Possibly, it depends on when he came along. Todd got here in 1976 and the O-line had to be built around him, O'Brien might have never survived that. If he'd gotten here around 1979 or 1980 the line was in place, we got Freeman McNeil in 1981, maybe we'd have been better with O'Brien than Todd for those 1981 and 82 playoff years. No way to know for sure.
Not kidding at all. He was one of the 3 best QB's in the league in 1981 and 1982. In fact I remember some commentators calling him the BEST QB in the league around that time. TODD BABY!! And he was DEFINITELY the TOUGHEST of the 3! The man played with broken ribs and WON!
Well, those were his only two good seasons. Todd did not get named to any All-Pro teams in either year. The All-Pro QBs in 1981- Ken Anderson, Joe Montana, Danny White, Dan Fouts The All-Pro QBs in 1982- Dan Fouts, Joe Theismann, Danny White, Ken Anderson Anderson was named as the league MVP by the Associated Press in 1981.
The QB's that are selected to the Pro Bowl each year mean NOTHING. Pennington should have gone at least ONE year and never did. Pro Bowl selections are rediculous. However, with that being said, Fouts and Anderson DID deserve to go in 1981....Todd SHOULD have replaced Fouts in '82! It's a popularity contest.
Nonsense. I've seen both of them & would definitely take Chad over obrien in a clutch game against a tough Defense. O'Brien was one of the better qb in the league while playing but what have you seen from obrien that makes him so much better that it's crazy to even consider Pennington? Obrien that will always take the sack instead of throwing the ball for incompletion ... that kind of qb isn't going to win any big games unless he faces a defense lacking pass rush or is standing behind a dominant (passing) offensive line.
This thread is bogging down. Face it fellas...neither one is going to the Hall of Fame. Maybe we can have a "Who's better- Joe Fields or Nick Mangold" debate instead.
Oh boy, here we go again. People need to buy dictionaries. Someone in the Week 7 Games Thread incorrectly used the term when he said that Ben Roethlisberger's fumble at the 1-yard line was "clearly a TD." Grab a dictionary. Look up the word "clearly." Then read and learn. It's not that difficult. Joe Montana is clearly a better quarterback than Ray Lucas. Ken O'Brien is NOT clearly better than Chad Pennington.
Don't bother quoting my posts in the future if you cannot read them properly. Go back to 3rd grade. Now, for the record, I hate Pro Bowls and put little stock into Pro Bowl appearances by players. All-Pro voting on the other hand is a different story.
No he wasn't. Richard Todd was an average QB that sabotaged TWO postseasons for us w/ his awful play against Buf in '81 and Miami in '82. There's a reason coming off a title game app in '82 that they drafted a QB in the first round a few months later.
I though both qb's were good for the Jets, Kenny was strictly a pocket passer, while Chad moved a little more, different schemes make it difficult to really choose one over the other, personally I would choose Kenny because he could could make every throw on the field and the game plan did not have to be tailored around what he could not do. Anyone who thinks Richard Todd was special is insane, the guy played okay for the Jets.
O'Brien had his moments, but Pennington is the better QB. He's QB'd 4 teams to the playoffs - including one that was 1-3 before he was put in to start the season and also took a team that was 1-15 the previous year (yeah, I know not with the Jets). Pennington won 2 playoff games. O’Brien after starting the 1986 season 10-1 was benched in favor of Pat Ryan. About the only thing O’Brien had on Pennington was his strong arm.
This kind of sums it up. If you looked at both guys' raw ability in the same draft you'd probably take O'Brien. But Pennington was able to do more with less, whether his team wasn't as good or he was hurt or whatever, he could gut it out and get you a win. O'Brien could be successful if it was all set up for him, but once he didn't have a good line or great WRs we were lucky to be a 500 team. Todd had grown into a good QB by the time he was traded, which is why I didn't get that move. You go through the growing pains and rebuilding around him, which they did from 1977 to 1982, then the whole machine is finally up and running and they trade him, going into 1984 with two guys who'd never started a game with the rest of the team in their prime. He wasn't as good as Fouts or Anderson but we could win with him and we were starting to.
Pennington would not have even been starting in the era O'Brien played, because he could not deliver the ball in the vertical passing game. Pennington tailored his game to the short pass, which was all he could deliver with any consistency. Posters supporting Chad acknowledge his arm was mediocre. The problem is, you need a strong arm to be a complete passer. Kenny had very little help from the OL, unlike Chad, and imo that more than balanced out the superior talent Kenny (theoretically) had available, and I say theoretically because in actual practice Walker and Toon were rarely healthy and available together. The combination of mediocre OL protection and the orientation toward the vertical game were what together forced O'Brien to take so many sacks. Those sacks in turn took their toll on his pocket presence, along with a general decline in the quality of the team. Another element was Chad had a much better running attack to work off of. Compare the 86 season, a great one for the Jets of that era, with 2004. The Jets averaged 4.5 ypc in 04. In 86? 3.5. In short, Chad had a better OL and with Martin and Jordan a better running game in support. One other thing about the playoff records of each, but technically the loss to Cleveland in the playoffs following the 86 season was one where Pat Ryan was listed as the starter. Kenny played the game, and had more attempts, but I just thought I should note that. In any event, playoff appearances is a team and not individual stat. O'Brien had the great arm, he was tough, took a tremendous beating, was not fragile like Chad, played with a much weaker OL and less run support. Imo he was much better, and I do think that many who voted for Chad in this pole (I did not say everyone) never saw O'Brien play.
