More Pearls Before Swine and the Browns

I've listened to most of the playoff games, and just caught the tail end of the Vikings vs the Saints WOW!

Kase Keenum is really good for a short, "weak armed" carreer backup!  He's doing a fine job filling in for the vastly superior Sam Bradford.

Maybe the Browns will get lucky and the Vikings will focus on re-signing the unproven Keenum instead of Bradford!  It's possible the Browns could sign Bradford for 3-4 years for only like 25 mil/year!  That would fix everything!

Hue would love it!  He's big and tall and has a strong arm!  It's okay if he's not available though because Josh Allen is going to be available in the draft, and he already has DeShone Kizer, who of course is much bigger and stronger than whatshisname...Watson?

Sarcasm aside, do you think Hue Jackson noticed that both of the quarterbacks in this game were short, and one is a first-ballot Hall of Famer?  Nah!  

I may be hammering Hue too hard, as I am filling in a lot of blanks and making assumptions about him.  For one thing, saying "You'll have to trust me on this one" in re Cody Kessler (in the THIRD round!!!) was NOT "taking one for the team"!

That was a rediculous assertion!  Why the hell would he put his name on a guy Sashi Brown supposedly inflicted on him!?

This was a bunch of pundits ass uming a whole lot themselves.  I think Hue Jackson liked Kessler where he was drafted, and might even then have considered him a quality backup and spot-starter!  He failed to realize that to the yokels, a third round pick is the same as a top five pick!  He could never have imagined that anybody anywhere would take "you'll have to trust me on this one" as him saying Kessler was better than Wentz and Goff!!!

Still, I do believe that (just as he signed off on the Wentz trade-down), Hue was on-board with skipping Watson.  I believe Hue really liked Kizer better.

He wasn't alone.  A lot of highly respected people said Kizer had more upside than any quarterback in his draft class.

And the jury IS still out on DeShone Kizer, by the way.  If you have rendered a verdict on this guy based on his rookie season, you need a brain transplant.

Not that you don't go after Keenum/Cousins/Smith and draft another one, AND park Kizer on the bench (like you should have in the first place Hue).

Kase Keenum came out of nowhere, but he had Zimmer as a Head Coach, and Pat Shurmer as his offensive coordinator.  These guys made Bridgewater and Bradford look great too.  Pat Shurmer adapts his scheme to his quarterbacks Hue!  Knock-knock!

Blake Bortles was another big tall strong-armed guy who was so-so until this season, but he just pounded the Steelers to scrap.  Until this season, he was considered a bust.  I called him a bust myself.

That could be who Kizer is!

My peeps are disturbingly ecstatic over the Steelers playoff loss to Bortles and company, but it's hard to pin it on Big Ben.  Big Ben is a great quarterback.  Deal with it.  But HE was drafted eleventh overall, behind Eli Manning and Philip Rivers (at least).

Let's go back to the short guys:  Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees won Superbowls.  Kase Keenum just did what he did.  All of them were drafted lower due to their stature, but it didn't matter, did it?  Ever hear of Kurt Warner?

You can see where I'm going here:  Baker Mayfield.

It's taken me 50 years to get to this point, but now I can tell you this:  What is between a quarterback's ears is a lot more important than measurables.

Professional talent evaluators talk the talk on this, but then they still slap the Russell Wilsons and Aaron Rodgers' aside for big guys with big arms, in every single draft.

Already, some of them are putting Josh Allen ahead of the most accurate quarterback in this draft class.  They are all wrong.  I am right.  You will see.

They're mocking Josh Rosen to the Browns!  Concussions and injuries are irrelevant.  The fact that he's a scumbag doesn't matter.  He's tall and has an arm case closed!

This is ignorant!  I see it happen in every single draft!  

Hue Jackson's description of a "franchise quarterback", whether or not he believes it himself, makes the most sense:

1: Processing speed.

2: Accuracy. (This is the most important part of "arm talent")

3: What Hue calls "face of franchise", which I presume includes leadership.

Hue talks about arm-strength and height later, as a toss-in.

He's right.  And that's why Baker Mayfield is the best quarterback in this draft class.

Drew Brees completed over 70% of his passes this season.  Kase Keenum was close behind him at over 68%.  

We just saw Keenum scrape by Brees.  The remaining quarterbacks in the tourney are Keenum, Brady, Bortles, and Foles.

I suppose Brady wins by default, but after him, who do you think is number two (I mean now that Shortie Brees is out)?

It should be Shorty Keenum!

I do like Darnold too, however.  Those who rate Rosen ahead of him based on pro-readiness don't get it:

Even if the Browns sign Alex Smith, it won't be a one-year contract, and the draft pick will be third on the depth chart behind Kizer for at least one season.  "Pro-readiness" takes a back seat to talent and upside.

And that even goes for plan b: A J McCarron (except he would actually have to beat out Kizer for the starting gig, and the draftee might sit out only one season, depending on what happens...you can't count A J out.  That's what happened to Keenum.)

Darnold will almost certainly go higher than Mayfield, and (incredibly) so should Rosen.  That means a Barkley/Mayfield top two is possible, in that order.

I can't fathom Mary Kay Cabbott.  She wouldn't draft a running back that high unless he's a "can't miss generational" talent, since stud running backs are always available lower in the draft.

In nine years out of ten, I agree with that.  But Gil Brandt just said Barkley is the best runner he's seen in TEN YEARS, and almost everybody else in his league agrees with him!

Gil was only talking about Barkley as a running back--not as a receiver.  They are ALL describing a can't-miss, generational running back.  Several real experts call Barkley the best player in this draft!  Brandt said he might take him over any of these quarterbacks!

So what is Mary Kay talking about here?  This sort of cognative disonance drives me nuts!

Let's revisit the Vikings:  Is Stephon Diggs as good as Josh Gordon?  Haha!  What about Thielen vs Coleman?  Well right NOW it's Thielen, and they're not really similar anyway.  But Coleman is a LOT faster (more upside).

Rudolf vs Njoku?  Same deal!  Njoku has a lot more upside!  So does DeValve, for that matter!

Duke Johnson is, I believe, better than Jerrick McKinnon. Mary Kay, let's compare Latavius Murray to Laquon Barkley (hmmm...)

Do it again:  Imagine if DeShone Kizer had been the Vikings quarterback, and Hue Fisher had allowed Keenum to start here!  Is any of this sinking in yet?