Young QBs to SB
Final exam (SI.com)
Which young QBs can survive in postseason?
Posted: Friday December 8, 2006 3:50PM; Updated: Friday December 8, 2006 4:44PM
Dallas quarterback Tony Romo leads the NFL with a 102.4 passer rating and is drawing comparisons to a young Tom Brady.
Even with four weeks left in the regular season, it's become obvious that the run to the Super Bowl is going to turn on some seriously young arms ... and heads. Consider: The Bears (Rex Grossman for now; the Brian Griese Watch has been on for several weeks running), Chargers (Philip Rivers), Cowboys (Tony Romo), Jaguars (David Garrard) and Broncos (Jay Cutler for now; the Jake Plummer Watch could resume any day now) all have first-year starting quarterbacks.
Technically, speaking, at least. Grossman had started seven games before this year, but one season was truncated by injury after three starts and another, last year, began only in December. Garrard also had been a starter before this year, two four-game stints in relief of Byron Leftwich. But neither has taken a team through the heart of the season and into the playoffs.
This collection of callow QBs is cause for serious scrutiny. As my fellow scribe Mike Silver has pointed out repeatedly and sensibly this autumn, half a season -- or less -- does not a Hall of Famer make. It doesn't even make a gainfully employed professional quarterback, which is why Bill Parcells delights in dropping the names of one-hit wonders on Romo at practice, just to keep the boy grounded. (He's already grounded, by the way; keep reading). Then again, Ben Roethlisberger was pretty good as a rookie. So there's no reliable formula.
When it comes to cranking up the hype machine, I plead guilty as charged. Over the course of the season I've written profiles on Grossman (early), Rivers (middle) and Romo (late), each when they were hot. Makes sense, right? You don't write the story when the hot player cools off. Grossman, with apologies to Foreigner, is Cold as Ice now. Rivers is still steady. Rome is Mr. NFL these days. That could change Sunday night against the Saints. We'll see.
Let's take a look at the three QBs I've spent time with this year, and analyze their chances of surviving the postseason heat.
Tony Romo
Romo is effortlessly, almost imperceptibly cool. That's one of the primary reasons he was able to step so smoothly into Drew Bledsoe's bloody shoes. He already had the Cowboys' locker room by force of his personality. Guys liked him. Not to say they didn't like Bledsoe, but Bledsoe did not connect with people the way that Romo did even before he was getting snaps.
From a pure football perspective, it's obvious that Romo's mobility has been -- and will continue to be -- an enormous factor in bringing the Cowboys' passing game up to speed. If you watched the Cowboys' victory over the Giants, you saw how Romo's quick feet got him outside and away from the pass rush quickly, often before he could complete a five-step drop. He sees and senses pass rush rush pressure quickly and reacts with equal quickness. He has the feet of a basketball player, which he was, and a very good one. Outside in space, he's made generally good decisions and thrown tight spirals. (Tight spirals are a very big deal to Romo; check out my profile in this week's Sports Illustrated).
He doesn't favor receivers. "Everybody knows they're going to get the ball if they're open," third wideout Patrick Crayton told me last month. Terrell (Birthday Party) Owens is a one-man locker room disruption, but Romo keeps him happy on Sunday. Terry Glenn was a big fan of Bledsoe's, and has said little publicly in support of Romo, but he's caught a bunch of big balls in the last six games.
Weak spots? For one, he's only played one team twice: the Giants, and in game two they gave him problems. Come playoff time, teams will have a body of Romo's work to study.
Expect to see pressure. The Giants had a solid plan, but they also had a wounded front seven and didn't get in Romo's face consistently enough. When they did, Romo through some sloppy balls, including a high-and-wide pick intended for Owens. (Romo says he expected Owens to break inside and deep instead of outside and short, but allows that it was Owens who did the right thing; and in any case, the ball was hurried when a pass rusher came straight up the gut into Romo's face).
Prognosis: There's not a lot to hate about Romo at this point. His quick feet and quicker release will make him tough to pressure consistently and his reads have been solid for a month and a half. He will make some mistakes, but he will offset them with more big plays. He can take the Cowboys to a January date in Chicago (or maybe even in Dallas) and give the Cowboys a great shot at reaching the Super Bowl.
