World's Dumbest Quarterback Narrative

 

The world's dumbest narrative in sports--and it drives me crazy--is that the final score of a football game allows sportswriter/gurus  to distinguish precise differences in the calibre of the opposing quarterbacks.  So,  Bills 27, Ravens 25 proves Josh Allen is a better quarterback than Lamar Jackson, right?  And neither of them are as good as Patrick Mahomes, as proven by the Chiefs 32 to 29 victory. Nope, Josh will never go to the Super Bowl, and the Ravens can never beat the Bills.  

Until they do, of course. All this talk about legacy, stats and all falls apart, especially when KC gets their asses handed to them after being blown out 40 to 22 by the Eagles and Jaylen Hurts. 

So cut me a break.  Football is a team sport, and the other guys on the roster do matter. It is incomprehensible that a game with 22 men on the field depends only on the quarterback. For those idiots who think that playoff games determine who is the better quarterback, are you going to now say that Hurts is 22 points "better" than Patrick Mahomes?  All the accolades for Mahomes (first ballot Hall of Famer, the best in history, blah, blah, blah) now falls to Hurts?  We hear such garbage even from the most prestigious sports journalists, like ESPN and Fox Sports (I'd shut them off, but I'm a sports addict and condemned to listen on my car radio).    

The obvious conclusion is that the team with the best quarterback does not always win.  Sometimes Brady gets beat by Nick Foles. Sometimes Trent Dilfer and Kerry Collins make it to the Super Bowl, while Peyton Manning and Brett Favre stay home. This is proof positive that the rest of the team matters. 

How about a hypothetical trade as a true gauge of value? Let's consider  possible trades: Mahomes for Allen, Mahomes for Jackson, Allen for Jackson.  I doubt whether any of their teams would want to make such a deal.  It's not Fantasy Football where you just install your new guy in the lineup and he performs the same. Each team would have to totally revamp their offense, and it would take at least a year and maybe two to get familiar with the other players and coaches. Mahomes is the best man for the Chiefs, Lamar is the best for the Ravens, and Josh is the best for Buffalo.  So, based on this reasoning, their value is greatest for the team they are on. 

Now, in 2021, The trade of Matt Stafford for Jared Goff plus draft picks proved that the Rams did like Stafford much better than Goff. Not all starting QBs are equal. It does not prove, however, that the Rams had zero chance to ever win the Super Bowl with Goff (who, by the way, has significantly upped his game).  It just means that they thought they were a better team with Stafford at the controls.  They were right, and they have rings to prove it.

Similarly, the Browns passed up the opportunity to retain Baker Mayfield at about $30 million per year, in order to obtain the services of Deshaun Watson at $46 mil, plus giving up six draft picks including three first rounders.  Just look at the value:  one quarterback threw 41 TDs and had a rating of 106.8; the other guy had 5 TDs and a rating of 79.0  Unfortunately, the Browns cut the good QB and signed the mediocre one, suggesting that quarterback evaluation is not always accurate. 

Wacky Browns Still Obsessed with Quarterbacks

 

Deshaun Watson, P.J. Walker and Dorian Thompson Robinson.  None of them were good enough to turn a weak offense around. 

The Browns still don't get it.  They think that 

     a) the more money you pay a quarterback, the better they play.  So, if you pay a quarterback more than Patrick Mahomes, that quarterback must be even better than Mahomes.  So come on down, Deshaun Watson!

   b) The way you solve a quarterback controversy is to trade away the backup quarterback lest he make the front office look silly.  So, they got rid of Joe Flacco, because he proved the Watson deal was preposterous. Prior to that, they axed Case Keenum, Jacoby Brissett, and Josh Dobbs. We're getting ready to cut Jameis Winston, despite the fact that he proved himself to be vastly superior to Watson. All of these players are miles ahead of Dorian Thompson-Robinson, the Crown Prince and favorite of the Realm.  For that matter, they are also better than the current number one, Deshaun "Generational Talent" Watson.  

   c) Quarterbacks reach their prime in their rookie season.  How else can you justify drafting Dorian Thompson Robinson in Round 5, and promoting him to second string on Opening Day?  Good grief!  Once in a while there is a Russell Wilson who has success immediately after being drafted in a middle round, but this is very rare.  This writer does not hate DTR, but he probably needs 3 or 4 years to become an acceptable backup, just like Josh Dobbs rode the bench behind Big Ben Roethlisberger and Mason Rudolph.

   It's like this:  if you believe that the salary cap is real, than the object is to get the players who will contribute the most and cost the least. It's not that different from Fantasy Football. So, if you pay someone more than Mahomes, he must contribute more than Mahomes. If you are paying more than your opponents and fielding players who contribute less than their peers around the league, you are unlikely to have a winning team. You cannot pay $70 million dollars a  year for a lousy quarterback on a lousy offense for a lousy team, and then run out and outplay the Chiefs.  This is common sense.  

    A good team makes the QB look good.  Get five tough fat kids for the offensive line, two stud tight ends and two good running backs, and and average QB with average wide receivers can score points in the Stefanski offense.

  Joe Flacco was good enough to get into the playoffs, and once you're in you have at least some chance for a Ring.  Brissett, Keenum, Winston and Dobbs had a legit shot also, especially if the Browns had had six draft picks and $230 million dollars to build with. 

Look at the Steelers. With Russell Wilson at a quarterback and when T.J. was healthy, they were a playoff team.  They collapsed down the stretch because their defense was old and injured, but the point is they proved they could win with a low-cost quarterback. 

The Browns can't wait to throw money at ineffective big name quarterbacks, live in fear of their own backups. That's why they will pass on generational talents on defense in order to draft Shedeur Sanders, who Pro Football Focus ranks as the 43rd best prospect in the Draft.  But he plays Quarterback, so that's our guy!