Jeff Blake will Lead Us

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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i know, i know, some of you are probably skeptical at this thread, with good reason. but i'm starting out a new trend. every week i'm gonna have at least one positive thread. so, with that, awwwwwaaaaaay i go . . .

jake's gone. that's the best thing i've said in a long time in regards to the cards. we no longer have to live with watching take his drop, lock onto the out, and drill the numbers of the opposing db who skips into the end zone. i will give jake his due, he was a leader. he had charisma. he had moxie. but he didn't have the head.

jeff's got the game and the head. and i think people shortchange his leadership skills. physically he doesn't look imposing, but his arm certainly is. as has been stated ad nauseum he throws quite possibly the prettiest long ball in the league today. it drops like manna from heaven. he's got a cannon too, and can rifle the out with the best of 'em. and, judging from his td to int ratio, his decision making, while not beyond redoubt, is at least superior to jake. he's not prone to trying to squeeze anything outta a play that is not already there.

but that's all the stuff that's been regurgitated ad infinitum. what most people don't talk about are blake's leadership skills. early in his career he deferred to the vets on his bengals squads. he was humble and quiet. he allowed carl pickens to do the talking. but silently he lead by example. the extra work that he's putting with our wrs today is no different than the extra months of preparation that he put in his first few years in the league. moreover, when you follow his career to other poor teams, he grew into the leadership role. some said that his was a malcontent because of his flutie-like desire to garner the starter's job, but i contend that's just the evidence of the fire in his belly. he's a competitor. i like that. and he didn't really even ruffle any feathers in new orleans when the keys to the car were turned over to brooks. he understands the nature of the league. it's largely a young man's game. but don't berate him for wanting to compete while he's still got life in his arm.

what we're seeing now in the offseason is heartening. but what we're gonna see during the season, as far as leadership is concerned, is going to be pretty exciting. he's the type of leader that holds others around him accountable. in my opinion he'll be the perfect qb for developing our fleet of young wideouts.

i can't wait for the blake era to start in earnest! from jake to blake, we're in for a new treat!
 

HoodieBets

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Originally posted by Ouchie-Z-Clown
i know, i know, some of you are probably skeptical at this thread, with good reason. but i'm starting out a new trend. every week i'm gonna have at least one positive thread. so, with that, awwwwwaaaaaay i go . . .

jake's gone. that's the best thing i've said in a long time in regards to the cards. we no longer have to live with watching take his drop, lock onto the out, and drill the numbers of the opposing db who skips into the end zone. i will give jake his due, he was a leader. he had charisma. he had moxie. but he didn't have the head.

jeff's got the game and the head. and i think people shortchange his leadership skills. physically he doesn't look imposing, but his arm certainly is. as has been stated ad nauseum he throws quite possibly the prettiest long ball in the league today. it drops like manna from heaven. he's got a cannon too, and can rifle the out with the best of 'em. and, judging from his td to int ratio, his decision making, while not beyond redoubt, is at least superior to jake. he's not prone to trying to squeeze anything outta a play that is not already there.

but that's all the stuff that's been regurgitated ad infinitum. what most people don't talk about are blake's leadership skills. early in his career he deferred to the vets on his bengals squads. he was humble and quiet. he allowed carl pickens to do the talking. but silently he lead by example. the extra work that he's putting with our wrs today is no different than the extra months of preparation that he put in his first few years in the league. moreover, when you follow his career to other poor teams, he grew into the leadership role. some said that his was a malcontent because of his flutie-like desire to garner the starter's job, but i contend that's just the evidence of the fire in his belly. he's a competitor. i like that. and he didn't really even ruffle any feathers in new orleans when the keys to the car were turned over to brooks. he understands the nature of the league. it's largely a young man's game. but don't berate him for wanting to compete while he's still got life in his arm.

what we're seeing now in the offseason is heartening. but what we're gonna see during the season, as far as leadership is concerned, is going to be pretty exciting. he's the type of leader that holds others around him accountable. in my opinion he'll be the perfect qb for developing our fleet of young wideouts.

i can't wait for the blake era to start in earnest! from jake to blake, we're in for a new treat!

I thought you were going to say...Jeff Blake will lead us to another 5-11 record. But this is just as good.:D :thumbup:
 

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For those who would criticize Blake as a malcontent for wanting to start: would we really want a QB who was content to sit the bench? It's to our benefit that Blake is going into this season to prove many of his naysayers wrong.

