When i think brady quinn, i think Alex Smith plus larger hands but minus the athleticism. He still could pan out into a decent starting quarterback but even though he hasnt looked terrible, i think its more because he hasnt gotten the snaps to show off his flaws, only his arm. Although if JT and Alex dont pan out, it might be worth the risk.

I have no problem speculating that Alex Smith doesn’t work out, since there’s obviously a very good chance that he will, in fact, not work out. So with that in mind, assuming a situation where Smith doesn’t work out, I’m still not very sure this would be likely.

My main disagreement would be that:

>The Browns have an excellent QB in Derek Anderson

Though, if I were the quibbling type, I also might quibble with:

>They’re actually more or less in a similar situation as the 49ers…paying big money for a backup QB.

Since, really, they resemble the Chargers of a few years back for more than they resemble anything approaching the Niners. But I shouldn’t digress.

I think it’s flawed to believe that the Browns believe that they have a fantastic QB in Derek Anderson. In reality, they had fantastic performances from their quarterback for the first half of the season last year, followed by a half season of pretty mundane stuff (QB Rate/TD/INT/Pct. = First 8 games: 91.7/17/9/57.6; Last 8 games: 73.7/12/10/55.6). I think the thing that pops out the most is that his completion percentage wasn’t much to sniff at even when he was putting together his best performances. 57% when he was ON seems like a warning sign at the NFL level. I can’t really think of anybody who survived for very long with a completion percentage that low.

The other warning sign, of course, is that the second half is really easy to interpret as a regression to the mean. It’s not really fair to assume that either half of the season was the real Derek Anderson, so I won’t walk that path, but the sample for both halves is still plenty small enough that the Browns should be approaching the future as though they have no idea what Anderson is going to bring to the table. The encouraging thing about Anderson is that he’s entering only his fourth professional season, and assumably has plenty of potential improving to do still.

Which makes holding onto Quinn all the more important for them. When you don’t know what you have at QB, you need that backup plan.

My qualms about the likelihood that Quinn will be available aside, as far as the 49ers trading for Quinn… I’m not really for it. I don’t like Brady Quinn. I think he’s clearly an athlete, but he made a college career out of piling up stats on some real shit competition without ever really distinguishing himself in games against better opponents. I was also kind of disturbed by how slowly he started his last college season. It seemed to me like his ego (which he has plenty of) was getting in the way of his preperation. Or maybe I just interpret it as ego, but I don’t like that he went into that season so clearly unprepared, so far behind where he’d been the year before. I’m just not sure where his head is. I also didn’t like that his last college season was, overall, a visible regression from the year he’d had before (lower completion percentage, fewer yards per game, fewer yards per attempt, and all significant decreases… the only place he improved was TDs, which I shouldn’t sneeze at, but which I won’t glorify either)..

I think the idea is right, to find something now that will give us a head start next year (which is why the John Beck idea was so inspired). And since I’m no expert, I won’t say for certain that Brady Quinn is wrong (though I’d like to). But I will say that I don’t like Brady Quinn, for the above reasons, and that I don’t think the Browns are likely to be taking anything but the most ridiculous offers, for the above reasons. And, because of those two things combined (uncertainty + cost), I really don’t feel good about what a Quinn acquisition might do for our team.

But i think getting a head start on the possibility that we have to start over is a great idea. I’d like to do it at less cost than it would take to get Quinn, but this kind of thinking is moving in the right direction (as opposed to Favre/Culpepper/Warner/Etc., which is thinking in the wrong direction).

swap Smith for Leinart. Warner was just named the starter in AZ. It wont happen but why not swap one hugely disappointing 1st round QB for another one? Leinart grew up a Niner fan and probably wouldve been the #1 overall pick instead of Smith had he decided to leave early. I have no reason or evidence to believe Leinart will ever be better than Smith, I simply like him better.

what potential franchise QB’s will be available in the draft next year? Or should we just hope we continue to suck until Ohio State frosh Pryor declares for the draft?

The Packers are in desperate need of an experienced back-up, the Niners could use a rookie to groom. The Niners would probably have to throw in a 4th or 5th rounder to make it work but JTO w/ Smith as a back-up and Brohm learning behinds the scenes would pay dividends down the road.

I believe that the team needs to upgrade at the quarterback position at all cost… If Brady Quinn is available next year, you would be a moron not to at least ponder the trade.. really it would be moronic not to consider everything and everybody.. I get really annoyed by people who always try and punch holes in everyone and every trade, so im all for it.. But we have a whole year to go until then, so whats the point? This year is settled and it’s time for JT O to take advantage of his oppurtunity, we got Alex Smth who if he gets his shot to start once again this season, it will be his last shot to redeem himself. We also Got Shaun HIll who if he gets his shot could prove everyone to be an idiot for over looking his performance last season.. those are the story lines we got, its either going to be a cinderella story or a horrendous second act, and if it does go wrong this season, they need to take a broom to the front office, the coaching staff and the Quarterbacks!!