NFL Draft Preview: Brady Quinn

Charlie Weis thinks Brady Quinn's talent is "this big," or he's just ordering a sandwich.

Well everyone, it's that time of year. Time for fans of downtrodden and horrible NFL teams to dream big about the next savior to roll into town. That's right. It's NFL Draft time! As a lifelong fan of the Detroit Lions the NFL Draft holds a special place in my heart. It's the day when I get to watch Matt Millen consistently screw things up and kick start another year of futility. Good times!

Over the coming days and weeks I'll take a look at some of the top prospects in the upcoming draft, as well as tell you where I think they'll be headed. So without further ado let's take a look at this year's Golden Boy, Brady Quinn.

Name: Brady Quinn

Position: Quarterback

School: Notre Dame

Pros: Dreamy. Played in pro style offense at Notre Dame. Accurate passer (against Service Acadamies and Stanford). Somewhat nimble in pocket, but not entirely fleet of foot, think faster then Byron Leftwich but slower then Jeff Garcia.

Cons: Bed wetter in big games. Arm not of the "man made cannon surgically attached to shoulder" variety. Went to Notre Dame.

Completely Unbiased Synopsis: I suppose in the interest of full disclosure I will say that I'm a supporter of the University of Michigan (and yes I went there thanks), and as such have a severe disdain for all things Notre Dame. That being said I will do my best here on my analysis of young Brady. He's your typical pro style drop back passer. He has enough mobility to avoid a pass rush, and is also very accurate inside the pocket. The problem is he's never really played well against top level competition. Despite winning two games against Michigan, he's never played well against the Wolverines, and he's also been destroyed in games against USC and in the Sugar Bowl against LSU. However, if the NFL decides to schedule the Service Academies then Brady is definitely your man. Put some pressure on Quinn and he starts to press a bit in the pocket and that's when he makes mistakes. Like any QB if you give him time in the pocket he'll make a good read and find the open man, but put some pressure on him and he gets a bit flushed. Michigan game last year is a perfect example. Michigan came at him early and often and he looked flustered and made some bad throws that lead greatly to the blowout win. In the pros he'll be put on a bad team with a suspect offensive line and have to endure the slings and arrows of much faster and much stronger pass rushes. I think he can be a good NFL quarterback if put in the right system for him to succeed, but I'm not entirely sold on him being a "can't miss" stud QB coming out of college. They said the same thing about Ryan Leaf and Joey Harrington remember?

Where He's Headed: That is quite the question. Quinn could go as high as two or as low as the bottom half of the top ten. The Lions are sitting at two and have "filled" (and I use quotes there because Matt Millen can't sign good free agents to save his life) holes at offensive tackle, running back, and wide receiver so I could see the Lions taking a long look at Quinn there. However, ultimately I don't think he's headed to Detroit. I think he's headed to another desperately hopeless NFL city in the midwest and that place is....Cleveland. The Browns currently hold the third pick in the draft and just so happen to have a horrible QB situation. Now they could go Adrian Peterson here to fix their need a running back too, but the thought of Brady's dreamy smile on billboards all around Cleveland will be enough for the Browns to take him. At least he'll be going to a team with a good offensive line...oh...wait. Quinn could also garner interest from Houston who's picking at eight should he fall that far. Don't bet on it though.

BOLD PREDICTION: Quinn goes to the Browns, has a rough go of it at the beginning before becoming a decent NFL QB. Think Tim Couch except less crappy.

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[ READER COMMENTS ]

1

Daniel said:

Hilarious and insighful!!

Posted at 06:42 PM, on March 20 2007

2

Desiree said:

Great analysis! I agree, I think Brady is on his way to Cleveland as well! I guess we will know soon enough. I look forward to reading more!

Posted at 03:11 PM, on March 21 2007

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NFL Draft Preview: Brady Quinn

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