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.