel jbutts. If the scheme doesn\'t fit your players, you adjust or you find players that do fit the scheme. McCarthy tries to shove a large square peg into a small round whole. And don\'t even count on in game adjustments. We have a better chance of the stadium fairy offering to build us a new one for free. They should take a look at how bad Vick is struggling in Atlanta. Huge coaching mistake there also. You take the players you have and make a scheme for them, you can\'t take the scheme and continually try to force iton players who aren\'t the best in it. Even Boo is struggling in this scheme asfter a breakout second half of last year.

Young QBs
 

It does seem that McCarhty isn\'t getting the best out of AB and Deuce, and maybe he should be demoted to QB coach. Because he is awesome at that (read up on him), but he is not a good OC.

BUT something has to be done about our O-line. 2nd and 20 and 3rd and 16 are hard to convert even for the best in the league. I really feel our offense hasn\'t been able to get a rhythm all season. Everyone\'s fault, but come one....every drive at elast 1 or 2 false starts, holdings, illegal shifts...etc..... man, sure makes it hard.

2nd half of Raiders game first time I saw a rhythm for our offense, and you saw how they looked....decent.

Young QBs
 

I think our O-line has the \"who else you gonan put in\" mentality. They all feel they are set and the only one who really should be is LeCharles(who by the way should never have been moved from being a pro bowl guard, but I digress.) Riley is a waste. He was often times an underachiever before the falst starts, not he is just a hindrance and a nuisance. And Gandy doesn\'t want him to take all the balme so he helps out with getting some procedural calls against himself every now and then.

Now I know you don\'t wanna be in 2nd and 20 or 3rd and 16 a lot, but in other offenses I watch I still think these down and distance situations can be overcome. Like McNabb this year, Culpepper, Leftwich, Manning, Favre, Brady. When they get in this down and distance don\'t you feel like they can still pick up the yardage? I don\'t get that from our offense and neither does opposing defenses. We have enough weapons that we should be able to strike fear in defenses at any down and distance, though agreed you don\'t wanna make a habit of having to go this far. But one 5 yard false start should not be a consistent problem for this offense and it seems to be drive killers.

Young QBs
 

Riley may be sucking, it\'s true, but Gandy is a plain free agent bust as a player. It\'s not that his play has been horrible, but he is getting big time money and not putting in big time performances. He holds more than any LT we\'ve had there in 10 years. It is time now to put in Stinchcomb at RT and get him some live reps. If he\'s ever to move to LT he\'s got to get some experience and we need a LT badly.

Young QBs
 

It all comes down to the coaching. All of the other young QB\'s have a coach to help them and in alot of cases they have a Veteran QB on the sidelines to help them get better and to become more of a leader in the huddle. The Saints coaching staff is horrable anyway you look at it. AB has no one to pull him aside and tell him what he did wrong on that play and what to look out for next time. Without the any young QB will struggle.

That\'s just my opinon.

Young QBs
 

Nice opinion Saint.tastic, but who did Leftwich have? Brunell was practically run out of town. Who did McNabb have? They had noone and started him from day one. So I don\'t think having a vet there is the answer, but coaching change definitely may be. Although I will nto go so far as to say a veteran presence would not have helped AB. Lord knows someone at some point needed to push him for his job and make him imrpove.

Young QBs
 

True, but the one thing that Leftwich and McNabb have that AB never had was a good D to help backup his misstakes. Leftwich has 3 more INT\'s then AB and McNabb has the same amount 3 has AB. So the D gives them good field position and more chances to score. And the main difference between AB and the other QB\'s are dropped balls by the WR\'s.

Just my opinon

Young QBs
 

You are right, a good defense definitely would help AB. Both of these qbs probably get more chances to make things happen by their D stopping people or causing turnovers. But then what of Culpepper? Minny has never had a good D. Sure they have Moss, but we have Joe and Deuce. And Culpepper is now winning without Moss and with a 4th string rb(although I am glad a Tulane player is shining). Culpepper has uncanny accuracy now on all throws, something AB has not matured into.

Young QBs
 

We just traded away O\'sullivean, the statistical odds of finding a collegiate quarterback that can come in and make a difference is, without doubt, unlikely. It is easy to find the gems that shine, heck they are in the media all the time. What, in my opinion, really wins games is an overall coaching philosphy that embraces the talent you do have. Sure we can crucify Brooks for what he hasn\'t done, but look at Dilfer, Johnson, or even Brady. What they have had going for them is a team mentality that plays to their strengths. Right now, our organization seems content to put the offence and defence on seperate islands, with seemingly seperate aspirations. If our game plans made some attempt to synthesize the two units, make them rely on each other then young Quarterbacks would remain a chance not worth taking, we have what we need in terms of talent, we just need a strong approach that bring people together, we have shown what happens when teams fall apart.

Young QBs
 

With Culpepper there are a couple of reasons why he blow up and became the QB that he is today. 1: When he was a rookie he had Randel Cunningham to take him under his wing. 2: He had Cris Carter to help him out from a WR stand point. 3: he has the best WR in the game that always draw double teams and everyone else is in single coverage. 4: And I think the most important thing is that they built that offence around him, they gave him an O system that he can produce in. He plays his best when he is in Shotgun so %70 of the passing plays are out of the Shotgun formation which makes and big difference.

Just my opinon

Young QBs
 

The thing I like most in what you said Sainttastic is number 4, they built the offense around him. Culpepper had a fumbling problem like Brooks, until they changed the O and put him in the shotgun more. I think that directly represents our problem. Our offensive coordinator does not know whether he should center the offense around AB or Deuce, when it is clear it should be Deuce. He should get a buttload more touches than he has been. Or he relies too heavily on one or the other in games, teams figure that out and we don\'t adjust. Or just as bad, one or the other works and we go away from it so nobody\'s feelings get hurt. This inconsistency and chnages to the philosophy year after year has hurt Brooks\' development also.