chris heff Posted December 13, 2020 Posted December 13, 2020 (edited) Last week a Patriot fan trolling this site wrote that Patriots don’t need much to get back to being contenders, because of great coaching staff, organization, and players returning that opted out. With up coming draft and free agency all they heed to do is find QB of the future and, or, as he put it a “bridge QB”. Not to mention some WRs and TEs. This got me thinking, how often do teams go either directly, or quickly from one great or even good QB to another? I’m sure I’m missing a few so help me out. Packers twice, don’t remember Tobin Rote, but they went from him to Bart Starr. Then the obvious, Favre to Rogers. Raiders went from Lamonica to Stabler and then fairly quickly to Plunkett. Niners (another obvious one), Montana to Young. Patriots, Bledsoe to Brady. Colts Payton Manning to Andrew Luck. That’s all I can think of and that’s not many and that covers about 70 years. Doesn’t appear to be easy. Forgot this one a bit marginal, but Cowboys went fro Meredith to Morton to Staubach. Edited December 13, 2020 by chris heff Forgot
SoCal Deek Posted December 13, 2020 Posted December 13, 2020 Bledsoe wasn’t all that much in NE. Lots of noise and resume potential but not much to show for it all really. 3
RJ (not THAT RJ) Posted December 13, 2020 Posted December 13, 2020 (edited) You're quite right, it ain't easy, and even "successful" transitions rely on luck. Packers did go from Rote to Starr... but then had schlubs like Horn, Tagge, Hadl (near the end of his trail), Dickey, and Majkowski before hitting with Favre, whom the Falcons had dumped for a box of tape. Raiders had a long transition (1970-1973) where Lamonica couldn't stay healthy and Stabler couldn't grab the starting job for good until halfway through 1973; then as he faded by 1979 they traded for Dan Pastorini (signing Plunkett was an afterthought)--dumb luck and Pastorini's injury opened the door to Plunkett. Since then, Raider QB choices have been mixed. Niners were lucky to have Young on the squad, though there were four years of controversy before Montana left for good. Colts of course had to suck to get Luck. One bad year at the right time helps. The Pats just got very lucky, despite themselves--they had just signed Bledsoe to a monster deal. The org deserves credit for sticking with Brady early once his talents were clear. Edited December 13, 2020 by RJ (not THAT RJ)
Ethan in Cleveland Posted December 13, 2020 Posted December 13, 2020 5 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said: Bledsoe wasn’t all that much in NE. Lots of noise and resume potential but not much to show for it all really. He was a borderline HOF QB. He made it so a SuperBowl. 5
Bulldog Posted December 13, 2020 Posted December 13, 2020 9 minutes ago, chris heff said: Last week a Patriot fan trolling this site wrote that Patriots don’t need much to get back to being contenders, because of great coaching staff, organization, and players returning that opted out. With up coming draft and free agency all they heed to do is find QB of the future and, or, as he put it a “bridge QB”. Not to mention some WRs and TEs. This got me thinking, how often do teams go either directly, or quickly from one great or even good QB to another? I’m sure I’m missing a few so help me out. Packers twice, don’t remember Tobin Rote, but they went from him to Bart Starr. Then the obvious, Favre to Rogers. Raiders went from Lamonica to Stabler and then fairly quickly to Plunkett. Niners (another obvious one), Montana to Young. Patriots, Bledsoe to Brady. Colts Payton Manning to Andrew Luck. That’s all I can think of and that’s not many and that covers about 70 years. Doesn’t appear to be easy. Good luck to those lovely Patriots* fans - I hope they do wind up with a "bridge" QB. It is much more common for a franchise to languish from one "bridge" QB to the next, from year to year, in a seemingly endless search for the next elusive franchise guy - rather than to have back to back franchise guys. Here's hoping that the current situation in New England is just the tip of the iceberg of a long & tortuous purgatory of searching for the elusive next "TB 12"! 3 2
BuffaloBillies Posted December 13, 2020 Posted December 13, 2020 Not hard at all. Remember in just 1 season we went from EJ Manuel to Thad Lewis to Jeff Tuel. 1 1 8
chris heff Posted December 13, 2020 Author Posted December 13, 2020 14 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said: Bledsoe wasn’t all that much in NE. Lots of noise and resume potential but not much to show for it all really. I agree, I was being nice.
