NFL.com "AJ McCarron a better trade target than Garoppolo?"

[wolfkaosaun]

(02-20-2017, 04:41 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: If the Bengals trade AJ McCarron, you know he'll become very good when he has a chance to start for an entire season no matter where he ends up playing.  AJ has the elusive trait of of being able to play without fear which can't be taught; you either have it or you don't.  Even prime time games weren't too big for AJ because he's been in the spotlight since he was at Alabama.  

Four quarterbacks have played for the Bengals in the postseason since 2003 but only one quarterback in the Marvin Lewis had the lead in the fourth quarter of a playoff game. It wasn't Jon Kitna, Carson Palmer, or Andy Dalton.

Be careful what you're giving up.

No, you don't know that. There's a reason he lasted until the 5th round.

Don't care about Alabama. McCarron is 0-2 in primetime games in the NFL. That's what matters, not college. That was in 2013. It's 2017.

In those primetime games, he has thrown 2 TDs. Just 2. With a healthy AJ Green, Marvin Jones, Tyler Eifert, Mohamed Sanu, Jeremy Hill, and Gio Bernard. Also with a healthy offensive line.
But, in those two primetime games he had 1 INT and fumbled 4 times. He also passed for a total of 412 yards. 374 yards if you include the 5 sacks he took.

No Bengals QB under Marvin Lewis has had above a QB rating of 70. None.

Also, don't care about having the lead in the 4th quarter. He wasn't good the entire game. The defense deserves ALL the praise for that wildcard game. They held the Steelers to 15 points in the first 3 quarters. 15.
The 2015 Steelers had under 15 points only ONE other time under Big Ben. And that was against the Bengals. 8 games last season with Ben under center they scored 28+ points. 30+points 6 times.

Also, back to the playoff game since you would like to talk about that.

McCarron had 111 passing yards in the first 3 quarters. Along with an INT and 3 fumbles. During that, he averaged 4.1 yards per attempt. After the 4th? 5.17. Which, if he qualified for this year, would still be lower than Brock Osweiler, who ranked 30th.

"Oh but he's only a rookie technically that year!"
That's fair. So let's take a look at it then.

Cody Kessler last year playing in 9 total games had went 128 of 195. Completion percentage of 65.6%. Threw for 1380 yards. Had a YPA of 7.08. Threw for 6 TDs and 2 INTs. Had 4 fumbles. QB rating of 92.3.
AJ McCarron in 2015 playing in 7 total games had went 102 of 160.Completion percentage of 63.8%. Threw for 1,066 yards. Had a YPA of 6.7. Threw for 7 TDs and 3 INTs. Had 4 fumbles. QB rating of 89.7.

"Oh you can't possibly compare the two, it's not fair".

Of course it's not. McCarron had arguably the greatest Bengals team in the past 24 years. He had a healthy Green, Eifert, Marvin Jones, Sanu, Hill, and Gio. And offensive line that had given up a mere 20 sacks that entire year (12 games). McCarron was sacked 15 times in 5 games. Oh, and in 2014 the offensive line gave up only 21 sacks that entire year as well.
Kessler, on the other hand, was on the Browns. A team that had very little around him. He was throwing to a former QB. That was his #1 target. A guy who caught 2 passes his entire NFL career. Corey Coleman dealt with injuries all year. He had a below average offensive line, but still took only 21 sacks. 6 more than McCarron in less games.

McCarron isn't as good as some people make him out to be. Don't show a little part of the picture when you can zoom out and see so much more.