Brady Quinn has Early "Edge" on Derek Anderson

by ChrisPokorny on May 21, 2009 12:08 PM EDT in General News Comment 22 comments

I don't believe we are going to see a true quarterback controversy/competition this offseason. Nonetheless, without a starter named yet under the new regime, QB Brady Quinn has struck first. According to the Eric Mangini, Quinn has captained the first team this week in minicamp.

"That's because he's done a really outstanding job in the offseason program," Mangini said today. "Not that Derek [Anderson] hasn't done well, but [Quinn] had the edge so he took the first reps. There's no overwhelming significance to that."

Mangini is keeping all possibilities open though, including the thought of having Brett Ratliff or Richard Bartel run the first team:

"I'm going to look at that position completely," Mangini said. "It's one of those things where he'll get opportunities and there will be a rotation. There will be some days where any of the four quarterbacks can be the one. But right now my primary focus is with Brady and Derek."

No matter what fluff he says to the media, I think it's pretty clear that the guy you choose to run your team right off the bat is the guy you envision being your quarterback during the 2009-2010 campaign.

Sources: Cleveland Plain Dealer, the OBR

The OBR also indicated that Joshua Cribbs showed up in Berea this morning to attend a full team meeting. However, at this point, it is unclear as to whether Cribbs will actually participate in practice (I'd say that unless he likes what he hears in contract development, he won't be practicing).

Poll

Do you think this is a telling sign?

Yes; it means Mangini envisions Quinn as the QB

477 votes

No; he had to pick somebody first, it happened to be Quinn

167 votes

644 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Great news. Mangini will not allow for any QB controversy this off-season. He didn’t say they have an equal chance of winning the starting job – just that they are getting equal reps (which I believe is happening at all positions).

"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge..." C. Darwin

by Spidey on May 21, 2009 12:42 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I am confused as to what the problem is with a true open competition. Let them compete and find out who’s playing better and start the guy. Personally, I’m tired of this predetermined bullsh*t. Maybe that’s the where the problem has been all along.

Or I could be missing something, if so please enlighten me.

by Simmsinns on May 21, 2009 5:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I always figured that the advantage of a predetermined starter is that you can build your offense to complement his strengths. That’s especially important when one of your choices is a long-ball gunner with no ability in the short game and the other guy is (by most reports) better in the short game with a limited range down field. (I don’t know to what extent that last is valid. Anyone who watched a lot of ND under Quinn care to chime in?) The sooner you determine the starter the more time you get to spend on practicing the offense that you will ultimately run.

by JustBob on May 21, 2009 5:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I watched almost all of Quinn’s starts at ND from his first game(which i saw in person) to the Sugar Bowl. Brady’s arm is underrated. He can make long throws

by BradyQuinnisBeast on May 21, 2009 5:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You bring up a good point. I stand somewhat corrected. The only problem is that we don’t honestly know who’s the better QB yet, and lets not kid ourselves and pretend we do.

But I have changed my mind, I like the idea of picking a starter and getting the offense to start moving forward finally. Although, personally I think we’re stuck with two decent backups that are mediocre at best starters. (Unproven Quinn or Inconsistent Anderson) But you’ve got to settle somewhere, I suppose.

Hell, maybe we won’t need a great QB if we could get a run game going, as unlikely as that sounds….

by Simmsinns on May 21, 2009 6:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

mangini more than likely knows

by BradyQuinnisBeast on May 21, 2009 7:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He knows. Just look at what they were asking for each QB in a trade. That tells you how much they value each

by Roger Dorn on May 21, 2009 9:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bingo.

by Buckeye Brad on May 22, 2009 7:58 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The only problem is that we don’t honestly know who’s the better QB yet, and lets not kid ourselves and pretend we do.

This is wrong. We do know. It’s Quinn.

by DaytonDogg on May 22, 2009 12:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I much prefer Quinn, personally. But, based on their body of work in the NFL, how can we possibly know that Quinn is the better QB? There’s little doubt that Anderson has achieved more; granted, Quinn hasn’t had many chances to demonstrate his ability. But that’s really my point: all we have to go on at this point is that we think Quinn has better long-term potential. I don’t see how we can know anything more than that. So, what do you know that I don’t? (confined to this specific question. Maybe you have a deep understanding of the laws of thermodynamics, but I’m not actually all that interested in that.)

by drjeo on May 22, 2009 4:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

We saw enough of DA last season to know that he’s not the answer. And what little we saw of Quinn, we saw a QB who looked much more comfortable on the field, more decisive with his decision-making, more accurate thrower, better leader. We know DA doesn’t have any long-term potential, so Quinn has to be the guy.

by Buckeye Brad on May 22, 2009 5:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, We know its Quinn, not because of what Quinn is, but because of what Anderson is.

by DaytonDogg on May 26, 2009 2:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think its been that he just doesn’t throw deep in the NFL, not that he can’t. He has the arm, and I am share the opinion of everyone’s favorite half-drunk preseason announcer that he should let it loose some more in the preseason.

by rufio on Jun 1, 2009 1:11 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

At least in the short term, it could be to the benefit of the Browns for opposing teams to have the idea that Quinn can’t throw downfield. If he really can (and I think he can), then he could potentially be in an advantageous situation until scouting catches up with him. Should be fun to watch.

by drjeo on Jun 1, 2009 7:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The problem with “open competition” is that it often reflects a coach who is afraid to make a choice (or has no idea of how he wants to run the offense).

"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge..." C. Darwin

by Spidey on May 22, 2009 12:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs