Bills grab Brohm off the practice squad

[Smidgeon]

$10 says we draft a QB in '10.

You have a round you're thinking of?

[Bretsky]

another blown high draft pick

[pbmax]

Brohm is not ready to be an NFL QB. And the Bills are not ready to nurture an NFL QB. This is a bad call by Brohm and his agent. This team fired its offensive coordinator a week before the season started.

The only chance he has is if the Bills hire Shanahan or Gruden and the new guy likes Brohm. He would have been better off training with a known commodity and beating Flynn for the backup job, then leaving. But there is just as good a chance that a new coach is going to want his own guy.

[SkinBasket]

Brohm is not ready to be an NFL QB. And the Bills are not ready to nurture an NFL QB. This is a bad call by Brohm and his agent. This team fired its offensive coordinator a week before the season started.

The only chance he has is if the Bills hire Shanahan or Gruden and the new guy likes Brohm. He would have been better off training with a known commodity and beating Flynn for the backup job, then leaving. But there is just as good a chance that a new coach is going to want his own guy.

I don't know about that. Remember that Brohm is considered a busted 2nd round pick who cleared and made the PS with apparently only one other PS offer. Given the chance to get on an active roster, he's got to take it.

[Maxie the Taxi]

I know this isn't really related, but with the # of sacks Rodgers has taken, I'd feel a lot better if we were running with 3 QBs!

There's a lot of QBs on other people's practice squads we could sign to the roster spot vacated by Jake Allen: Brett Basanez, Richard Bartel, John David Booty, Ryan Durand, Hunter Cantwell, Rudy Carpenter, Rhett Bomar, and Andre Woodson. How many of these guys do you really feel worse about than Brohm?

What's the deal, Lurker? Where'd you get all your roster knowledge? Constant perusing of the web? Somewhere else?

[Footnote: I had Andre Woodson on my draft list. He might be an interesting replacement.]

[hoosier]

another blown high draft pick

2005: Rodgers (1), Collins (2), Murphy (2)
2006: Hawk (1), Colledge (2), Jennings (2)
2007: Harrell (1), Jackson (2)
2008: Nelson (2), Brohm (2), Lee (2)
2009: Raji (1), Matthews (1)

So far we know that Brohm was a bust. Murphy and almost certainly Harrell didn't work out because of injuries. Lee seems to be a good bet to bust or to be unable to stay healthy, or both. Rodgers and Jennings are stars and maybe even more. Matthews seems to be headed in that direction too. Collins and Hawk are at least solid starters, potentially more.

I think TT's record on high draft picks is better than Wolf's. Only two busts in five drafts (I am not including Harrell) is a pretty good average.

[KYPack]

another blown high draft pick

2005: Rodgers (1), Collins (2), Murphy (2)
2006: Hawk (1), Colledge (2), Jennings (2)
2007: Harrell (1), Jackson (2)
2008: Nelson (2), Brohm (2), Lee (2)
2009: Raji (1), Matthews (1)

So far we know that Brohm was a bust. Murphy and almost certainly Harrell didn't work out because of injuries. Lee seems to be a good bet to bust or to be unable to stay healthy, or both. Rodgers and Jennings are stars and maybe even more. Matthews seems to be headed in that direction too. Collins and Hawk are at least solid starters, potentially more.

I think TT's record on high draft picks is better than Wolf's. Only two busts in five drafts (I am not including Harrell) is a pretty good average.

BJack and Colledge would have to be listed on the "shaky" side of any evaluation. I'd say we draft about as well as most other teams, but...

We rarely sign marquee free agents. We also don't go after many street free agents. Out whole building philosophy is thru the draft. With that in mind, we need to hit on a few more players and starters from our drafting. We also cut a 3rd rounder who went from starter to the streets in one week (Rouse).

If our philosophy is build thru the draft, we need to draft better.

[KYPack]

[Footnote: I had Andre Woodson on my draft list. He might be an interesting replacement.]

