Here's Draft Breakdown's collection on Hundley. I've only watched a few games so far (2014 Az, 2014 Utah, 2014 USC), but it seems like he's been asked to make one read, then either check down or run. There's nothing wrong with that as he does that seemingly well, but when compared to Mariota's tape, it's clear that the latter is the better prospect. That's probably not in dispute. If Mariota somehow falls to 6, he has to be the pick. That being said, Hundley would be a good developmental prospect. He may very well go in the second round of this year's draft, but I'd be more inclined to use a 3-5 round pick on him, if at all. If we're taking a prospect solely to develop the talent, then it'd be better if it was a 6-7 pick or an UDFA (e.g., Bridge, who might have just as good an arm talent as Hundley). That's pretty on point.
It's true what he said about the entire NFL having only 4-5 elite franchize QBs. So what are the other 25+ teams to do? 1- Build the best defense possible to neutralize the other teams franchize QB. Rex's defenses with the Jets routinely held Brady to his lowest QB rating of the season. Unfortunately Rex never had a 'complete' defense. He had older, slower LBers and an absence of a true pass rusher, but he still went a long way shutting down Brady and putting both teams on a more or less even playing field. Especially in the playoffs. 2- Build the best offense possible. That starts with a brutal running game that takes pressure off your non-franchize QB. 3- Always be on the lookout for an upgrade at QB. But be careful here. Obtaining 1) and 2) above will use a LOT of cap space and a LOT of high draft picks. A team without a franchize QB can not afford to use a high draft pick on a QB that's a question mark. Jets went this rout with Sanchez and it set us back 5 years. GMs have to balance building a great team and using resources on a 'potential' upgrade at QB.
The thing about Hundley is he possesses alot of the same upside as Mariota. Hundley is obviously not as good a prospect as Mariota, but is also athletic and has questions about whether he can play in a pro offense. Considering how similar the two are, it would be a steal to draft Hundley in the 3rd or 4th round. He is a developmental pick and you haven't invested as much in him. All these teams feel the need to invest high in a QB and waste high picks that hardly turn out well. The truth is that the QB crop is a crapshoot. Brady was drafted in the 6th round, Russell Wilson was drafted in the 3rd round, Kurt Warner came from the AFL, Joe Montana was a 3rd rounder, Steve Young was in the supplemental draft, Drew Brees was chosen in the late 2nd round, Colin Kaepernick was a late second rounder. Only once in a while are guys sure locks to be studs such as Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning, etc... With all the high QB draft busts (RG3, Mark Sanchez, Sam Bradford, Jamarcus Russell, Ryan Leaf, Blaine Gabbert, the list goes on forever)....the odds are certainly not in your favor. QB should be a position that you invest low in and hope your guy turns out the be a stud. Hundley may not be Joe Montana, but I think we would all be ecstatic if he turned out to be a Kaepernick.
Pretty telling comments from Bowles. I think Woody meant to say what Bowles said. Even if he's there at 6, I think we pass on MM.
Actually, it might be to let teams know that they aren't interested in Mariota but would consider him valuable. If anything the Jets want to trade back from No. 6 pick. For this to happen, teams need to believe that the Jets won't take Mariota themselves. Otherwise teams will jump ahead of the Jets and the #6 pick if they truly believed the Jets were going to take Mariota.
Of course it's a smoke screen. He stumbled even saying it saying there are other ways to win but offering up none of them.
He probably assumes people saw his previous team win with a few no name QB's last year. I hope this was just typical coach speak from bowles and we don't have another coach who thinks of offense as an afterthought.
The best part about everything Todd Bowles said yesterday morning is that it seems like Matt Simms is completely out of the picture. About damn time. Not just because he sucks, but because he sucks and some jets fans actually want him to play.
One thing I took from that interview was that he needs his QB to take care of the ball... That's not Geno or Fitz...
Wow, how do you define elite? I can see Eli as problematic, but in fact he is above average and does seem to step up in big games, the bigger the game the better. But Roethlisberger is clearly an elite Qb by my definition. And I would think most fans. Is he quite in the same league as Rodgers or Brady? No, but if he's not on your top ten list, it must be for someting other than current NFL Qb's.
odd that you would draw that conclusion based on those comments. Bowles hasn't held 1 practice yet but you know from his comments that Simms is out of the picture. I'd say in March that nobody on the roster is completely out of the picture
I followed the Cards pretty closely, at least relative to other teams not usually on our radar, because I think Arians is a textbook case of how to be a great HC in this league even if starting with a mediocre team when he first went there. For starters I dont think Stanton was a no name Qb. Sure he had not played much, but look who he was backing up. Fact is but for the Tebow trade when the Jets cut Stanton loose after signing him, he would have been the starting Qb for the Jets at some point in either 12 or 13. And very well still might be. Sure he was playing behind Palmer, and I don't mean to suggest he's top 15 or 20 at all. But I would hardly call Stanton a no name. His stats last year were clearly better than Smith's, and roughly where Fitzpatrick was (slightly higher QBR). Interesting also when you drill down - look at the first Rams game where Palmer got hurt. Stanton came in and threw the go ahead TD that held as the winning score. IN A GAME THAT MATTERED, played in early November, with your starting Qb down and in the same division as Seattle, San Fran and a resurgent Rams team? Can you even imagine Smith doing something like that???? But back to Arizona being mediocre - not last year they werent. Sure they won more with D than O, but between Palmer and Stanton they were 18 of AZ's TD passes compared to 2 for Lindley, who is the no name Qb you are talking about. And most important was that it was precisely when they had to start Lindley that they lost their last two games and hurt their playoff seeding. Not to mention their wild card game. If Bowles thinks the Cards could have made the playoffs last year behind Lindley, he knows less about football than Smith Fans, and I don't think that is the case.
Top third goes to nearly twelve? You would rank 11 other Qb's above Ben? Only Qb's I have clearly above him are Palmer, Brady, P Manning, and Brees.
Another intelligent thing that Bowles said: when asked about trading down for additional picks he said he'd love to but it's not all that easy because other teams want to do the same thing: trade down for a ton of picks. Bowles is known as the kind of guy (unlike someone else we know) who doesn't say much but when he talks people listen and what he says is worth listening too. Not this "I gotta be me" crap that we had for six years. He's been saying stupid things all week. Our guy intelligent things.
Talking about what every coach would say, I did find it odd that Bowles already has Smith ahead of Simms. Not saying I think Simms shold be above Smith right now. But in terms of coachspeak, I probably would not have said Smith is in the lead now even if Fitz is coming back from injury, because "we have nobody else." Yes they do - Simms. At least let him compete, too. What's the downside?