It's pretty obvious that a change was needed here, and the club has most certainly made the correct decision in dumping Jake and bringing in a veteran along the lines of Blake. He will bring leadership and a change of attitude to the Cards.
 

40yearfan

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Ouchie, I am truly amazed. Not one negative in the whole post. Not only that, but you came from it with a different angle. Quite a bit of thought went into that. Great post!!
 

Cbus cardsfan

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Originally posted by Ouchie-Z-Clown
i what most people don't talk about are blake's leadership skills. early in his career he deferred to the vets on his bengals squads. he was humble and quiet. he allowed carl pickens to do the talking. but silently he lead by example. the extra work that he's putting with our wrs today is no different than the extra months of preparation that he put in his first few years in the league. moreover, when you follow his career to other poor teams, he grew into the leadership role.

Is this your opinion or do you have some facts to back it up?He was never humble,silent,or lead by example while in Cincy.Those are the facts and anything else is a complete falsehood.He was a team cancer that cared about personal stats above everything else and when things didn't go his he would deflect all criticism and not take any responsibility.That doesn't mean he will be that way in Arizona but to make him out to be a great leader in all his other stops is absurd.I have never once read that his leadership skills were a strength.The only praise i have heard for Blake,other than from his own mouth,was that he could throw a nice deep ball.
 

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Re: Re: Jeff Blake will Lead Us

Originally posted by Cbus cardsfan
Is this your opinion or do you have some facts to back it up?He was never humble,silent,or lead by example while in Cincy.Those are the facts and anything else is a complete falsehood.He was a team cancer that cared about personal stats above everything else and when things didn't go his he would deflect all criticism and not take any responsibility.That doesn't mean he will be that way in Arizona but to make him out to be a great leader in all his other stops is absurd.I have never once read that his leadership skills were a strength.The only praise i have heard for Blake,other than from his own mouth,was that he could throw a nice deep ball.

There is always one fly in the ointment.

So much for the ASFN lovefest. :(
 

Cbus cardsfan

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I'm sorry,i said i was not going to comment anymore on Blake.But this new love-fest with him is just driving me crazy.Are you people more happy that Plummer is gone or do you REALLY think Blake is anything but a sub-mediocre QB in the league.I think it's more the fact that Plummer is gone.Which is fine,just don't make Blake out to be something he isn't.
 

Stout

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Re: Re: Jeff Blake will Lead Us

Originally posted by Cbus cardsfan
Is this your opinion or do you have some facts to back it up?He was never humble,silent,or lead by example while in Cincy.Those are the facts and anything else is a complete falsehood.He was a team cancer that cared about personal stats above everything else and when things didn't go his he would deflect all criticism and not take any responsibility.That doesn't mean he will be that way in Arizona but to make him out to be a great leader in all his other stops is absurd.I have never once read that his leadership skills were a strength.The only praise i have heard for Blake,other than from his own mouth,was that he could throw a nice deep ball.

Is this your opinion or do you have some facts to back it up?

Man, you rip the guy because he stated something and didn't back it up, then you stated something and didn't back it up.

And I quote, "He was never humble, silent or lead by example while in Cincy. Those are the facts and anything else is a complete falsehood."

Really? Where do YOUR mystical 'facts' come from?

I'm not saying you're wrong, or the other side of the coin is wrong. I'm saying don't be the pot calling the kettle black.
 

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I guess I should also give my take. The only time I really got to see Jeff Blake play was last year for the Ravens (my girlfriend and a few of my friends are from B-More). I generally switched back and forth between the Falcons and the Ravens for the early games. Probably caught about half of Blake's games.

Blake was not at all impressive to me, although his deep ball is definitely pretty (nice spiral, much better than plummer's). I guess he is what jake Plummer isn't. What you won't see out of him is play-making ability. He doesn't mind taking a sack. He also is not very accurate. It seems he misses high a lot. He can throw the out, but he doesn't have much touch throwing over the middle.

I don't mean to be a downer, but I think everyone's enthusiasm should be tempered. The last thing we need is for everybody to jump all over Blake if we start 0-3 or something.
 

Cheesebeef

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hey - i'm just happy anybody but Jake is going to be under center for us.
 

Lex

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"Anybody but Jake."

Well...you got what you asked for.

