My Own QB & A Session

Football players read and react all the time, so now I'm giving my own shot in reply to the news about Cleveland Browns quarterbacks, current and former. Get ready for a "ruthless" review.

Let's start with rumors -- it was David Carr to Cleveland if San Francisco didn't sign him. I hoped this wasn't a starting quarterback move, but actually wasn't too terribly unhappy about it simply for the comedy factor. In their heydays of starting, the Tim Couch - David Carr tandem took 425 sacks, which filters down to 3.17 sacks per start between them. To put that in perspective with one of the best, Peyton Manning's career goes two years longer than Couch-Carr combined and he has averaged 1.12 sacks per start (not that the Browns had any chance to draft him anyway).

Once Carr was off the table, the focus shifted to Seattle backup quarterback Seneca Wallace. The Browns landed him in a trade on Thursday, sending a late-round pick in the 2011 draft to the Seahawks (assuming Wallace passes a physical Wednesday). I was very unsure about the trade at first, mainly because I didn't want Seneca Freaking Wallace starting over my Notre Dame boy Brady Quinn. So I talked myself into it by theorizing the following:

...In theory, Mike Holmgren could have cut ties with Eric Mangini after last season and become the coach. Instead, he kept Mangini to run the team while Holmgren gave him the pieces. And while it's pretty certain Holmgren will have quite a bit of say in what goes on, I doubt he's on the field pointing fingers and directing traffic. (If he does, then I'm confused about the decision to keep Mangini.)

...In theory, Holmgren taught a lot of what he knows to Seneca Wallace. Holmgren coached Steve Young at BYU and San Francisco, along with Joe Montana. When Holmgren got to Green Bay, he had Brett Favre. He mentored Matt Hasselbeck in Seattle along with Wallace. Not that he taught these guys everything they know, but there's something to his quarterback teaching methods.

...In theory, Seneca Wallace can be a sort of player-coach with the Browns. Who did Brady Quinn talk with on the sidelines after he won the starting job in Cleveland?? Derek Anderson. He beat Anderson out for the position, but still looked to him for advice and another set of eyes. It goes back to the old adage that many times your starters are only as good as their scout team creates them to be.

Seneca Wallace's addition all but ended Derek Anderson's tenure in Cleveland, as he was cut the day after the Wallace trade was announced. I've been a huge critic of Anderson in his time with the Browns, making me one of the ruthless fans who doesn't deserve a winner (oh wait, maybe I regret saying that). D.A. critics and lovers alike often say that he needed more weapons to have more success, which could be true. But there's one few thing I'd like to make clear.

Stop calling him a Pro Bowl quarterback -- set the bar with the All-Pro list. Anderson was added to the Pro Bowl roster in 2007 because Tom Brady was put on the injured list. In other words, if a plane carrying 2011 Pro Bowl players out to Hawaii takes a nose dive and lands on a remote island where no one can make contact, JaMarcus Russell could be on the Pro Bowl roster for the AFC. And I said, "could." Just making the Pro Bowl these days is a watered-down achievement.

For all I know, Brady Quinn could be gone by the end of the week, by the draft or he could start the season and be out of the top spot on the depth chart by the third game. But I like what I've seen so far, especially if Seneca Wallace can be the player version of Mike Holmgren. The next few months should be very interesting for the Browns.

By the way, Derek Anderson, I know you apologized for your post-release comments, but I think you had it right when you wished for your future team, not necessarily you individually, to roll the Browns when you meet again. Just remember, the chances of you completing two passes and winning again aren't very high.

NFL Combine Needs to Take a Deep Breath

"It's a much longer season."
"Playing at least four more games is really tough."
"My old team could have beaten the Rams."

They're all noted as being the differences between college football and the NFL (OK, I may have made the last one up). And almost every week early in the season, at both the college and professional levels, we hear about the necessity to remember one thing: it's a marathon, not a sprint.

For such a long season, the NFL sure likes to put the emphasis on anything that's quick. How quickly can you run for a short distance?? How quickly can you reach the lineman across from you on the snap of the ball?? How quickly can you run side-to-side, backwards and every other which way??

What I'd like to know is not only how fast, but for how long.

I think the NFL Combine for college players is great, but I'd really like to see two things added to the list, both involving the long run.

First of all, along with measuring wingspan, measure lung capacity. For one thing, it would cut down on any off-season (or in-season for that matter) cigarette breaks, but it's also one of those physical characteristics that can be overlooked. How do you work on running for longer?? Often you start by increasing lung capacity.

Another addition: instead of setting the distance, set the time -- run as many yards as you can for 30 minutes. These soon-to-be NFL players can run a 40-yard dash before ESPN reporter Rachel Nichols would even consider blinking twice. But the mental strain comes in running down and back, down and back, down and back... but doing it faster than anyone else can do it.

I've often considered this as an Olympic event as well because the finish line is in your own mind. Plus, think of the television opportunities -- it'd be very similar to Olympic cross-country skiing. Watch for a few minutes from the start, take a commercial break, go to another part of the combine for a bit, check out the 15-17 minute time period, go back to the desk with Rich Eisen and company, then see the end. And who wouldn't want to watch a defensive tackle lumber for a half hour?? (OK, first revision: times would have to fit the positions)

Imagine a world in which coaches actually had a better idea as to how long a player could go before needing a breather. I mean, these ideas are better than adding questions to the Wonderlic, right??