The other day I heard Jim Fassel talking on the radio. He said he examined the stats of every hall of fame or potential HOF QB. He said that what he learned was that for the first 2-3 years their stats look very ordinary. For instance Eli's stats thus far are very similar to Peyton's at the same stage in his career. His conclusion was that it takes a long time for an NFl QB to become a master of his craft. So far Clemens looks like he is ahead of the curve, which is great, but do Jets fans have the patience to allow a QB to develop? We got very lucky with Pennington being ready to excel out of the gate, hopefully lightning strikes twice!
as far as last year's draft goes, Vince Young is a winner but looks mechanically lost. Leinart looks soft (in every sense of the word). Cutler looks like a gamer, but stupid at times. and Clemens looks like he has the potential, physically and mentally to succeed. i, for one, am willing to wait.
cutler has a way bigger arm, but you dont need a huge arm, just a decent arm we look like we got a player. he doesnt look lost. that is a really good sign
Just from being on this message board for a couple of years I say No. He has this year to develop. If next year he does not do at least 8-8, you will probably see a flurry of bench KC threads.
I am happy to say that it is pretty tough to second-guess our early round picks from last year. Vince Young has received tons of hype and has won a fair amount of games but I have to say I'm not sorry he didn't fall to us. I agree w/ the assessment that Leinart looks soft...almost like another version of Chad if you ask me. Cutler seems like a Drew Bledsoe type. Big guy with a big arm but seems to be missing something. Maybe intangibles is the word. Clemens? Who knows at this point but I don't see him being a huge step down from any of the guys mentioned above. And he only cost us a low second round pick. Hopefully we will be praising this as a brilliant draft for the Jets a few years from now.
Exactly right you dont need a massive rocket , clemens has a strong arm and his accuracy will only get better.
I think Clemens can be a Hasselbeck type QB which I would be thrilled to have. Im sure I can wait. 40 years w/o a SB whats a couple more?
I don't understand why people are now saying Clemens has an average arm. Maybe I'm just enamored with his arm because I have been watching Pennington throw for the past six years, but Clemens seems to have a very strong arm. And I understand that Cutler's arm is huge, but I have been reading alot of posts on this site that Clemen's arm is average and I don't agree with that. I definitely think Clemens has an above average arm, and a quick release.
Fassel's a tool. If he'd said "some hall of famers look fairly ordinary for 2-3 seasons and then take off" he'd have been right. Saying that all of them do just makes him look stupid.
It is much more than "some" it is "most", including Elway, Manning, Young, he mentioned quite a few; Marino would be definitely be an exception .
First off, Pennington was on the bench for 3 years so he definitely did not excel out of the gate. He had plenty of time to develop. Second, what about Big Ben in Pittsburgh or Anderson in Cleveland this year? They excelled in 1 or 2 weeks. (Of course being 6'5" and 6'6" doesn't hurt. That's why Clemens has no chance) So did Young after being a backup, so did Aikman, Kelly, Marino and Elway. They didn't have great teams around them when they started but they could all play out of the gate. there are plenty that didn't take 2-3 years.
Yes, you'll see the Bench KC threads, but if the team as a whole is at the same level as this year then it isnt fair to just attack clemens. So far this kid has led the team from behind in the 4th quarter only to have someone else blow the opportunity, whether it be the Defense or a WR.
Agreed. As long as he keeps showing enough that fans see him developing into something good, people will be patient. There are other parts of the team that suck much worse, and which need to be fixed.
I remember all the old "Vinny has a strong arm, but Chad's passes are short, soft, and consistant." Screw the arm debate. This team has way more issues than a QBs arm. Clemens could very well turn into a bust. Who knows? Penny was the first QB picked in the 2000 draft, and look how that turned out.
Kellen Clemens is every bit the qb that Tony Romo is. He just does not have the same supporting cast, obviously.
I like him a lot, he's gonna be around for a few years as long as he doesn't suck too bad.......not like this team has high expectations for next year or after. And I think that helps him.
Aikman was horrible out of the gate, Kelly had been a pro already for years (USFL), Elway was hot and cold, to say the least, until Denver and Shanahan created the running game, and Anderson is in his third season, and not even his first as a starter. Touche on Rothlisberger, who we could add to Marino as one of few QBs that did well out of the gate. I agree on Pennington and Young-- both clearly benefitted enormously by not starting right away (and Young also having additional experience as a pro in the USFL). I think there is definitely some truth that most QBs take a few years to really "take off" if they're ever going to, but how much of it has to do with the fact that highly regarded QBs are often drafted high for a reason-- their teams suck. How much of their improved performance a few years down the road has do do with that fact that their teams in general are better, and have been rebuilt? Or are the teams better simply because the QB got better? WHich came first, the chicken or the egg?
You're going to throw this thread on a whole new path with that comment. Cause the reason we suck is someone whose last name rhymes with Hutton. It also rhymes with glutton. And if he would call plays with some balls, we wouldn't be in this position. Running a 3-4 and hardly ever blitzing, pathetic!
