Saturday, May 28, 2011

Second Opinions on Ryan Mallett

I have chided Brandon a little for his Ryan Mallett...objectification. I would have called it obsession, but it isn't. And Ryan Mallett isn't even the real object. A viable long term quarterback for the Seahawks is the object, and until that is position is filled with a player that raises the level of the players who surround him, the objectification will continue.

The calls for Charlie Whitehurst had 5 percent to do with visible potential and 95% to do with fans objectifying the position of quarterback for the Seahawks. Admit it, you have done it. Have you ever said "Dude, the Hawks gotta take a quarterback in the first round one of these years!" No name, no face, just a round. You... objectifier! You don't know what you want, but you know what you don't. You have been watching what you don't want for 3 years running, as an aging system quarterback struggles to be much more than a junkballer.

The truth is, most seasons it has not been difficult to come up with a list of eight to ten quarterbacks I would rather have start than Matt Hasselbeck. And recently it has been pretty easy to come up with 20. So, seeing the front office not address the position draft after draft with somebody more than the occasional David Greene or Mike Teel is frustrating. Maybe even slowly infuriating. Aim your punches between the studs, drywall is easier to fix than bones. And nix the Sunday Ticket again this year. I'm not wasting 400 large watching this offense lurch its way to 8 punts a game, hoping Leon pulls our ass out of the fire one more time...


Brandon and I want the same thing, but not the same way. I hate saying this, but Carson Palmer is a better option than Ryan Mallett, even with the repaired wheel and a chicken wing for an arm. Does it sound like I am down on Palmer? I am. But he is an improvement over Matt, and he gives us the time to develop the next quarterback we select. If we ever do select one again. Lets see, studs are 16 inches apart, right?

Palmer might have shades of being a has-been, or a once-was, but that is a damn sight better than a never-will-be, which is exactly what I think Mallet is. I have a variety of problems with Mallett's game. Some are my own prejudices about the position, what I want and like to watch. Some are things I don't think he will overcome. His arm is impressive, but his head is not. Some of it is I think he is part on-field diva, kind of like Jimmy Clausen, if his feet were re-barred into the ground. A whining, complaining un-leader who specializes in panic.

You notice I didn't bring up drugs? Not my department. I said all along that if the rumors were true we would find out on draft day(s). It sounds harsh, doesn't it? Welcome to the NFL, idiot. Your weaknesses cost you millions. Start growing up, son.

I feel very differently about Mallett's future than Brandon. My fear of Bill's devilish ways aside, I see Mallett going the same way Greene and Teel did, out of the NFL without sniffing a regular season field. If he does see the field, Captain Panic will reinforce the notion that 6'7" is slow waiting to happen. Belicheck had picks to burn this year, and burn them he did. Pick 74 will bust as big as a mid 3rd rounder can.

This off season will be a waste with out trading for Palmer. It quite possibly will be a waste even if we do. I yelled and screamed and jumped around, giddy with the rest of you when Beastquake cost us 4 spots in the draft, but the real 2011 handicap was the 13 spots lost with Seattle's defense having an unlikely strong appearance in the season finale. If Blaine Gabbert really was first on this front office's wish list, as has been reported, it might be one of the costliest victories in league history. The selection of James Carpenter has been widely panned, but the simple fact is that there was not much left in a weak draft by the time Seattle picked. Entitled cornerback with a taste for codeine syrup or right tackle with 4 positions in his arsenal? At the 25th spot of the first round, the first round grades were GONE. Pick 57 rolls around, and guess what? All the second round grades are GONE. Hello, Detroit, we have a deal for you.

So, our front office went with plan C. Get a couple of starters who will help an offense chew clock, hope a DT falls your way. That didn't happen, so Seattle went with plan D. Throw numerous bodies at the secondary and hope one or two of them stick, take a couple fliers, and hit the phones to Cincy, Philly, and Denver to see what you have to spend from next years draft to put a body behind center, then do your best to struggle to 7 or 8 wins in a season when your fans will be pining for an unattainable bit of Luck by week 10.

10 comments:

  1. Hopefully we'll see something this year.. He's only 22 so you have to really give the kid time, plus he's a qb so it might take him longer to develope so maybe he should play the backgound for some time?

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  2. Ryan Mallett is a non-issue as far as it concerns the Seahawks. Whatever the reasons for his fall in the draft, the only thing that matters is the Seahawks didn't want him.

    I still think that Carroll and Co have have more faith in Whitehurst than most people think. Bringing in a 2nd tier free agent QB to compete with him is what the Hawks will do (I predict). If Whitehurst or Free-Agent-Veteran-To-Be-Named-Later pan out; GROOVY!

