10-21-2015, 01:45 PM
Gotta say, I see a lot of silliness in this thread. No one could of known that Andy would be playing at such an incredible level right now. You can say you thought he had the potential, or hoped that he would...but to imply that you always knew this would happen seems disingenuous at best, at least IMO.
Coming into this season, Andy had only achieved a passer rating of 70+ in only 58% of his games. That put him in the middle of the pack, just with those QB's drafted in 2010 or later, with a minimum of 25 starts. If you applied it against all QB's, it got much worse.
Andy's inconsistent stretches were a very real thing, and his 'bad' games tended to be pretty ugly. With that said, yes, there were also games and stretches that gave you hope, and made you think he was capable of being a very good NFL QB. On the whole, there was obvious talent, work ethic, and desire to improve on Andy's part. However, until now, it had always been tempered by inconsistency and what seemed to be easily shaken confidence.
And the word 'elite' is being thrown around a lot right now. Is Andy playing at a very high level through 6 games? Hell yes! Is Andy now an elite QB? Not yet. 6 games does not make a QB elite. Neither does one season. If it did, Don Majkowski would be considered one of the all-time greats.
But, from what I've seen of Andy this year, with the growth, the new level of confidence, and a swagger that I've haven't seen before...he certainly has the ingredients to now to put himself in the elite conversation if he can maintain a similar level of play for the next couple of seasons. "Elite' is a status that has to be earned over a period of time.
Also, for those that are dogging people who were critical of Andy in the past, the 'wide brush strokes' aren't applicable. I know there were a few that simply slammed Andy for anything and everything, but they aren't really taken seriously. But, for those that were fairly critical of Andy when he wasn't playing well, the criticism was justified. If you are unable to point out flawed play, or to honestly critique a player...then I can't take you any more seriously than those who never see any positives or reasons for hope.
Coming into this season, Andy had only achieved a passer rating of 70+ in only 58% of his games. That put him in the middle of the pack, just with those QB's drafted in 2010 or later, with a minimum of 25 starts. If you applied it against all QB's, it got much worse.
Andy's inconsistent stretches were a very real thing, and his 'bad' games tended to be pretty ugly. With that said, yes, there were also games and stretches that gave you hope, and made you think he was capable of being a very good NFL QB. On the whole, there was obvious talent, work ethic, and desire to improve on Andy's part. However, until now, it had always been tempered by inconsistency and what seemed to be easily shaken confidence.
And the word 'elite' is being thrown around a lot right now. Is Andy playing at a very high level through 6 games? Hell yes! Is Andy now an elite QB? Not yet. 6 games does not make a QB elite. Neither does one season. If it did, Don Majkowski would be considered one of the all-time greats.
But, from what I've seen of Andy this year, with the growth, the new level of confidence, and a swagger that I've haven't seen before...he certainly has the ingredients to now to put himself in the elite conversation if he can maintain a similar level of play for the next couple of seasons. "Elite' is a status that has to be earned over a period of time.
Also, for those that are dogging people who were critical of Andy in the past, the 'wide brush strokes' aren't applicable. I know there were a few that simply slammed Andy for anything and everything, but they aren't really taken seriously. But, for those that were fairly critical of Andy when he wasn't playing well, the criticism was justified. If you are unable to point out flawed play, or to honestly critique a player...then I can't take you any more seriously than those who never see any positives or reasons for hope.
