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SPORTSDAY
NFL Columnist:
Rick Gosselin
Rick Gosselin
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedcontent/dws/img/standing/mugs/rgosselin_mug.jpg
[SIZE=+2]Four years as starter makes Quinn safe draft pick
[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]10:15 PM CDT on Tuesday, April 24, 2007
[/SIZE] College quarterbacks tested the evaluation skills of the NFL in 1999 like no other draft. There were four passers at the top of the board – Tim Couch, Daunte Culpepper, Donovan McNabb and Akili Smith – and all had a blemish.
Couch was skipping his senior season, Smith was a junior-college transfer who threw fewer than 600 major-college passes, McNabb ran too much in college (465 times), and Culpepper came from a small school (Central Florida). All were scrutinized.
On draft day, Couch went first overall to the Cleveland Browns, McNabb second to the Philadelphia Eagles, Smith third to the Cincinnati Bengals and Culpepper 11th to the Minnesota Vikings.
Eight years later, Couch and Smith are out of the NFL. McNabb has been to five Pro Bowls and a Super Bowl. Culpepper has won two NFC passing titles, been to three Pro Bowls and taken his team to an NFC title game.
Culpepper and McNabb shared a trait in their backgrounds that Couch and Smith lacked – both were four-year starters in college.
McNabb started 49 games at Syracuse and Culpepper 44 at Central Florida. They saw all that college defenses had to offer. The more snaps you take, the more passes you throw, the better prepared a college quarterback will be for the NFL. There will be fewer surprises at the next level.
So don't undersell Brady Quinn in the 2007 NFL draft.
There hasn't been a college quarterback more prepared to enter than NFL since Peyton Manning in 1998. There is no bust factor in Quinn.
History tells us that. In the last 10 years, the NFL has used 10 first-round picks on quarterbacks who were four-year starters in college. Only one washed out – Cade McNown, who was the fifth quarterback selected in that Class of 1999.
Of those 10 four-year starters, five have become Pro Bowlers: Culpepper, McNabb, Manning , Carson Palmer (drafted in 2003) and Philip Rivers (2004). Two have won NFL passing titles, Manning and Chad Pennington (drafted in 2000), and two have been to Super Bowls, Manning and McNabb.
Seven are currently starting: Manning, McNabb, Pennington, Palmer, Rivers, Jason Campbell (drafted in 2005) and Jay Cutler (2006).
Kyle Boller (drafted in 2003) lost his starting job in 2006 when the Baltimore Ravens signed former NFL MVP Steve McNair in free agency. Boller left the lineup with a winning NFL record (18-16) and more TD passes (36) than interceptions (34). He remains in Baltimore as a backup. Culpepper lost his starting position at Miami in 2006 because of a knee injury.
There's a school of thought that one of every two quarterbacks selected in the first-round of NFL drafts is a bust. But the deck is stacked in favor of those four-year starters for NFL survival.
Of the 10, only Rivers, Pennington and McNabb started more games than Quinn. And only Rivers and Pennington threw more college passes. Also, Rivers (North Carolina State), Pennington (Marshall) and McNabb (Syracuse) didn't play in the pressure cooker that is Notre Dame.
"Notre Dame has a national audience," Quinn said. "Someone's always watching across the nation every Saturday. We have fans tuning in. We've got fans everywhere. When you step into those shoes as the Notre Dame quarterback, the spotlight is always going to be on you.
"You come into every game knowing you're going to get the other team's best shot. The first five teams we played last year were all undefeated at the time we played them. That says something about the caliber of our schedule – who we play year-in and year-out."
Quinn has spent four seasons playing in front of crowds bigger, louder and more hostile than what he'll face in the NFL.
That crowd of 90,000-plus at Washington's FedEx Field, the NFL's largest stadium, won't faze Quinn – not after winning games in his college career at Michigan in front of 111,000 fans and at Tennessee in front of 107,000.
Quinn also spent the last two years operating the NFL-style offense of Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, the former offensive coordinator of the three-time Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
So Quinn spent his last two seasons making the same reads, calling the same audibles and throwing the same passes as Tom Brady. He leaves South Bend as Notre Dame's all-time leading passer.
Quinn may not be the best player in the 2007 NFL draft. But he may be the safest pick.
