4/9/09
2009 NFL Draft E-mails – Jake Plummer, Al Davis and Eric Mangini
“The Bears just acquired one of the top three young quarterbacks in the NFL.” I would love to know who you think the other two are.
The Broncos were better with Jake Plummer. Cutler is good, but not great. Obviously he is very sensitive. Another Brett Favre – a guy with good individual talent, who wins little or nothing, and is constantly complaining/making excuses. There are many QBs I’d rather have on my team.
My Response:
Seriously, you’d rather have Jake Plummer over Brett Favre and Jay Cutler?
The Broncos were better with Plummer because they had a better defense back then. Plummer predictably collapsed in the playoffs each year because he was too erratic. The other two quarterbacks are Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger.
When using the word “lock” its best to make sure no other giant needs are there especially at the top. No. 3-Aaron Curry, I’m not so sure it couldn’t be Monroe there, Brandon Albert is solid, but they do need to do a better job protecting Cassel if they want it to work out. And they did get a temporary fill-in with Vrabel. There are some solid OLB’s all through the draft, but this is not the case with franchise left tackles.
I also have a problem with your No. 7 pick, Oakland has a tendency to draft athletes over football players i agree, but the last two athletes had very productive college careers. Don’t rule out Maclin, Brown, or Orakpo (he could fall to them if the Chiefs take Monroe instead of Curry).
I also see the Broncos going with their front 7 instead of the back 4 on their first pick, if they keep 2 picks. Defensive linemen, offensive linemen, linebackers, quarterbacks, running backs, defensive backs, wide receivers: with that kind of priority list teams win. The Giants did it when they won the big one, the Patriots did it when they almost won. Games are won and lost up front.
My Response:
Aaron Curry is as close to a lock as you can get. The Chiefs are not going to take Eugene Monroe one year after taking Branden Albert. Doing so – meaning Albert would be moving around – would be like taking a guard or a right tackle at No. 3, which is something no NFL team will ever do.
The Raiders will take Brian Orakpo if he makes it to them. Jeremy Maclin did not run a fast enough 40, and Undead Al does not draft wide receivers in the first round: Al Davis NFL Draft History. Quarterback will always be No. 1 on teams’ priority lists; not defensive linemen. For proof, check out the top three picks in the NFL Draft since 1998: Top Three NFL Picks.
14 QBs, 6 DLs… the proof is in the pudding. And one of the quarterbacks was Eli Manning, who had something to do with New York’s Super Bowl victory.
I know that new regimes normally mean new quaterbacks. I can’t help but think that Tampa would be better served to draft Jerry Peria and forgo drafting a QB this year. I think they are better with Peria and McCown then they would be with Ryan Simms and Josh Freeman. If we can get Mark Sanchez or somehow trade for Cutler (although very unlikely at this point)great but if we can’t why not fix the biggest weakness and draft a QB next year. We are probably not going to be that good so why not wait a year and have a chance at Bradford, McCoy, or Tebow?
My Response:
I’m not a huge fan of Josh Freeman, so I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you. But waiting a year for a quarterback is something franchises, especially in new regimes, don’t do. If the Buccaneers want Sam Bradford, they’d have to get the No. 1 pick, which could be difficult (Rams may go 1-15). Besides, there’s no guarantee that Bradford makes it through the season healthy.
Tim Tebow may be an option later on in Round 1, but Colt McCoy is not a first-round prospect because he’s a system quarterback.
Either way, my mock projects what each team will do; not what they should do. As you wrote, new regimes mean new quarterbacks, and Freeman’s arm strength could be too good to pass up.
I am not sure where you are getting your information but the Browns are not trying to trade Brady Quinn. They are trying to up Derek Anderson�s trade value. It is so transparent that it isn�t funny.
You usually have pretty decent speculation but in this case you are so far off that I just had to send an email.
I also love how you say Mangini makes mistakes. Name me one player he drafted for the Jets? You can�t because he didn�t draft, their idiot GM did.
My Response:
Eric Mangini made a huge mistake when he came to the Jets. He took their effective 4-3 defense and turned it into a 3-4, making at least four players pretty ineffective in his scheme. Consequently, the defense suffered. This is the complete opposite of what Mike Tomlin did in Pittsburgh. Tomlin always coached the 4-3, but he didn’t change Pittsburgh’s scheme. It’s no surprise Tomlin won a Super Bowl. Unlike Mangini, he actually has a clue.
ESPN, Mike Lombardi and the Cleveland Plain-Dealer all reported that the Browns nearly traded Quinn. In fact, the only thing that stood in the way of a Denver-Cleveland deal is that Jay Cutler said that he didn’t want to have Mangini as his head coach. The Browns consequently were worried about a possible holdout.
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2011 NFL Draft Mailbag Archive:
2011 NFL Draft Mailbag Home
Post-Round 1 E-mail - April 29
Hate Mail Volume 7 - April 10
Crackhead Mail Volume 2 - April 10
Random AFC Questions and Comments Volume 5 - April 10
Random NFC Questions and Comments Volume 5 - April 10
Hate Mail Volume 6 - April 3
Crackhead Mail - April 3
Trade and Prospect Speculation - April 3
Hate Mail Volume 5 - March 28
Cam Newton Mailbag - March 28
Random AFC Questions and Comments Volume 4 - March 28
Random NFC Questions and Comments Volume 4 - March 28
Hate Mail Volume 4 - March 13
Random AFC Questions and Comments Volume 3 - March 13
Random NFC Questions and Comments Volume 3 - March 13
Random Questions and Comments - March 7
Hate Mail Volume 3 - March 7
Combine Questions and Comments - March 7
Combine Hate Mail - March 7
Hate Mail Volume 2 - Feb. 22
Random AFC Questions and Comments Volume 2 - Feb. 22
Random NFC Questions and Comments Volume 2 - Feb. 22
Quarterbacks - Feb. 15
Hate Mail - Feb. 15
Random AFC Questions and Comments - Feb. 15
Random NFC Questions and Comments - Feb. 15
NFL Picks - Dec. 11
2025 NFL Mock Draft - Dec. 11
NFL Power Rankings - Dec. 9
2026 NFL Mock Draft - Nov. 29
Fantasy Football Rankings - Sept. 4