    If not, then it should be easier to get a QB next year with the high draft pick that we'll have because we didn't trade it to someone else for a non free agent QB.

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  3. Well written. I don't agree entirely. Be carefull 2x6's are on 24" centers.

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  4. Ryan Mallett would have been one of the greatest things to ever happen to this team. I wish we would have picked him up. In fact, there wasn't another QB in this draft that is better than him. Yes he does rub most people the wrong way with his accent and confidence. Yes he is cocky and somewhat arrogant. But when you can throw the ball with supreme accuracy 67mph and throw the ball 87 yards, it's alright to be a bit cocky. You wouldn't want a QB that wasn't cocky and confident anyway. I hope that he will be traded to us next year. Hopefully Brady will not go out with an injury and Mallett take his spot and never give it back. I would hate for RM to be a patriot for the rest of his career.

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  5. Anon, you are right about his tools. But you didn't mention slow feet, panicked throws like the one that cost his team the bowl game (though I admit the throws his receivers dropped early in that game were things of beauty), and the fact that he didn't drop to 74 because his accent put off a few GMs. The talent is there, the brain is the liability

    Cocky and confident only matter if others buy into it and call it leadership. Put the three together and you have Philip Rivers. Cocky and confident alone, you get Jeff George.

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  6. Nice post. I don't love Mallett, but was intrigued by him. I don't get the extreme detractors, however, and why he polarized people so much.

    Panicked throws? Under that definition in the dictionary I'd have to put Matthew Hasselbeck's picture (see Super Bowl XL after the phantom Locklear hold--pure panic--or any number of INTs the past two seasons). But in the same category I've seen Brett Favre appear a number of times, it's just that with Favre they say it's Brett being Brett. So on that charge, check. If he tosses 3 TDs to every panicked throw, you can live with that, with the right team and system.

    Slow feet, check. So did Dan Marino.

    Cocky and confident? Check. Yes, you could have Jeff George with it, but without it, you're Jason Campbell. (Philip Rivers isn't the best poster boy for a counter-example, BTW, as he has little playoff success and hardly unifies an underachieving team.) All that falls into the "intangibles," and when the tangibles work well, I can't see how you don't pull the trigger.

    As for accent, Colt McCoy's was worse. Brett Favre was a lot country with his little bit rock and roll. I don't think that put off any GM with a brain. (Of course, that may eliminate a few GMs.)

    The Seahawks believe in system guys, and Mallett wasn't a part of their system. But he will not be, never be, David Greene or Mike Teel. Bank that.

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  7. Kyle, I agree that Matt and Mallett share a panic tendency. Favre was a gambler, he lost more than he won. Simple as that. Dan Marino had a quick dropback from center, and moved laterally in the pocket as quickly as anyone, he just had a slow run ability. Mallett looks slow going back from center.

    The only reason that Teel and Greene make such good analogies is that after the Hawks let them go, Belichick gave them a go. And then let them go. If Mallett actually has a drug problem, he will last as long as they did.

    As for pulling the trigger, 32 teams passed on the guy twice, and a few three times. So either his tangibles are less many have speculated or his intangibles are nonexistent. I think his extra special arm has made quite a few overvalue the rest of his tangibles.

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  8. *Favre won more than he lost. Duh.

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  9. The Patriots are a team with proven veterans, great leaders, and a track record of success. Some punk-ass quarterback with an attitude won't amount to any more than a tempest in a teapot in that locker room.

    The same cannot be said about the Seahawks. This is a roster that had 250 plus transactions last year, that has few veterans to provide leadership, and is trying to build into something that resembles the Patriot's winning ways.

    That same punk-ass quarterback might cause more turmoil in the locker room than he's worth.

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  10. We will probably find out sooner rather than later. If there's nothing to Mallett, Belichick will drop him like a hot potato. I suspect, however, that Mallett will be more of a Matt Cassell. Maybe not a great player, but enough for Belichick to turn that third-round pick into a future second or first.

    I still find it interesting that individuals' language and judgment run to the extreme when evaluating Mallett--it's not as if he is UDFA material, but the panning is off the charts: in this telling he is slower than Joe Namath after knee surgery, nastier than Ryan Leaf, and panics worse than, well, Matt Hasselbeck on a bad day in the twilight of his career. I suppose a comparable situation is if I didn't like Cam Newton's slow reads in a simple offense and announced he was going to flame out like Ryan Leaf. I could be right, but it's more crazy than not.

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