NFL Columnist:
Rick Gosselin
Rick Gosselin
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedcontent/dws/img/standing/mugs/rgosselin_mug.jpg
[SIZE=+2]Four years as starter makes Quinn safe draft pick
[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]10:15 PM CDT on Tuesday, April 24, 2007
[/SIZE] College quarterbacks tested the evaluation skills of the NFL in 1999 like no other draft. There were four passers at the top of the board – Tim Couch, Daunte Culpepper, Donovan McNabb and Akili Smith – and all had a blemish.
Couch was skipping his senior season, Smith was a junior-college transfer who threw fewer than 600 major-college passes, McNabb ran too much in college (465 times), and Culpepper came from a small school (Central Florida). All were scrutinized.
On draft day, Couch went first overall to the Cleveland Browns, McNabb second to the Philadelphia Eagles, Smith third to the Cincinnati Bengals and Culpepper 11th to the Minnesota Vikings.
Eight years later, Couch and Smith are out of the NFL. McNabb has been to five Pro Bowls and a Super Bowl. Culpepper has won two NFC passing titles, been to three Pro Bowls and taken his team to an NFC title game.
Culpepper and McNabb shared a trait in their backgrounds that Couch and Smith lacked – both were four-year starters in college.
McNabb started 49 games at Syracuse and Culpepper 44 at Central Florida. They saw all that college defenses had to offer. The more snaps you take, the more passes you throw, the better prepared a college quarterback will be for the NFL. There will be fewer surprises at the next level.
So don't undersell Brady Quinn in the 2007 NFL draft.
There hasn't been a college quarterback more prepared to enter than NFL since Peyton Manning in 1998. There is no bust factor in Quinn.
History tells us that. In the last 10 years, the NFL has used 10 first-round picks on quarterbacks who were four-year starters in college. Only one washed out – Cade McNown, who was the fifth quarterback selected in that Class of 1999.
Of those 10 four-year starters, five have become Pro Bowlers: Culpepper, McNabb, Manning , Carson Palmer (drafted in 2003) and Philip Rivers (2004). Two have won NFL passing titles, Manning and Chad Pennington (drafted in 2000), and two have been to Super Bowls, Manning and McNabb.
Seven are currently starting: Manning, McNabb, Pennington, Palmer, Rivers, Jason Campbell (drafted in 2005) and Jay Cutler (2006).
Kyle Boller (drafted in 2003) lost his starting job in 2006 when the Baltimore Ravens signed former NFL MVP Steve McNair in free agency. Boller left the lineup with a winning NFL record (18-16) and more TD passes (36) than interceptions (34). He remains in Baltimore as a backup. Culpepper lost his starting position at Miami in 2006 because of a knee injury.
There's a school of thought that one of every two quarterbacks selected in the first-round of NFL drafts is a bust. But the deck is stacked in favor of those four-year starters for NFL survival.
Of the 10, only Rivers, Pennington and McNabb started more games than Quinn. And only Rivers and Pennington threw more college passes. Also, Rivers (North Carolina State), Pennington (Marshall) and McNabb (Syracuse) didn't play in the pressure cooker that is Notre Dame.
"Notre Dame has a national audience," Quinn said. "Someone's always watching across the nation every Saturday. We have fans tuning in. We've got fans everywhere. When you step into those shoes as the Notre Dame quarterback, the spotlight is always going to be on you.
"You come into every game knowing you're going to get the other team's best shot. The first five teams we played last year were all undefeated at the time we played them. That says something about the caliber of our schedule – who we play year-in and year-out."
Quinn has spent four seasons playing in front of crowds bigger, louder and more hostile than what he'll face in the NFL.
That crowd of 90,000-plus at Washington's FedEx Field, the NFL's largest stadium, won't faze Quinn – not after winning games in his college career at Michigan in front of 111,000 fans and at Tennessee in front of 107,000.
Quinn also spent the last two years operating the NFL-style offense of Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, the former offensive coordinator of the three-time Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
So Quinn spent his last two seasons making the same reads, calling the same audibles and throwing the same passes as Tom Brady. He leaves South Bend as Notre Dame's all-time leading passer.
Quinn may not be the best player in the 2007 NFL draft. But he may be the safest pick.
look on his face won't be anything close to what I would call safe.
