How unfair is the NFL Draft? The winningest QB in college history went unselected. Unselected in a Draft that had previously seen Jamarcus Russell, David Carr and Tim Couch go number one overall. All three bombed worse than a Nick Cage movie and none of them could have held Kellen Moore’s jock in college–who was 50-3 as starter at Boise State. Granted it was for a team whose field looked like a smurf threw up all over it, but bad taste doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
This year, the Cleveland Browns took a QB in the first round who is already a member of AARP, 54 year old Brandon Wheedon. OK, he’s actually 28 but that’s 54 years old in NFL years. In a stroke of genius with ’Dan Snyder’ written all over it, the Redskins took Robert Griffin III #2 overall and followed him up with MSU’s own Kirk Cousins in the 4th round, perhaps trying to discover the mythical 2-QB formation.
All-in-all, 11 QB’s were selected before Kellen Moore. The names are about as exciting as a trip to the DMV. Ryan Lindley…B.J. Coleman…Chandler Harnish. Guys you never heard of and I’m willing to bet guys you’ll never hear from again unless it’s 0n TMZ for doing something stupid or as a MAC color guy on an ESPN360 web only broadcast in a couple years.
Moore was passed over by every NFL team because of intangibles, as if 50 wins isn’t tangible enough to outweigh intangibles. Sensing an opening in the roster after Drew Stanton got Tebow’d, he signed with the Lions. He’s all but guaranteed a spot on the Lions roster and will be given a chance to develop into an NFL QB behind Matt Stafford and Shaun Hill. Moore brings leadership, accomplishments and about 1,584,985 fans–the population of Idaho.
Moore isn’t just a typical FA signing. He’s extremely popular. If you look at the search trends on Google, Moore is sandwiched somewhere between Kate Upton and Kim Kardashian–actually, not a bad place to be I guess.
No doubt, Matthew Stafford is the QB in Detroit. He had a record setting season and basically picked the Lions up and carried them to the postseason. He was the Lions’ Brandon Inge if you will–I kid, I kid! However, Lions fans are a fickle breed. They won’t be happy with simple playoff appearances for too long and will be screaming for change if the Lions don’t show improvements. We’ve all seen it–or been a part of it–and let’s not forget that’s how Matt Millen got here? Remember the highly disappointing–but playoff filled 1990s–that wasn’t quite good enough for us?
At the first sign of a struggle, Lions fans–most of them drunk–will be calling for the third string QB in Detroit and Moore will join the likes of Stoney Case, Mike McMahon, Dan Orlovsky and Stanton as the most popular athlete in Detroit. Add a million and half freshly silver and blue Idahoans to those fans and you got the makings for a full blow QB controversy down the road.
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Are you brain dead? Kellen Moore has no hope of ever supplanting Stafford as the Detroit QB. Moore wasn’t drafted because of intangibles. He was drafted because he’s small, barely tipping 6 feet and not even hitting 200 pound. He also wasn’t drafted because he has a weak arm and can’t make most of the throws he needs. He also wasn’t drafted because he lacks mobility in the pocket.
Stafford has none of these problems. He is 6’3″ tall, and weighs between 235 pounds. He has very good mobility in the pocket. He has a laser strapped to his shoulder, arguably the strongest arm in the NFL. He can make every throw with ease. Moore can’t even get the ball deep to Johnson.
Stafford will likely top 5000 yards and 40 TDs again. Moore is lucky to even be on a team. College production has no bearing on the NFL. Some of the most productive college players ever have been huge busts in the NFL.
While on certain occassions my wife would agree with your brain dead claims, I’m not quite certain you got my point–or perhaps I simply didn’t get it out there clearly enough. When you describe Moore, you sound like you could be describing 100 guys that did get drafted with those characteristics–Colt McCoy in the 3rd round a couple years ago immediately comes to mind–but lacked any of the accomplishments Moore had. It’s a amazing that teams like the Browns, Vikings, Raiders, etc. wouldn’t take a 7th round flyer on Moore. For him, it worked out because he landed in the perfect spot for him. He’s all but gauranteed a roster spot, the backup spot is his to lose in a couple years and he’ll be playing behinds an incredibly talented QB who he can learn from.
I’m definitely not implying (or meaning to) that Moore should–or will–supplant Stafford, simply that I know Lions fans. A larger than you think portion of them will be screaming for Moore after Stafford’s first interception. I can’t tell you how many times Joe Downriver in front of me complained about Stafford’s “dead arm”, despite the fact that Stafford was destroying Lions QB records last season. There is nothing that Stafford could do to win over every fan.
Thanks for finding my site Joe.