Andre Woodson is the poor man's Vince Young. A big guy with a cannon arm who can run and make plays. He also knows very little of how to play QB. He needs a couple more years of education and he may well never play regularly in the NFL.

I really thought Brohm would make it big in the NFL. He is the son of a coach, his brother was an NFL QB. He lead Louisville to national prominence, with last second wins and clutch performances. If he had left as a junior, he may well have been a top ten pick.

He played in a multiple offense in college and put up big numbers. Louisville featured a passing attack with many slants and crosses, just like GB. Except it was different. Brohm made many of his passes off quick rollouts and other schemes that had him on the move. In the pro's, he went into a shell. Many of the routes Brohm was expected to hit were from the pocket. Brohm from the pocket is a shell of Brohm throwing on a roll-out. The kid lost confidence and showed that his arm is strong when moving, but average from the pocket.

I really doubt he will ever make it, but if he does, a change of scenery is almost mandatory. Brohm needed to leave the scene of the crime.

[Maxie the Taxi]

[Footnote: I had Andre Woodson on my draft list. He might be an interesting replacement.]

Andre Woodson is the poor man's Vince Young. A big guy with a cannon arm who can run and make plays. He also knows very little of how to play QB. He needs a couple more years of education and he may well never play regularly in the NFL.

I really thought Brohm would make it big in the NFL. He is the son of a coach, his brother was an NFL QB. He lead Louisville to national prominence, with last second wins and clutch performances. If he had left as a junior, he may well have been a top ten pick.

He played in a multiple offense in college and put up big numbers. Louisville featured a passing attack with many slants and crosses, just like GB. Except it was different. Brohm made many of his passes off quick rollouts and other schemes that had him on the move. In the pro's, he went into a shell. Many of the routes Brohm was expected to hit were from the pocket. Brohm from the pocket is a shell of Brohm throwing on a roll-out. The kid lost confidence and showed that his arm is strong when moving, but average from the pocket.

I really doubt he will ever make it, but if he does, a change of scenery is almost mandatory. Brohm needed to leave the scene of the crime.

I figured Woodson would be a project, that he could be kind of like Vince Young or Bobby Douglass. Our #3 QB probably isn't going to help us much with his arm or smarts anyway.

[KYPack]

Here is where I have a problem with Ted's philosphy. You build thru the draft. So you draft well and build your organization from within, right?

So the answer is always Kids, Kids, Kids, right?

Ah, no.

There are some jobs that veterans provide a much better answer than any kid.

Punters

Kickers

Back-up OL, and

Back-up QB. You do draft a kid that you teach and groom to be your starting QB. That kid is your 3d QB.

Your back-up QB? Doug Pederson, Mark Brunnell, Jon Kitna. Guys that know their stuff, can help the starter, work with the kiddie QB, and actually come into a game and lead the team.

We've been going along with our 3rd QB as the back-up for two years now. It's time to stop the madness, get a back-up QB and get real.

[Smidgeon]

We've been going along with our 3rd QB as the back-up for two years now. It's time to stop the madness, get a back-up QB and get real.

Except by now, that 3rd QB knows the system as well as anyone else out there. He is the 2nd QB now.

[sharpe1027]

BJack and Colledge would have to be listed on the "shaky" side of any evaluation. I'd say we draft about as well as most other teams, but...

We rarely sign marquee free agents. We also don't go after many street free agents. Out whole building philosophy is thru the draft. With that in mind, we need to hit on a few more players and starters from our drafting. We also cut a 3rd rounder who went from starter to the streets in one week (Rouse).

If our philosophy is build thru the draft, we need to draft better.

Honestly though, does any team but the Redskins actually sign "marquee" free agents more a couple times a decade, if that? TT dipped into FA and got the best player on the team from free agency along with a key piece (Woodson and Pickett). I think if there is a legit complaint to be had, it is the lack of signings for the mid-range guys. Chillar was one of those mid-range guys that worked out well.

