Watching "Elway to Marino". Still painful to see the Jets pick O'Brien over Marino in '83 in hindsight. Imagine what could have been. Damn.
he had no targets O'Brien played quarterback for over a decade in the National Football League. He was taken in the 1983 NFL Draft with the 24th pick of the first round by the New York Jets out of UC Davis; three picks before Dan Marino. O'Brien amassed over 25,000 yards in his 11-year career. In 1985, he was the highest rated quarterback in the NFL, finishing the season with a rating of 96.2.[1] He also led the NFL with the lowest rate of interceptions in 1985, 1987, and 1988. After an 11-5 record in 1985, O'Brien helped his team open up with a 10-1 record in 1986. After ten games he was leading the NFL with a 111.1 rating (in fact he was the only NFL QB with a rating over 100). He retired after spending the 1993 season with the Philadelphia Eagles where he only started 4 games and mostly served as a backup for Randall Cunningham and Bubby Brister.[2] He is the only quarterback to pass for 400 or more yards (431) in a game and earn a perfect NFL 158.3 rating, a feat he accomplished against the Seattle Seahawks in 1986.[3] O'Brien was also the holder of another NFL record that lasted for 25 years when he combined for 927 (884 net) yards and 10 TDs passing with Dan Marino. The new record (achieved January 1, 2012) is 1000 yards passing with 11 TDs (the same amount of TDs with 63 more yards) in a game that featured the Detroit Lions vs the Green Bay Packers. O'Brien went to the Pro Bowl two times, in 1985 and 1991. Kenny was good he also was most accurate, and without an OL
There's no guarantee Marino would have done anything with the 80s Jets, other than take a shitload of sacks.
Knowing our luck even if we had taken Marino over Ken. I bet Marino wouldn't have had the hall of fame career he had.
Kyle Brady over Sapp...Will forever haunt this franchise more then Marino. Would have been great to have Marino, would have changed our franchise forever...But O'brien was good and lacked help.
At least 30 for 30 emphasized that O'Brien actually was a good QB; the pick only looks bad in comparison to who they could have had. But knowing the Jets luck, if they'd drafted Marino we'd all be saying "Damn, we could've had O'Brien!"
Kenny was a good QB and took one hell of a beating while with the Jets. Marino wasn't hit nearly as much. The Dolphins just never had any luck putting a running game around him which is shocking given the fact teams had to account for him throwing the ball deep so much. Marino would not have been as impressive in NY -- would have had Toon and Walker to throw the ball to but his knees wouldn't have handled the turf in NJ or the amount of hits.
The Patriots and the Chiefs ultimately fucked up on passing on Marino. Also, to a certain extent the Bills. Had they known that Kelly didnt want to be there or was leaving for USFL I think they take Marino
The OL issues are overblown, he took a majority of his sacks b/c he held the ball too long waiting for a big play to happen. He was a more accurate Drew Bledsoe but as much as I loved him as a kid we tend to overrate him on this board. in 1991 he was pretty much the 7th alternate and made the PB b/c 4-5 guys couldn't make it so it's hard to really count that.
How about taking Blair Thomas instead of Emmitt Smith in the 1990 Draft. The 30 for 30 last night was great to watch. The lucky was that agent to have Elway and Marino in the same year!
not sure about that - marino's style - footwork and quick release would have definitely mitigated some of the poor OL performance during that spell. i would say a bigger limiting factor if marino did get drafted here would be walton and his offensive crew. no comparison with shula of course. we realize kotite was on the staff at the time.... u also wonder what influence marino may have had with the jets drafts in the mid to late eighties. really a fascinating what if. IMO much more intriguing than any other NFL team.
Marino took less hits b/c of incredible footwork and his incredibly quick release. He would have been great here, would we have won a SB? NO but we would have been much better.
totally agree with this junc. aside from a good stretch from 85 to mid 86, i used to pull my freakin hair out watching KOB. as funny as it sounds i thought i noticed him slipping a bit immediately AFTER that game against miami in sept 86.
marino with walker & toon > marino with duper and clayton and toon doesnt have to leave his feet as much for marino passes..longer career oh damn now i need a beer
