05-28-2021, 01:11 PM
(05-27-2021, 10:08 PM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: Sigh...
I said he would be the perfect back up QB because that would be his ideal role. He was a starter for a decade, but he should not have been. Especially not an unopposed starter. If they drafted players or signed players to compete with him and he beat them out, fair enough but we never even tried.
The Dalton Line is basically exactly how I felt about him. He was the defining mark. If you're better than Dalton, you deserve to be a starting QB. If you're worse, you need to be replaced. He sat in that limbo for his entire career, except for 2016 when people thought he finally "turned the corner," despite all evidence that players don't magically change from an average starter to an elite starter after 6 years in the NFL. Obviously, we were all promptly shown that was not the case in 2016 and beyond.
I see Dalton the same way I see Ryan Fitzpatrick. He'd be an asset to just about any team in the NFL, but you should have a plan other than starting him with no competition for the role.
As for 2015's talent, Eifert, Green, Jones and Sanu was one of the most potent receiving corps in the NFL that year, regardless of what Sanu or Eifert did the following years and their offensive line had Whitworth, Zeitler, Boling and Smith, all of whom were above average or better (with Whitworth being elite) at their position. The offense was absolutely stacked in 2015.
Not to mention the defense that was 2nd in the NFL in points allowed per game.
1. The Dalton line was garbage logic. How many years did a QB need to be "worse than Dalton" in order to be replaced? Many QBs that were considered better than Dalton finished beneath him (using passer rating) in various years.
Brady was underneath Dalton at least twice. Stafford. Cam Newton. Andrew Luck for most of his career. Should they have been replaced? Or can we assume that Dalton also finished behind some QBs that he was better than?
2. You didn't address 90% of my points. If Burrow has a strong year, are you going to assign all the credit to his weapons, which are clearly better than any year with Dalton? How was Dalton able to produce 3 other top 15 seasons with an overall poor supporting cast?
3. Dalton is not Ryan Fitzpatrick. His career rating is almost 6 points higher than Fitzpatrick's. Not to mention Ryan has never made the playoffs. The fact that you equate the two is telling.
4. The offense was not "absolutely stacked" in 2015, as I've already shown. Anyways, Dalton produced at an MVP level that year, so I don't see how that can be used against him regardless. Again, if Burrow produces this year, should we give him no credit?
The training, nutrition, medicine, fitness, playbooks and rules evolve. The athlete does not.
