Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Allen vs Mayfield, Reconsiderations, Doubt, Trust, and the Browns

Phil and Chris Simms are giving me some second thoughts about Josh Allen.  It's just possible that he is the second-best quarterback in this class!

I tend to take Phil with a grain of salt, because he always loves the guys with the stongest arms most, but Chris backed his father's opinion up with some additional facts.

Naturally, it starts with the near total absence of percentage-inflating screen passes in his offense.  (Just repeating what Pappy said here, and it's a valid point).

But Chris comes right out and said that Allen had crappy receivers.

Phil also said that the amazing throws he makes include throwing side-arm while running to his left, and throwing hard and accurately while running in general.  (As I have pointed out, this is rare.)

Pat Kirwan points out Allen's one-handed pump-fake.  That's significant, since few/rare quarterbacks can safely do it (they kinda "shoulder-fake" with their left hands still on or near the ball to protect it).

Safeties (and the best zone corners) know this, so they don't make their "moves" until that left hand comes away from the ball.

Well, Josh Allen can fake them out, and actually simulate a real throw without losing the ball (massive hands DO help).

Chris also insists that Allen has a high FLOOR, as well as cieling, especially in the AFC North, and he got close to a perfect score in the Wonderlick (much higher than Albert Rosenstein by the way).

Josh Allen turned Wyoming around.  The Simms' seem to think that he did an awesome job with the supporting talent he had.

Chris also points out how "level of competition" is damn near irrelevant for quarterbacks.  If that's why you think he sucks, you need a brain transplant.

But these two are "football guys", who trust their eyes far more than numbers, and see potential intuitively (don't get me wrong I respect that.  They've been there/done that).

But it is a fact that Allen handled blitzes poorly.  His "drop-rate" was also low (his receivers might have hurt him by not creating enough separation, but they had pretty good hands).

His ability to throw accurately on the run is (per Phil) rare, but his need to work on his foot-placement means he's not a "natural".

Even the Simms' love Baker Mayfield, however, and Mayfield is the winner of the production, performance, analytics, and win/loss contests by a wide margin.

If Mayfield was one inch taller, he'd have first overall nailed down already.

Mayfield mastered the Oklahoma playbook in two days.  The whole team and all the coaches were shocked.  He was calling and changing plays like he'd been there for years right out of the gate.

He always makes the right decision.  He never had a bad game.  He was never the reason his team lost--ever--and was the reason they won most of the time.

As I've blogged before, he could be disruptive.

He would at least be close to Tyrod Taylor on opening day, and based on preseason have a lot of fans thinking he should start already.

I'm serious here:  Could Baker Mayfield keep his mouth shut and accept his role--and if so, for how long?

It gets complicated.  I can now see Dorsey going with Allen (I mean I would only bash him a little for now, but eagerly await my Mayfield/Allen comparison "I told you so"s in 21-22.)

Dorsey should simply draft the best quarterback, period.

Which quarterback in this draft class, based on performance, is the best?  Which is the most obvious leader? Which has never failed?  Has been under the lights (and won) the most?

I wish I could trust ex-player Dorsey to ignore everybody else and just pick the best quarterback, but I'm from Cleveland, and well...you know.

I can't wait for the Browns Superbowl (the draft).

Despite the forgoing, I DO trust John Dorsey (at least more than myself) to make the right picks.

Significantly, I'm pretty sure that Dorsey has absolute control.  

All this "Hue Jackson offense" crap is idiotic, since Todd Haley has total control of the offense.

Even on NFL Radio, the majority of these guys keep talking about whether or not players fit Hue Jackson's offensive scheme, as if Todd Haley or Hue's public abdication never happened.

In reality, this will be a Todd Haley offense, and he will have more influence in this draft than Hue Fisher will (especially at quarterback).

Most of you people assume that Haley wants another Big Ben, because that's who he inheritted/made the most of in his latest gig, but before that, he was "stuck with" Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk, and created the "Greatest Show on Turf".

(Somewhere in there he was a Head Coach somewhere I don't recall I'll get back to you on that).

Anyway, let's compare Kurt Warner to Big Ben, and determine Todd Haley's prototype quarterback based on these two which he inheritted/had no choice about:

Obviously, since he had no choice in either case, if you think that either one is Haley's "type", you are an I D I O T (No offense MKC).

Here, Josh Allen is your "AFC North prototype" with crossed fingers and rabbits feet, and Mayfield is Kurt Warner...period.

...well except he's a lot more mobile and has a stronger arm...

Ironically, Warner himself thinks Dorsey will draft Josh Allen (and seems to like him better than Mayfield himself).


...ok, I'm outnumbered by too many ex-quarterbacks here, and Warner's opinion means a lot.


I hereby proclaim Josh Allen the second-best quarterback in this draft class, and will endorse Dorsey if he drafts him...

...or Darnold.

As for the rest of it (and an almost more likely than not) trade-down from 4, I can live with Ward, Fitzpatrick, Paea...

Nevermind I just trust Dorsey not to squander the bounty of draft picks he inheritted from Rodney Brownfield.


By the way, despite his "real football players" idiotic Hue Jackson-defending statement, McCourtey was the only high-profile Sashi guy Dorsey dumped so far DO YOU UNDERSTAND?


Dorsey talks about waking up the "sleeping giant".

There really IS a sleeping giant, and Sashi Brown built it DEAL WIT IT.

I predict a trade-down from four, probably with Buffalo, for a Pro Bowl calibre stud at twelve, a future left tackle, and a King's ransom.

I also think Baker Mayfield just makes too much sense at first overall (make of that what you will, fellow Browns fans).






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