Can we just call Clemens what he is? Mr. Happy Feet! Until he stops that, I don't think he'll EVER be a top tier QB in this league. (Please don't go on about how anyone would get happy feet with this OL. Pennington didn't! This is the pros. If he can't take the heat......)
We're certainly seeing the effects of starting a novice QB behind a porous OL. I didnt think he had happy feet when he first played against the Ravens, but as the season wore on and he kept getting hit and sacked, he started to tuck and run more quickly. Part of that may have been coaching, too. He may have been told to speed up his clock and not think he could sit in the pocket forever. It still comes down to the decision to start his playing career behind a crappy OL, and that wasnt his fault. Maybe he isnt much better than he has looked, but his development wasnt helped by shoddy playcalling and an inability to contain the pass rush. And the CS doesnt get off the hook for failing to upgrade an OL that was so bad in 05 that they had to use two first round picks on it.
do not worry folks - once we get past games 9-10 next year and he starts throwing darts around the field, 300 yds passing and a couple touchdowns.... we will see jil
Give him a line and half of next season. If he hasn't improved at all, then look to other options. Personally, I might draft a QB in the middle rounds like Booty or Flacco or Brennan and give them a chance if Kellen fails. I'd like to give him all of next season, but if he hasn't improved at all, we're not gonna be looking at a very good quarterback. I'll give him most of the season, though.
Aikman and Manning played behind porous lines early on in their careers and did not develop the happy feet, hold on to the ball too long and lack of pocket awareness problems (better known as the David Carr) that Kellen has shown. It comes down to mental toughness; those that have it become better QBs by having experience these tough times. Those that don't never recover. IMO if you have to worry about what playing your potential QB of the future behind a crappy line might do to his psyche or development, then you don't really have a potential QB of the future.
I think he has mental and physical toughness. However, his accuracy, fundamentals and technique, field awareness, etc., is another story. His stats were fairly comparable to Aikman's first year. It will be interesting to see if he gets better each year like Aikman did, or not... http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/A/AikmTr00.htm
I only saw Clemens with "happy feet" in one game: the last one. That may normally be a concern but I think that Clemens was not 100%, and was not confident in the patchwork offensive line. Offense needs to be our #1 priority this offseason, and with a better supporting cast can be a good QB for us next year. Will he be a franchise QB? Who knows. But he has shown enough to get the chance to develop.
Half the season? This is madness. If we improve our Oline which surely must happen how can we gauge any progress if KC ain't the man? With the exception of a late rally against Baltimore I seen nothing to suggest Kellen has the tools to lead this team. When Chad started a few years back we all knew we had a real starter who could get the job done. Going into 2008 season hoping Kellen can do a job is just another crapshoot. This thread brings it home just what a mess we are in. We have to keep Chad, we have to get rid of Tui who would have been given some kind of chance if he was up to it and we have pick up another QB who we can nurture for the future or trade some way to get a blue chip guy,eg. (Anderson,Browns). All options very expensive. I am amazed that after such a crap season, so many fans are willing to chance the future on a QB who has serious doubts about his potential. What a mess!
The problem is, it could take our revamped O-line 4-5 games just to "jell," so I think you have to give any starter 16 games unless he REALLY stinks up the field badly. Lots of good QBs started their careers on the wrong foot until they got in the groove.
So...you know Clemens isn't mentally tough by 7-8 starts? Manning couldn't get called "mentally tough" until last year. Probably the only knocks on Manning pre-Super Bowl win was that he got happy feet and he wasn't "mentally tough." You're ALWAYS going to worry about what a crappy O-line will do to a QB. Its why the Cowboys went out and built the most dominant O-lines of the 90's.
Are you delusional? Chad folds like a deck of cards anytime somebody gets near him. He could never take half the hits I have seen kellen take. Come back to reality seriously.
Aikman and Manning had the luxury of playing in cities that realized that they were rebuilding and would accept their interceptions. If Kellen would have tried to force plays or have a gunslingers attitude the first thing we would hear is he can't read a defense etc, etc. He is coming into a situation where the fanbase does not realize it takes years to develop as a QB not a few games behind a horrible o-line. Kellen was 3-4 and could have easily been 5-2 despite our shortcomings on offense Plus he did not have coles for a large majority of the time as well. The deck was stacked against him from day 1!
Chad had a Future HOf Center in Mawae anchoring one of the best lines in the league, A first ballot HOF running back in Curtis Martin and a good defense. All he had to do was not screw something up! If Chad came in now and had to actually throw the ball to win we would have seen what we saw in him the first seven games this year.
You're telling me that NY/NJ fans are impatient? I think scientific fact has proved we're right....Mangini sucks...Kellen sucks...D'Brick sucks...Harris and Revis weren't enough...why are we in the 3-4...why would we let go of poor Petey K...the list goes on. I say we scrap Project Mangini and get a PROVEN winner. This is NY/NJ bitches. It doesn't take YEARS to rebuild anything around here...
Just for giggles. What would you say the patriots record would be if the patriots had an easy to game plan offense? What would there record be if Tom Brady didn't have time to let Randy Moss get a step? What would there record be if the defenses could put 11 guys in the box, like defense's do against the Jets?(exageration) My point is that you can not evaluate a QB with the components that Clemens had to work with this year. Clemens deserves a fair shake before everyone bails on him. He stood tall almost all season before he started running for his life everygame.
Also, what would there record be if they couldn't run the ball. Just food for thought. It isn't just the patriots, but the colts, the cowboys, the packers, etc.
I made no mention of his interceptions, I expect that from a young QB. I also don't expect young QBs to know how to read defenses well. Most QBs don't start doing that well until they are closer to 30. What I said was: Notice I didn't even add his inaccuracy as a concern because I understand it's hard to be accurate when you are under duress all the time, especially when you are also a young QB. However, I do want to see that my young QB will stand tall in the pocket, not hold on to the ball and show good pocket awareness. That along with accuracy to me is showing "flashes" of possible greatness down the line as opposed to every once in a while completing a long pass play. IMO Clemens have yet to show any of those traits. He's a relatively decent decision maker for his age; that's about the only thing I will give thus far. That puts him a notch above Browning Nagle in my book.
You came as close as you could to putting words in mouth without technically doing so by conveniently adding that question mark at the end. If you read my post closely enough, you would already know the answer to this question. I'll spare you the pain of having to read by just answering now. The answer is NO. I disagree with the notion that Manning "had" happy feet. If you consider the constant resetting of his feet that Manning does in the pocket as the case of the "happy feet", then he still has it. He's been doing it since Tennesse. Manning does that when his protection is great and when it is breaking down, while always looking down field. I don't ever recall Manning's mental toughness being in question, I always thought his biggest knock since college was that he couldn't win the big games (Florida in college and the Patsies in the pros). You worry about what it will do to your QB physically. However when you start having to worry about it causing your QB not to stand tall in the pocket, to have no pocket awareness and the case of the real "happy feet", then you need to look at your QB as well as the o-line.
