Taking Cutler at 4 would have been a reach last year. Trading down probally would not have worked out to well either considering the Broncos had the perfect pulse on when to pull that trigger. There should be an open competition at EVERY position EVERY year. If a younger cheaper player beats him out, great. I love Chad, but if he gets beat out by Kellen, then that means he is ready.
He's not going to get beaten out by Kellen, Mangini just said that to keep his theory of Competition. Unless Chad gets injured, he's gonna be the QB. We'll get a good look at Kellen in the preseason games. I really think Chad can bring us to the Super Bowl. Look how good he did this year even though he got off to a late start because he was still recovering! I didn't even has faith in Chad before this season. The guy is a badass! Stop whining about his "NOODLE" arm. NOODLE ARMS CAN'T THROW THE BALL 60 YARDS! HE CAN!
How exactly did he carry us? He played well enought to win some games, and played terrible in losses. He had people making plays for him all year. The defense played very well to close out the season. CP didn't carry anything expect his own weight...most of the time.
clemans wont even see a snap next season. he is not labled the franchise qb and wont be for a couple of years.
I may be a little too trusting here, but I do think it will be an open competition, and if Clemens gives the Jets a better chance to win than Penny, he will start. While Pennington's lack of arm strength is, and will remain a limiting factor on the offense, his other abilities are very remarkable. Clemens will have to prove he can lad the team, make reads, play fake and make good decisions before he can unseat Chad. The comparison of Eli Manning to Clemens doesn;t hold water. Eli doesn't, and never will have the leadership qualities that any really successful NFL QB has to have. When Eli talks, no one listens. He just doesn't have the leadership abilty a QB has to have. Even in a social group, there are those people that everyone listens to when they talk, and those that no one listens to. Eli is the latter of those two. It's either there, or it isn't. From what I've seen of Clemens, he has the leadership ability, has the smarts without the experince, and has the arm. It's most likely a matter of time , when, not if he gets his chance. He'll get his chance when Mangini and Schotty think he's ready, and I have confidence in their judgement.
SI: I think Eric Mangini would not have used a second-round pick on someone he was not planning to give a fair chance. Pennington is a splendid field general, but he has the weakest deep arm of any decent-or-better quarterback in the NFL. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer came back after scouting all the quarterbacks in the draft last year and raved about Clemens' smarts, field sense and arm strength. Oh, he'll get his chance to play sometime. You can be sure of that.
Cutler also is far from a guaranteed NFL QB at this point. He did pretty well personally in his late season run, but the Broncos didn't do all that well after he came in. Sounds a lot like Vanderbilt on the one hand and Jeff George on the other. We'll see.
My bad the cap hit is 08 if we don't cut Chad. I believe this team is not close to being an elite team right now. Yes I thought we had a shot at the playoffs and 10 wins prior to the season based on a healthey Chad and an easy schedule, but I don't believe we are close to a competitive SB team. We are at least 2 years away and in spite of all our cap room, wages are about to inflate because so many teams have cap room and we simply can't afford to pay Chad as if he was Payton Manning or Tom Brady when as all the Chad supporters point out we need to build a great D and have a great running game. Since I believe Chad will be cut before the 08 season, it makes sense to see what Clemens brings to the table next year. I also believe Coles will be done by the end of next year because of he's head injuries. Coles whining for Chad will not be a factor in Chad holding the job. The Pats are still better than us by miles and they have 2 first round picks. We are going to have to improve our team with both the draft and FA and we are going to need to get better at QB to challenge them and the other elite NFL teams.
If Clemens has got anything, it will be apparent once he has two training camps behind him. A lot of of young QBS start to show their stuff after the second camp. They are too wide-eyed through the first camp, I guess.
The Pats may be about to suffer if they don't get a youth movement going in their linebacker corps - look what happened here when we hung on to Lewis and Jones a year too long.
Chad managed most games well and got the ball in the hands of his playmakers. That does not justify stating that he carried the team most of the year.
I have the utmost respect for CP. He has done a marvelous job for the franchise. With that said, the QB job should be open for the best man. Give the new kid a shot.:wink:
Chad had a ton of turnovers this year. More then 20 I believe (ints + fumbles). Healthy or not, if that doesn't improve then Kellen might get his chance.
If Kellen does not push chad, he won't be on this team anymore. Chad is our guy for now. May not be perfect, but it could be far, far, worse. Look what D Culpepper did for Miami. If Kellen works hard, he will get his chance. It may be next year; maybe not. We all know Chad could go down; it can happen to any QB. That will be how Kellen's initial Baptism takes place. Even if Chad returns during the same year. Kellen's body of work for the number of games he is in there and the wins generated will make him or break him.
I'd at least like to see Clemens get entrenched as the backup. The word is that he is "Chad-like" in his smarts, but with better arm. This was from a Rich Cimini chat somewhere. As for the starting role --- I'll never count out Chad Pennington. But let him win the job again. No "penciling-in" for sentimental reasons. I do want a real competition for QB in the summer, and I expect improvement from the QB position in 2007, no matter who is under center.