First off, I will say that I think the Dolphins seem to be building a solid team. Saban looks like hes gonna be a success, and theyve got some decent players. By no means should anybody expect them to be the bottom of the pack next year.(Although everybody thinks theyll be the best because they won games at the end of the year... that was still last year, I dont think you can safely project that into next season) That being said. In the only season hes played without Randy Moss on his team, Culpepper managed 7 games. He won 2 of them. He threw 12 picks and just 6 touchdowns, and was sacked 31 times(I have a hard time believing that, 31 sacks in 7 games, but thats what ESPN says). I saw a few of his games, and generally, he looked awful. And you cant put the blame on his supporting cast, because Brad Johnson won 7 of their last 10 games for them, threw 12 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions, was sacked 23 times, and this is a 37 year old quarterback whos been bouncing around the league for years now(not to say hes bad, hes won games almost everywhere hes been, but this isnt a guy whos going to take a team on his back). Ive seen it written in a number of places that the acquisition of Culpepper is supposed to put Miami over the top. He stunk it up last year, Miami gets him for a 2nd round pick and all of a sudden theyve got their franchise quarterback for the next decade. Does everybody just forget everything he did in the '05 season, which was SUPPOSED to be the year that he got out from Randy Moss's shadow, took control of the team and showed that he was a capable passer and leader?
culpepper was great when he had a running game and moss opening up everyone else -- he played with moss in NY against the jets and was downright awful in that game -- i don't see him doing anything. you had a team that won 6 straight games to end last season -- i would have added some players but they made a major change at QB and that will take adjustment and who knows how his knee will respond this season.
The lack of protection was one of the main reasons behind his horrible performace in 2005. Sure, not having WR R. Moss hurt, but not having the time to find his receivers was equally as damaging in my opinion. The Vikes OL was in shambles at the start of last season, and that's usually a pretty solid group up there in Minnesota when it's injury free. Culpepper was paying the consequences just like any other QB would have..... Not having OC S. Linehan was also a blow to the Vikes offense. Culpepper was very familiar with his system, and when he left, things weren't quite the same. Culpepper could have played better in 2005 no doubt, but he didn't play bad because he's a "bad player", he just had a bad season.... I'm not chanting Super Bowl or anything just yet, but adding a QB like Culpepper will certain do some very nice things for our verticle game.... He's an upgrade for the Phinz at QB. Nuff said....
finheavan.com is up and running still hey blitz -- culpepper has a nice arm, but was your vertical game bad last year???? how much of a greater impact will he make in that area??
Good Call. Last time I checked, it's still there. Where have you been?? I'm sure we'd love to have you enlighten us all with your opinions of Culpepper....LOL!!!!!!!!
It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. I'm not expecting Marino / Clayton type bombs falling out of the sky, but I do expect to notice an immediate difference in the way defenses appraoch us on offense. We'll have the running game, the OL to protect Culpepper, and the WR / TE sets to make us a tough unit to stop. I hope.... After dealing with QB's like Feidler / Lucas / Greise / Feeley / Huard / and Frerotte, I'm very happy we decided to make this trade. You can imagine I'm sure....
Culpepper is going to be better than Frerotte/Rosenfels. While he may not be a superstar sans Moss, Miami is going to give him enough tools to succeed. -X-
I can't wait to see Culpepper laying on his back with Super Mario (in a Jets jersey) laying on top of him breathing down his face mask "not here punk".
Miami's thinking baffles me. They were hot for Brees and when that didn't work out they went for Culpepper. Both QBs made their reputations largely by throwing to a highly talented receiver group...their production could be expected to drop off even if they were healthy... and both are high-risk damaged goods. Why would a solidly improving team want to make a risky move like this? I think the odds are good that Miami shot themselves in the dorsal.
Thats the bottom line. You hit it on the head...how good will he be? Who knows...but much better than they have had.
I have my worries as well as to whether Daunte will be the MVP type QB he was a couple years ago, but it's hard to deny that even when not at his best he'll be better than anyone else on the roster. You can argue all day just how good he'll be in Miami, but it's hard to say that they didn't get better with the acquisition.
exactly, theres been little to no running game in Min for some time now. he'll be on a team with ricky williams (most likely) ronnie brown, chambers, and mcmichael. like they said, regardless, theyll be tougher to beat with him at the helm than anyone theyve had since marino.
That argument is purely spurious. Fact is, the Vikings did not improve after Culpepper went down, the teams they played were just alot worse.
First, shouldn't this be in the NFL forum? Second, you're right, Miami will probably be better with Culpepper at the helm. However, it is just another short term solution. Since Marino EVERYTHING they have done has been short term bandaids to the QB solution. Trading for backup QBs off other teams, QBs getting on in age like Culpepper, signing second tier FAs, and drafting QBs in the later rounds and trying to coach them up. They have not done anything to fix the problem long term. Miami needs desperately to pull off a trade like the Giants did a few years back and get a QB for the future. Bandaids are not the answer in the long run.
