Being one of the bigger pro-McCown people on the board, i am saddened by the recent comments from Graves on McCown's development...or lack thereof. It seems the writing is on the wall and in a worst case scenario, McCown will be fighting for a roster spot next year. Best case is, Graves said what he said to try and light a fire under the kid...however I am realistic enough to know it wasn't motivational but rather an indictment.
I do wonder though what could have been. I think about us ordinary folks in the working world and wonder if we had jobs where the management didn't give us many assignments and never truly tested us and then criticized us for not helping the business grow or whatever. And as a final act, "fired" us from our jobs without ever kinowing what the company truly had.
Personally I have said many times, I think this is what is happeneing with McCown. That is the way it is in the NFL...I know that...but it doesn't make it right. Simply put, in true NFL action...where the scoree is 0-0 with 60 minutes to play, the Cards coaches and management have NO CLUE what McCown can or cannot do.
I played enough football to know, practice counts but game action is where jobs are won and lost. I have only wanted for Josh to get a real shot at starting. I wanted him to get all the starter reps in practice for the week and to gameplanned around. The nervousness he exudes is probably normal. If he had an entire game, I think he would work through the nerves during the week and be ready to roll come Sunday. It appears as though we will never know.
But that got me to thinking about the Cards drafting McCown in the first place. If the Cards get rid of him...either by cutting him or demoting him to 3rd string...it will have been a wasted 3rd round pick in 2002. Krang is on his way right now to continue our disagreement on wasting a pick on a QB. But if a team doesn't give a player...any player...a real chance to perform, then it has been a wasted pick.
There are certainly players drafted after McCown who could have filled some of the gaping holes on this team and maybe even helped the Cards to win a few more. Marquis Walker was taken 5 spots after McCown and Graves traded for him so we could have clearly drafted him and who knows what may have transpired.
But when a QB is drafted in round 3, does that doom the player from ever making an impact. I went all the way back to 1990 and looked up every QB that was drafted in round 3
1990 - Tommy Hodson, Peter Tom Willis, Neil O'Donnell
1991 - None
1992 - None
1993 - Billy Joe Hobert
1994 - None
1995 - Stoney Case, Eric Zeier
1996 - Bobby Hoying
1997 - None
1998 Jonathan Quinn, Brian Griese
1999 - Brock Huard
2000 - Giovanni Carmazzi, Chris Redman
2001 - None
With the above list, there are almost as many guys with 2 first names as there are success stories (2-3). So what is it about the 3rd round and QBs. There are alot of 1s and 2s and alot of 4-7s. Is it a case of the 3rd round being a dead zone for QBs? Either a QB is a high pick or a second day pick? did McCown ever have a fighting chance where he was drafted. Would anyone here feel different if he had been drafted in round 6...like maybe lower expectations of him?
Maybe starting McCown will only confirm the doomsdayers or maybe the Cards would have suddenly found a gem in their midst. If the kid never gets a real shot, nobody will ever know.
I do wonder though what could have been. I think about us ordinary folks in the working world and wonder if we had jobs where the management didn't give us many assignments and never truly tested us and then criticized us for not helping the business grow or whatever. And as a final act, "fired" us from our jobs without ever kinowing what the company truly had.
Personally I have said many times, I think this is what is happeneing with McCown. That is the way it is in the NFL...I know that...but it doesn't make it right. Simply put, in true NFL action...where the scoree is 0-0 with 60 minutes to play, the Cards coaches and management have NO CLUE what McCown can or cannot do.
I played enough football to know, practice counts but game action is where jobs are won and lost. I have only wanted for Josh to get a real shot at starting. I wanted him to get all the starter reps in practice for the week and to gameplanned around. The nervousness he exudes is probably normal. If he had an entire game, I think he would work through the nerves during the week and be ready to roll come Sunday. It appears as though we will never know.
But that got me to thinking about the Cards drafting McCown in the first place. If the Cards get rid of him...either by cutting him or demoting him to 3rd string...it will have been a wasted 3rd round pick in 2002. Krang is on his way right now to continue our disagreement on wasting a pick on a QB. But if a team doesn't give a player...any player...a real chance to perform, then it has been a wasted pick.
There are certainly players drafted after McCown who could have filled some of the gaping holes on this team and maybe even helped the Cards to win a few more. Marquis Walker was taken 5 spots after McCown and Graves traded for him so we could have clearly drafted him and who knows what may have transpired.
But when a QB is drafted in round 3, does that doom the player from ever making an impact. I went all the way back to 1990 and looked up every QB that was drafted in round 3
1990 - Tommy Hodson, Peter Tom Willis, Neil O'Donnell
1991 - None
1992 - None
1993 - Billy Joe Hobert
1994 - None
1995 - Stoney Case, Eric Zeier
1996 - Bobby Hoying
1997 - None
1998 Jonathan Quinn, Brian Griese
1999 - Brock Huard
2000 - Giovanni Carmazzi, Chris Redman
2001 - None
With the above list, there are almost as many guys with 2 first names as there are success stories (2-3). So what is it about the 3rd round and QBs. There are alot of 1s and 2s and alot of 4-7s. Is it a case of the 3rd round being a dead zone for QBs? Either a QB is a high pick or a second day pick? did McCown ever have a fighting chance where he was drafted. Would anyone here feel different if he had been drafted in round 6...like maybe lower expectations of him?
Maybe starting McCown will only confirm the doomsdayers or maybe the Cards would have suddenly found a gem in their midst. If the kid never gets a real shot, nobody will ever know.
