Events Calendar
In This Section
Most Read Stories
Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Victim of beating in Kent last week is declared dead at Akron hospital
Can DNA tests free ex-Akron captain?
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Does it work? Test team returns to try out new products advertised on television
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Sunday Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
Browns sick after sick loss in Detroit
Akron Zips:
Zips advance to Sweet Sixteen
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Post-game defensive quotes
Kent State Sports:
Kent State defeats Rochester College, 63-44
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
The Sunday Sanity Challenge
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (69) The Brookings Institute Study on "Bending the Curve" – Four General Strategies
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
A Random Rant on Testing
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
He needs to play against first-team defense in preseason as audition for regular season
By Patrick McManamon
Published on Tuesday, Aug 21, 2007
BEREA: The Browns have two options with Brady Quinn.
They've chosen the slow road, the road that allows Quinn to observe and to learn while other players (try to) quarterback the team.
There is a great difference, after all, between the fourth quarter of a preseason game against the Detroit Lions and the first quarter of the season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
So Charlie Frye will start Saturday night against the Denver Broncos, and Quinn will play at some point.
There's another option.
Start Quinn.
Play him a half. At least.
If he doesn't start, play him in the first half. See what he can do against a first-team defense. It's a preseason game, but it's time to give Quinn an audition to start the regular season, and the best way is to start.
It's not time because Quinn has proven with absolute certainty that he's ''the guy.'' It's time because the other two guys have proved they are not.
It'd be great to give Quinn time to learn. Usually when a rookie has a year to watch and to learn, there is an alternative.
The Browns have no alternative.
Not one they can feel confident about winning with, at least.
Really now, why are we still watching Derek Anderson? He seems to have regressed.
Frye might develop into a starting quarterback, but he just has not looked the same since Quinn was drafted. He carries himself as he always has, but when he plays, he looks rattled.
The NFL turns on you in a heartbeat. Two years ago, Frye was hearing the chants calling for him to play. Now he's hearing the same chants for Quinn. Bottom line: He has had his chance this camp, and he has not exactly grabbed the brass ring.
The Browns know what they have in Frye and Anderson.
They don't know everything they need to know about Quinn.
So start him in Denver and find out. If it works, the Browns are ahead, and if it doesn't . . . well, they always can go back to the other guys.
The Browns have been a losing team for years. Planning for the future is older than old. The fans deserve hope, and if the status quo is maintained, there is no hope not based on the way things have gone with Anderson and Frye this preseason.
Saturday there were interceptions, penalties, timeouts wasted and downright maddening play. It smelled worse than the concourses during the Kenny Chesney concert.
This came after the team spent the week getting those guys ready to play. The effort and attention was on them. They dropped the ball, literally and figuratively.
The Browns have added talent. It's not the same group that was thrown together in 1999. But if the quarterback holds the team back, it won't matter. And that's what happened in the first half.
Maybe a quarterback can't win a game by himself, but he sure can lose it.
Yes, there is a danger in rushing a rookie.
But all we've been told for months is that Quinn is the most NFL-ready rookie quarterback since Henry VIII brought the Renaissance to England. The guy started 46 games at Notre Dame and ran a pro offense under Charlie Weis, for crying out loud.
He was calm and composed and confident against the Lions, and the Browns responded. Let's see what he can do with the starters in a stinking exhibition game in Denver. If Quinn's gonna start by Week 6 anyway, does it matter that much if he starts sooner?
Frye seems to have ''won'' this starting nod by default. That's not exactly going to have fans charging through the gates now, is it?
The Browns' quarterback spot has been a pool of struggles and ''learning'' since 1999, and Quinn did a lot right in his time Saturday. He was calm, he got plays off before the time clock was about to expire, he took what was there, and he stood in the pocket and threw downfield.
The fact that it was against backups is all the more reason to start him.
See what he can do against the first team. Give him a package of plays he likes and can run.
Get him ready.
Coach him up.
Start him and see what happens.
Heed the advice of Nike.
Just do it. noweb
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