Which young QBs can survive in postseason?
Posted: Friday December 8, 2006 3:50PM; Updated: Friday December 8, 2006 4:44PM
Dallas quarterback Tony Romo leads the NFL with a 102.4 passer rating and is drawing comparisons to a young Tom Brady.
Even with four weeks left in the regular season, it's become obvious that the run to the Super Bowl is going to turn on some seriously young arms ... and heads. Consider: The Bears (Rex Grossman for now; the Brian Griese Watch has been on for several weeks running), Chargers (Philip Rivers), Cowboys (Tony Romo), Jaguars (David Garrard) and Broncos (Jay Cutler for now; the Jake Plummer Watch could resume any day now) all have first-year starting quarterbacks.
Technically, speaking, at least. Grossman had started seven games before this year, but one season was truncated by injury after three starts and another, last year, began only in December. Garrard also had been a starter before this year, two four-game stints in relief of Byron Leftwich. But neither has taken a team through the heart of the season and into the playoffs.
This collection of callow QBs is cause for serious scrutiny. As my fellow scribe Mike Silver has pointed out repeatedly and sensibly this autumn, half a season -- or less -- does not a Hall of Famer make. It doesn't even make a gainfully employed professional quarterback, which is why Bill Parcells delights in dropping the names of one-hit wonders on Romo at practice, just to keep the boy grounded. (He's already grounded, by the way; keep reading). Then again, Ben Roethlisberger was pretty good as a rookie. So there's no reliable formula.
When it comes to cranking up the hype machine, I plead guilty as charged. Over the course of the season I've written profiles on Grossman (early), Rivers (middle) and Romo (late), each when they were hot. Makes sense, right? You don't write the story when the hot player cools off. Grossman, with apologies to Foreigner, is Cold as Ice now. Rivers is still steady. Rome is Mr. NFL these days. That could change Sunday night against the Saints. We'll see.
Let's take a look at the three QBs I've spent time with this year, and analyze their chances of surviving the postseason heat.
Tony Romo
Romo is effortlessly, almost imperceptibly cool. That's one of the primary reasons he was able to step so smoothly into Drew Bledsoe's bloody shoes. He already had the Cowboys' locker room by force of his personality. Guys liked him. Not to say they didn't like Bledsoe, but Bledsoe did not connect with people the way that Romo did even before he was getting snaps.
From a pure football perspective, it's obvious that Romo's mobility has been -- and will continue to be -- an enormous factor in bringing the Cowboys' passing game up to speed. If you watched the Cowboys' victory over the Giants, you saw how Romo's quick feet got him outside and away from the pass rush quickly, often before he could complete a five-step drop. He sees and senses pass rush rush pressure quickly and reacts with equal quickness. He has the feet of a basketball player, which he was, and a very good one. Outside in space, he's made generally good decisions and thrown tight spirals. (Tight spirals are a very big deal to Romo; check out my profile in this week's Sports Illustrated).
He doesn't favor receivers. "Everybody knows they're going to get the ball if they're open," third wideout Patrick Crayton told me last month. Terrell (Birthday Party) Owens is a one-man locker room disruption, but Romo keeps him happy on Sunday. Terry Glenn was a big fan of Bledsoe's, and has said little publicly in support of Romo, but he's caught a bunch of big balls in the last six games.
Weak spots? For one, he's only played one team twice: the Giants, and in game two they gave him problems. Come playoff time, teams will have a body of Romo's work to study.
Expect to see pressure. The Giants had a solid plan, but they also had a wounded front seven and didn't get in Romo's face consistently enough. When they did, Romo through some sloppy balls, including a high-and-wide pick intended for Owens. (Romo says he expected Owens to break inside and deep instead of outside and short, but allows that it was Owens who did the right thing; and in any case, the ball was hurried when a pass rusher came straight up the gut into Romo's face).
Prognosis: There's not a lot to hate about Romo at this point. His quick feet and quicker release will make him tough to pressure consistently and his reads have been solid for a month and a half. He will make some mistakes, but he will offset them with more big plays. He can take the Cowboys to a January date in Chicago (or maybe even in Dallas) and give the Cowboys a great shot at reaching the Super Bowl.
posted by The Gryphon at 6:14 PM
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