As I said before, Floyd was out with some injuries in both of those years and missed some games because of it, so it was a wounded Clausen throwing to Tate pretty much. Rudolph is a good target too but he didn't come on until his 3rd year. Clausen has had much more experience than Sanchez has. That was the main knock on Mark.......Clausen is a much different story. I agree that ND should have had a better year but that falls on the coach and not on Clausen. I stood up for Weis big time but he was just downright bad last year with some decisions and some of the conservativeness he was showing.
Clausen threw 28 TDs and only 4 INTs last season - it wasn't on him. Like BakerMaker said, it was on Charlie Weis. You can't win a lot of games when your defense can't stop anyone. Watch the Michigan game. Clausen did all he had to so and more to win that game, and the ND's defense collapsed.
I'm not disagreeing with you, and it was a masterful performance, but you probably shouldn't ever use stats gained against Stanford's defense in an argument. :up: I'm a bit surprised by what I'm reading from other people about Bradford having more upside. Clausen is ALL upside. What I mean by that is his talent has been clearly demonstrated on the field, and the biggest knocks on him have been maturity and personal/mental issues. That's been the case since he was at Oaks Christian. If he matures quickly, he could be a fantastic QB.
I think Clausen can be an OK QB, but I don't see him as a franchise QB. He had the ball in his hands late in games and couldn't find a way to win, he has really has a big wind up on his passes, held onto the ball too much and has a toe injury that won't heal(that is a bigger deal than people are making of it, I give him credit for playing with it and realize it might have hurt his play, but he is going to have a PLATE IN HIS TOE) If you watch some of the plays Tate made, you can see how much he helped Jimmy's numbers. I think Sanchez had a better arm and seems like so much more of a fluid passer and athlete. I wouldn't take him in the top 10, not for all that money.Just my 2 cents.
A lot of that had to do with his school. Oaks Christian was built almost exclusively for athletics. The facilities there are astounding, while the classrooms are essentially a converted office building. J Serra in OC is another school built that way, and we're starting to see it pay off in bringing in athletes. Clausen was the golden goose for Oaks Christian. Kids like Nick Montana moved to the school because of the way Clausen was treated. He got every benefit imaginable, was treated like a God, and it went to his school. On he goes to Notre Dame, a school that idolizes its football team like no other, and it's the same. Once he gets to the NFL, though, the fans are harsh, the veterans are harsh, and he's going to be cut down a notch. If he responds well and finally matures, he's got all the tools to dominate in the NFL.
... Jamarcus Russell - and Jeff Garcia??? I'm not sure how you can categorize either of them except to say that they were in training camp together in Oakland once. Jamarcus Russell is the furthest thing from good. He's a total bum, actually. Garcia actually had some good years. He went to the Pro Bowl for 3 consecutive seasons, 4 total PB appearances.
My point was that Clausen couldn't have had a better game and his team still lost, because the defense couldn't stop anyone. It just pisses me off when people blame him for Notre Dame's mediocre season.
Clausen's biggest issue is he doesn't feel pressure at all. I understand is his offensive line stinks, but there were too many times in my mind where he didn't get rid of the football fast enough and took sacks (most notably in the navy game where he should have gotten rid of the football faster in his own end zone and didn't which caused a safety) Combine that with questions about his attitude (extremely cocky coming out of high school, supposedly has matured, but i'm still not sure), I wouldn't want to take clausen in the top 10. Not sure I would want to take Bradford either in the top 10 considering he had shoulder surgery. I know the rams need a QB, but if you have a chance at a dominating DT its something to really consider. When you see guys like Jenkins, Haynesworth, Ngata they really change the way offenses game plan a defense. I think Suh or Mccoy, but more Suh can be one of those guys. The rams are in a very difficult position because there is no clear cut #1.
