Originally posted by Young2Rice:Originally posted by excelsior:
Susweel and others of the ABA crowd, continue to use Alex's career stats as evidence that he will never be any good. Season and career stats must be interpreted in light of all known circumstances ( a difficult task for some).
Look at Archie Manning: His career W/L over 11 seasons was 35 - 101. His career completion % was 55.2, with 125 TDs and 173 INTs. He is the poster boy of a good QB who played his entire career on a bad team. His stats look dismal, but it did not keep him from playing for 11 seasons.
Yeah. I'm sure the 173 interceptions didn't directly cause any of those 101 losses. Because of course, those picks weren't his fault right?
And the Chargers were tearing it up before Brees/River arrived. And the Colts were great and then Manning came to this great team and thats why they became so good.
Also, the Pattriots were a perennial powerhouse before Brady arrived. They were full of offensive superstars... haha not. Brady stepped in and strarted tearing it up and made scrubby players look good. Deion Branch was a gaywad in Seattle and now he looks like a stud again with Brady.
Look at the Falcons. Before Matty Ice they were just another "bad team." Kurt Warner went to the s**tty Cardinals and took them to the Super Bowl. There are countless examples of a team getting an excellent QB, inserting them into the starting role, and watching the team be successful. (Rams and Brandford) Countless examples. Countless
Have you Alex Smith fan boys ever stop and think maybe, just maybe, that a sick
QB will make your whole team better? Alex s**t is surrounded by Vernon Davis, Gore, Crabs, Morgan, D. Walker and still sucks balls. Put any of those guys on a team with a legit QB and its on. Its the nature of the game. Good QBs make their team and coaches look awesome.
I think the disconnect lies in the (forgotten) fact that Alex was NEVER going to be a guy that carried a franchise like those guys you mentioned. Alex is a semi talented decent QB who has/had the tools to be good. It's really useless to compare Alex to Warner, Manning, Brady, etc. Alex, at his best, is probably as good as a Matt Schaub or Chad Henne or David Garrard...not elite but solid enough to get the job done.
I don't think Alex was a bust more than he was just an absolute reach of a pick. He was a bad draft pick. To me a bust is someone with a lot of hype and expectations and then totally flops. I don't think anyone really truly expected Alex to be the second coming of Montana, Young, etc. Its not, nor was it ever, a realistic expectation. The best he could have ever been, if you're going to compare: is Troy Aikman. Troy was a solid QB (not amazing or elite IMO) but he had arguably the best RB in the last 20 years, the best offensive line in the last 20 years, and HOF WR, and of course...a great coaching staff. I'm not taking anything away from Troy but I'm sure you get my bigger point.
But in the end...you are right. We do need a franchise QB who will carry this team. That's obviously ideal. And it's no doubt a guy like Brady or Manning would make this team better. But remember...for every 1 Manning/Brady/Brees there are 25 Smiths/Fitzpatricks/Schaubs/Gararrds/Hennes/Penningtons, etc. Bottom line is it's up to the franchise to put their players in the best position to win from a coaching/developmental standpoint.