All I ever said in wanting to keep Jake, was that he is a gamer, a winner, and we'd never get a viable alternative to Jake. Jeff Blake was the closest thing to a viable alternative that was available to us, so prove me wrong Jeff Blake. Show me that you do have a heart, and prove all your naysayers wrong. Go ahead, I dare ya.
 
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Ouchie-Z-Clown

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Originally posted by DCCardsFan
I guess I should also give my take. The only time I really got to see Jeff Blake play was last year for the Ravens (my girlfriend and a few of my friends are from B-More). I generally switched back and forth between the Falcons and the Ravens for the early games. Probably caught about half of Blake's games.

Blake was not at all impressive to me, although his deep ball is definitely pretty (nice spiral, much better than plummer's). I guess he is what jake Plummer isn't. What you won't see out of him is play-making ability. He doesn't mind taking a sack. He also is not very accurate. It seems he misses high a lot. He can throw the out, but he doesn't have much touch throwing over the middle.

I don't mean to be a downer, but I think everyone's enthusiasm should be tempered. The last thing we need is for everybody to jump all over Blake if we start 0-3 or something.

actually, i completely agree with your assessment. i wasn't really having a love fest, but rather commenting on blake's leadership skills. and, while i am primarily happy to see ANYONE other than jake under center, and don't think jeff blake is the second coming, i do see him as the anti-jake. he won't turn the ball over and he will get us some long-distance scores.

as for my "facts" . . . i've been a HUGE nfl fan for my entire life. i watch not only the cards, but EVERY team. i am always interested in their rumors, actions, and players. though i really don't feel i need to undergo voir dire for my football knowledge. i took special note of blake early in his career b/c i became enamored of his game while he was bombin' away at East Carolina. i was actually fairly disappointed in his early career, but impressed with the manner in which he displayed professionalism. he came into the league with a LARGE chip on his shoulder because he was constantly dissuaded from playing qb and downgraded because of his lack of stature. at every stop he's been told that he can't make it. his outbursts were always related to being relegated to backup status or attempts to replace him, never were they directed at teammates. my memory is of a leader from college on. you want to disagree, that's your prerogative.
 

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Originally posted by DCCardsFan
The only time I really got to see Jeff Blake play was last year for the Ravens... Blake was not at all impressive to me... I don't mean to be a downer, but I think everyone's enthusiasm should be tempered.

DCCF:

I guess Brian Billick has lower standards than yours, according to this May 13 piece by Len Pasquarelli on ESPN.com:

http://espn.go.com/nfl/columns/pasquarelli_len/1550850.html

>>None of the three other franchises that invested first-round choices on quarterbacks just two weeks ago... has even remotely hinted their young signal-callers will compete for a starting job as a rookie. Then again, none of them is confronted by the unique situation in which the Ravens find themselves, with a trio of quarterbacks whose combined resumes total a measly 11 regular-season starts...

It wasn't supposed to happen like this... At the Super Bowl four months ago, Billick confided to some ESPN reporters that, while he still liked Redman's potential, veteran Jeff Blake, who started the final 10 games in 2002, was his guy.

But, oops, the Ravens low-balled Blake in negotiations, and the peripatetic veteran accepted an offer from the Arizona Cardinals instead. Which leaves the Ravens... needing a quarterback to step up presently and play the position with at least a passable level of efficiency.<<

I don't know what games you were watching last season. Coming off the bench, Blake went 165-295-2,084, with more TDs than INTs (13-11). His 7.1 yards-per-attempt--a key efficiency/ productivity measure--compared favorably with that of players like Brett Favre (6.6), Michael Vick (7.0) and Peyton Manning (7.1), and was a whole lot better than Jake Plummer (5.6).

If the Ravens defense had held 4th-quarter leads against Cleveland and Pittsburgh in the last two games--which they lost by a total of four points--Baltimore would probably have been an AFC wildcard. (That Steelers game was Blake's best of the year, 19-26-336 & 2 TDs, as he brought the Ravens back from a 17-7 deficit to 31-20 with 12:57 left.)

I'll bet the Ravens will miss Blake this year. I'll bet the Cardinals will be happy he wound up here.

WC
 

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Jake Plummer quarterbacked his high school team to a state championship his junior year.

His senior year, he led his team on a comeback to tie the championship game with seconds left on the clock, only to have the game tieing extra point go wide.

