LaFell’s a rookie wideout from LSU drafted in the third round. Been watching him since he was a freshman, and I can see him finally offering Steve Smith some much needed decoy relief on the opposite end.
Doesn’t seem like too promising a prospect. I’ve never even heard of him. A questionable rookie wideout isn’t going to be much of a decoy for an all-star like Smith.
@Bobby
My guess would be that if we listed the rookies that started in the past ten years, more of them would have lackluster years than good ones. (Did Sanchez really have a great year? I didn’t see him play, so I can’t fairly say.)
I disagree with the “baby” remark. I think NFL QBs need a transition time. The “throw ’em to the wolves approach” doesn’t seem like a good approach. You never know how a QB is going to handle having a really bad year, and a bad year can really wreck a QB, imo.
Also, think of the QBs who have been patiently groomed—Brady, Rodgers, Romo, perhaps even Henne (if he becomes a good-to-great QB). That really points to the wisdom of bringing your young QBs slowly. In one of Bill Walsh’s book, the master at assessing and developing QBs, imo, he talked about putting in young QBs in a situation where they could succeed—to build their confidence. I think this is the better approach than trial by fire.
-I don’t think Tony Pike will get his shot-
Pike’s competing for third string right now . . . he has potential, but there have been question about his work ethic coming out of college. Doesn’t have great arm strength, either.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll reiterate. There’s only one statistic that matters to me when judging a qb. Wins/losses. Sanchez passes with flying colors in that respect. Next I look at touchdown/interception ratio. But at the end of the day, it all comes down to wins/losses.
Transition time is fine and dandy, but some teams don’t have that luxury. And at the end of the day, the best way is to learn by doing. I think you learn quicker by making mistakes, because everyone has a lot of mistakes waiting inside them. The sooner you get them out, the better.
Out of all those QBs who have been patiently groomed that you listed, only one has a ring. Now think about your Manning brothers, your Roethlisbergers, your Breeses. They were all thrown into the fire and had to grow up on the field very quickly.
In that case, Bobby, the numbers looks pretty good for Vince Young. At 26-13, he apparently has the fourth highest percentage of any current QB with 20 games started (Brady, Roethlisberger, Rivers).
Yep, I hate to admit, but Young is a winner. He won in high school, he won in college, and he’s winning in the league. He’ll be a threat to win it all if he gets a championship defense. He’s pretty young too (no pun intended).
BUT…at the end of the day, no one who went to the University of Fexas can truly be called a winner, now can they? (Hee hee!)
Bobby Wise
You know, I think the days are past when rookie QBs were extremely unlikely to do well. Look at Sanchez last year. Look at Flacco before that. Look at Roethlisberger, to a somewhat lesser extent. Rookies seem to do much better nowadays, especially when they have the proper tools around them. They’re not babied so much anymore. They’re expected to win and win big. The bar has been raised.
I don’t think Tony Pike will get his shot. And who the hell is Brandon LaFell?