Originally posted by WINiner:
It's soooo sad to see what the Alex Smith experiment has done to the opinion of our fans. The majority of the posters on this board were all for starting Smith from day one (incoming the "I said to sit him" posts). He failed miserably, while the "other QB" displays true signs of being a legit NFL starter after sitting for multiple years, and as such the majority are now of the opinion that it is best to sit a young QB.
It is dependant on the individual player not an overall philosophy (incoming tons of posts that point out why it's appropriate with Davis from people who knew little about him before we drafted him). It just so happens that our moron of a decision maker made the wrong choice in regards to young Alex, despite the fact that his college coach spelled it out for said moron ahead of time.
Sitting a QB too long can be just as detrimental depending on the individual. Some QB's are perfectly suited to step right in on day one, with that being the absolutely best course of action.
Maybe some of us have the ability to make that determination based on knowledge of the player, but I think it's safe to say that most who post here (myself included) don't have a clue either way.........
Amen...Sure there are those Alex Smiths, David Carrs, Joey Harringtons, and Rick Mirers out there. But folks in here seem to think that list of QBs who failed by starting their rookie season is 100%. They seem to forget that some other notable QBs ended up starting their rookie years and didn't fold under pressure and have their careers destroyed due to lack of confidence.
Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco lead their teams to the playoffs their rookie season.
Troy Aikman went 0-11 as a starter his rookie season, with twice as many interceptions (18) as touchdown passes but that didn't destroy him as he went on to win 3 Super Bowls.
Peyton Manning and the Colts went 3-13 his rookie season, and I believe he even set the single season record for INTs, but he has since become one of the premier QBs in the league with a Super Bowl ring and tossing 333 touchdowns in 176 games.
Ben Roethlisberger, he's got a few rings on his finger.
It is not a given that starting Nate Davis would destroy him. Some people can handle it, some can't. Call me a homer too if you want, but I watched him play his entire college career, and I'm convinced he can handle it. He may not have a stellar rookie season (Peyton and Aikman didn't), but I don't think it would destroy him either. Let's put it this way, last year, before Dante Love (Davis' top target) got injured ending his playing career, he was more than 70% of the Ball State offense, literally. More than 70% of the offensive plays were designed to get Dante Love the ball, or to pretend to give him the ball. When he went out
and his replacement was a freshman, a lot of people thought that the Ball State season was over. But Nate never let it phase him or the team, and they went on to finish the regular season 12-0.
I don't care what anybody says, that takes courage, confidence, and leadership. I think he can handle a little adversity.