He led the Sun Devils to an undefeated season his senior year, and a Rose Bowl with a national championship on the line. After leading the team to a lead with a minute to go in that game, ASU's defense decided to play 30 yards deep on pass coverage.

Denver got him for one reason...he's a winner that will never give up. We will miss that.
 

jf-08

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Thank God we're not taling about Kordell.
 

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Originally posted by Lex
Jake Plummer quarterbacked his high school team to a state championship his junior year.

His senior year, he led his team on a comeback to tie the championship game with seconds left on the clock, only to have the game tieing extra point go wide.

He led the Sun Devils to an undefeated season his senior year, and a Rose Bowl with a national championship on the line. After leading the team to a lead with a minute to go in that game, ASU's defense decided to play 30 yards deep on pass coverage.

Denver got him for one reason...he's a winner that will never give up. We will miss that.

I will give you that Jake never gives up - but there a lot of guys who have been winners at the high school and college levels that have never done anything in the NFL - why because never giving up AND natural talent makes you a winner in the NFL There is not one without the other at the highest level. Jake has yet tyo show he's got the natural talent and I suspect this year, we will all see what Jake can and can not do - he's got no more excuses.
 

Lex

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I'm with you on the Kordell thing.

Beef- a winner is a winner. It's possible to have a ton of talent, and not be a winner.

It's also possible to be a winner, with less than a ton of talent.

The question is, if your team doesn't have that one guy in a decade, with both the ability, and drive to win, what would you rather have...a guy with a never quit will to win, or a guy with all the talent that can't seem to put it all together to win?
 

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Originally posted by jkf296
Thank God we're not taling about Kordell.

Ill give a second AMEN to that! :thumbup:
 

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Originally posted by Lex
Jake Plummer quarterbacked his high school team to a state championship his junior year.

His senior year, he led his team on a comeback to tie the championship game with seconds left on the clock, only to have the game tieing extra point go wide.

He led the Sun Devils to an undefeated season his senior year, and a Rose Bowl with a national championship on the line. After leading the team to a lead with a minute to go in that game, ASU's defense decided to play 30 yards deep on pass coverage.

Denver got him for one reason...he's a winner that will never give up. We will miss that.

I won't miss his lack of any sort of consistency (unless you call consistent bad play consistency), I won't miss him throwing into coverage, I won't miss his never checking down past 2 receivers, etc...you get the picture.

You're misstating what Jake really is. He is NOT an NFL winner. He has the HEART of an NFL winner, but not the ability. Without the ability, heart won't get it done.

Denver got a really passionate, terrible QB.
 

Rivercard

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It seems that the majority of QB's these days generally suck. At least with Blake we have a guy with lots of experience who will not turn the ball over like Plummer did.
 

Russ Smith

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Originally posted by Lex
Jake Plummer quarterbacked his high school team to a state championship his junior year.

His senior year, he led his team on a comeback to tie the championship game with seconds left on the clock, only to have the game tieing extra point go wide.

He led the Sun Devils to an undefeated season his senior year, and a Rose Bowl with a national championship on the line. After leading the team to a lead with a minute to go in that game, ASU's defense decided to play 30 yards deep on pass coverage.

Denver got him for one reason...he's a winner that will never give up. We will miss that.

Hey Lex you must have accidentally deleted the NFL part of Jake's resume.

Shanahan says he got Jake because he studied films, concluded that jake made mistakes because of the situations he was in always being behind, and that he needed a more mobile QB that could make something out of nothing better than Griese did. He's also openly saying he's trying to convince Jake to NOT try to win games by himself, that never give up attitude you mention often worked AGAINST Jake because he would try to make the big play that wasn't there instead of taking the easier play that was.
 

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Hey Russ- I intentionally left out the fact that he led us to our only playoff victory in history too. He's not nearly finished with his NFL career yet, much like I didn't post what he did in high school when he was a freshman or sophmore, or his college years before he was a senior.

I know 95% of the posters on this site are like you, holding out hope that Jake was the reason for our failure. You are now chomping at the bit to see any sign from Denver that you are correct in your assumption.

My take on the reason for Shanahan to dump Greise for Plummer, was that Greise couldn't come back, and Jake is famous for coming back.

Sometimes you have to try a make the "play that isn't there" to WIN, when the "easier play" only helps your stinkin stats look better.
 
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