Doc Posted December 13, 2020 Posted December 13, 2020 The Cheaters' biggest problem is that Belicheat isn't going to be around for long. 2
Ethan in Cleveland Posted December 13, 2020 Posted December 13, 2020 You are setting the bar very high. Pretty much going from HOF to HOF player. If you lower expectations just a bit there have been teams that have transitioned from one capable QB to another... Seattle - Hasselbeck to Wilson Dallas- Meredith to Morton(took Dallas to a SB) to Staubach, Romo to Dak, Staubach to White Cinci - Anderson to Esiason Atlanta - Chandler to Vick to Ryan Vikings - Tarkenton to Kramer Chiefs - Smith to Mahomes, Montana to Bono to Grbac to Green that is 13 years of decent QB play with a lot of playoff runs 3
chris heff Posted December 13, 2020 Author Posted December 13, 2020 7 minutes ago, Bulldog said: Good luck to those lovely Patriots* fans - I hope they do wind up with a "bridge" QB. It is much more common for a franchise to languish from one "bridge" QB to the next, from year to year, in a seemingly endless search for the next elusive franchise guy - rather than to have back to back franchise guys. Here's hoping that the current situation in New England is just the tip of the iceberg of a long & tortuous purgatory of searching for the elusive next "TB 12"! Firstly, my God you are handsome! Isn’t Cam “bridge QB” number one?
Bulldog Posted December 13, 2020 Posted December 13, 2020 2 minutes ago, chris heff said: Firstly, my God you are handsome! Isn’t Cam “bridge QB” number one? Yes - hopefully Cam is the first in a decades long string of bridge guys for the Pats*. Also -we both clearly have very good genes in our respective family trees! 1
chris heff Posted December 13, 2020 Author Posted December 13, 2020 1 minute ago, Ethan in Portland said: You are setting the bar very high. Pretty much going from HOF to HOF player. If you lower expectations just a bit there have been teams that have transitioned from one capable QB to another... Seattle - Hasselbeck to Wilson Dallas- Meredith to Morton(took Dallas to a SB) to Staubach, Romo to Dak, Staubach to White Cinci - Anderson to Esiason Atlanta - Chandler to Vick to Ryan Vikings - Tarkenton to Kramer Chiefs - Smith to Mahomes, Montana to Bono to Grbac to Green that is 13 years of decent QB play with a lot of playoff runs Seattle okay Dallas I went back and added Cinci, yup Altanta maybe? Vikings maybe? Chiefs, no there is a bunch of okay guys there. If you go down that road you have to start adding Colts, Unitas to Domres, to Jones.
BillsFanSD Posted December 13, 2020 Posted December 13, 2020 Finding a QB who can get you into playoff contention isn't that hard if all the other pieces are in place, especially with seven playoff spots available. This year's Colts team is a good example. They had a pretty good roster already, plugged in an aging veteran who figures to give them maybe two years of production, and here they are. Finding a QB who elevates your team into a legit super bowl contender is a lot harder. It took us two decades and change. Some teams luck and out get to draft a top prospect -- again, Indianapolis is a good example. But that's tough to do without bottoming out.
Rocky Landing Posted December 13, 2020 Posted December 13, 2020 55 minutes ago, chris heff said: Last week a Patriot fan trolling this site wrote that Patriots don’t need much to get back to being contenders, because of great coaching staff, organization, and players returning that opted out. With up coming draft and free agency all they heed to do is find QB of the future and, or, as he put it a “bridge QB”. Not to mention some WRs and TEs. This got me thinking, how often do teams go either directly, or quickly from one great or even good QB to another? I’m sure I’m missing a few so help me out. Packers twice, don’t remember Tobin Rote, but they went from him to Bart Starr. Then the obvious, Favre to Rogers. Raiders went from Lamonica to Stabler and then fairly quickly to Plunkett. Niners (another obvious one), Montana to Young. Patriots, Bledsoe to Brady. Colts Payton Manning to Andrew Luck. That’s all I can think of and that’s not many and that covers about 70 years. Doesn’t appear to be easy. Forgot this one a bit marginal, but Cowboys went fro Meredith to Morton to Staubach. Cowboys also went from Romo the Prescott. I think it's also worth noting that Rodgers spent three years holding Favre's clipboard. A lot of pundits thought that was what Josh Allen should have done, but we didn't have anyone for Allen to play behind. (I don't think Nathan Peterman actually owns a clipboard.) Funny that a Pats* fan wouldn't consider Cam Newton a "bridge" QB. If he isn't that, then what the hell is he?