[pbmax]

Here is where I have a problem with Ted's philosphy. You build thru the draft. So you draft well and build your organization from within, right?

So the answer is always Kids, Kids, Kids, right?

Ah, no.

There are some jobs that veterans provide a much better answer than any kid.

Punters

Kickers

Back-up OL, and

Back-up QB. You do draft a kid that you teach and groom to be your starting QB. That kid is your 3d QB.

Your back-up QB? Doug Pederson, Mark Brunnell, Jon Kitna. Guys that know their stuff, can help the starter, work with the kiddie QB, and actually come into a game and lead the team.

We've been going along with our 3rd QB as the back-up for two years now. It's time to stop the madness, get a back-up QB and get real.

Brunell was a kid too, at first, when he was GB's #2 under Holmgren. Number 3 was Detmer, who was barely a marginal starter.

And veteran OL backups are fine, but with the OL lucky to go 2 deep, if you have an older Vet starter and your backup is a vet (who by definition is worse and as old if not older) then you have nothing being groomed for the future on the OL.

So all the posters who can rattle off all the FAs Thompson didn't sign will cry for a UFA when that Vet starter is done. But you are now faced with needing a surefire win with a FA and no backup plan. Welcome to the Chicago Bears of 2009. How is that working for them?

Face it. For Left Tackles, you need to get lucky in the first two rounds. Or you will struggle and spend money like there is no tomorrow. And that is the only position on the line that can kill you almost single-handedly. I used to believe you could manufacture the rest out of draftees, retreads and smart signings. That doesn't seem to be working this year. Too many holes and its unclear whether talent or coaching will fix it first.

Problem is that it takes three years to know what you have sometimes with youth. Spitz was obvious early, so was Sitton. But Colledge kept making progress until this year when he has lapsed into all his old inconsistent habits. Barbre is still a cipher as is Breno. Lang looks like Sitton (everyone has him pegged as a starter) but do we really know?.

I think you need to have a stopgap or better vet at each position. Then youth, so that youth has time to show you what it will do of it isn't a surefire starter. We have no youth at LT with Clifton. Colledge is less than stopgap sometimes at LG, maybe Lang can play there eventually. Center was OK. RG has youth starter and a hodge-podge for a backup. Probably do-able. RT is old and inured vet with very uncertain youth.

I think Spitz getting hurt is keeping Colledge in the lineup. But we have two holes at tackle that Duke Preston wasn't going to help. Moll wasn't the answer. Packers need to be able to make a call on talent earlier than they are. That might be Campen and personnel's worst failure.

[KYPack]

We've been going along with our 3rd QB as the back-up for two years now. It's time to stop the madness, get a back-up QB and get real.

Except by now, that 3rd QB knows the system as well as anyone else out there. He is the 2nd QB now.

But you can't say he knows the job. Sure he's our back-up, but can he be an effective replacement for AR over a mulitple game stretch? Nobody knows, including one Ted Thompson.

I don't want to turn this into the same 'ol anti-TT-pro-TT rant thread, but in some areas, Thompson's approach has not been sound and time has proven that.

His overall philosophy is fine, but in some areas, his failure to add quality players by his rigid approach is biting us in the ass.

[get louder at lambeau]

We've been going along with our 3rd QB as the back-up for two years now. It's time to stop the madness, get a back-up QB and get real.

Except by now, that 3rd QB knows the system as well as anyone else out there. He is the 2nd QB now.

But you can't say he knows the job. Sure he's our back-up, but can he be an effective replacement for AR over a mulitple game stretch? Nobody knows, including one Ted Thompson.

You can't honestly say that any realistically available vet backup would be an effective replacement for AR over a multiple game stretch either. Everyone makes it sound so easy, like there are capable QBs out there just dying for a backup spot behind a franchise QB. There aren't. Even Brohm just took a better offer.