Guy, People believed Eli Manning would be a dominant NFL QB. Mel Kiper slammed the Colts for passing on Trent Dilfer! Before that Bowl Game, guys were talking about how Troy Smith was going to be a first round pick. Then they all shut their traps. Analysts have been wrong about guys for years. They got robbed in no way, shape, or form. Quarterback is an impossible position to fill, and they got a guy who spent his college years in two pro systems and is very NFL ready. Quinn will be walking into a solid if unspectacular running game, behind a revamped line. The kid showed overwhelmingly great decision making in college and a plus arm. He's far more of a prospect, at least physically, than Pennington was coming out of Marshall. -X-
They in no way shape or form traded the equivalent of top 5 value. If you take into account that a second this year buys you a first next year, they essentially gave up two 2nd round picks for Quinn, only have to pay him #22 money, and get their franchise QB a year early.
only dumb and/or desperate teams trade a 1st next year for a 2nd this year. Notice that the Patriots constantly take advantage of those teams. A 1st next year is not worth only a 2nd this year. They traded a high 1st rounder (I'd be surprised if it wasn't top 10) and a high 2nd rounder for the 22nd pick. That said, if Brady Quinn becomes a good QB, I'm sure they'll be happy with the trade. But in terms of draft picks, they got fleeced.
No, they didn't get robbed. If they valued Quinn as highly as most believe they did, they they made a bold, but still very reasonable move to go up and grab him. When you factor in all of the intangible elements, like whether or not they'd think as highly of any QB next year as they do of Quinn, the HUGE difference in money they'd have to pay between Quinn and a top ten QB next year, and that extra year of experience, I'd say it worked out pretty well.