chris heff Posted December 13, 2020 Author Posted December 13, 2020 6 minutes ago, Rocky Landing said: Cowboys also went from Romo the Prescott. I think it's also worth noting that Rodgers spent three years holding Favre's clipboard. A lot of pundits thought that was what Josh Allen should have done, but we didn't have anyone for Allen to play behind. (I don't think Nathan Peterman actually owns a clipboard.) Funny that a Pats* fan wouldn't consider Cam Newton a "bridge" QB. If he isn't that, then what the hell is he? If we add Romo to Prescott and all of Ethan’s we have only come up with 13 or 14 times in about 70 years where there has been good QB succession. That is not a lot considering the number of franchises. The Patriots fan didn’t consider Cam to be a “bridge” because even he had come to realization that Cam is done.
chris heff Posted December 13, 2020 Author Posted December 13, 2020 18 minutes ago, BillsFanSD said: Finding a QB who can get you into playoff contention isn't that hard if all the other pieces are in place, especially with seven playoff spots available. This year's Colts team is a good example. They had a pretty good roster already, plugged in an aging veteran who figures to give them maybe two years of production, and here they are. Finding a QB who elevates your team into a legit super bowl contender is a lot harder. It took us two decades and change. Some teams luck and out get to draft a top prospect -- again, Indianapolis is a good example. But that's tough to do without bottoming out. That’s true but do you think the Patriots have all the other pieces? The troll seemed to think either the did or one draft and one free agency could solve everything.
Beerball Posted December 13, 2020 Posted December 13, 2020 1 hour ago, chris heff said: Last week a Patriot fan trolling this site wrote that Patriots don’t need much to get back to being contenders, because of great coaching staff, organization, and players returning that opted out. With up coming draft and free agency all they heed to do is find QB of the future and, or, as he put it a “bridge QB”. Not to mention some WRs and TEs. This got me thinking, how often do teams go either directly, or quickly from one great or even good QB to another? I’m sure I’m missing a few so help me out. Packers twice, don’t remember Tobin Rote, but they went from him to Bart Starr. Then the obvious, Favre to Rogers. Raiders went from Lamonica to Stabler and then fairly quickly to Plunkett. Niners (another obvious one), Montana to Young. Patriots, Bledsoe to Brady. Colts Payton Manning to Andrew Luck. That’s all I can think of and that’s not many and that covers about 70 years. Doesn’t appear to be easy. Forgot this one a bit marginal, but Cowboys went fro Meredith to Morton to Staubach. Kelly to Collins 2
Don Otreply Posted December 13, 2020 Posted December 13, 2020 1 hour ago, Ethan in Portland said: He was a borderline HOF QB. He made it so a SuperBowl. Borderline HOF? No way, Bledsoe did have a couple good/above average years, no doubt, but those were a minority during his career, he was mostly a bit above average to average the majority of the time. His failing was he couldn’t move worth a darn athletically speaking while in the pocket, let alone having to evade an active pursuit. 1
chris heff Posted December 13, 2020 Author Posted December 13, 2020 16 minutes ago, Don Otreply said: Borderline HOF? No way, Bledsoe did have a couple good/above average years, no doubt, but those were a minority during his career, he was mostly a bit above average to average the majority of the time. His failing was he couldn’t move worth a darn athletically speaking while in the pocket, let alone having to evade an active pursuit. Nice day down here isn’t it?
Don Otreply Posted December 13, 2020 Posted December 13, 2020 2 minutes ago, chris heff said: Nice day down here isn’t it? I’m at little harbor in the Abacos, were are you?
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