WFNY 2013 Tribe Predictions
April 2, 2013MLB News: OF Ezequiel Carrera claimed off waivers; David Huff clears
April 2, 2013The fact that I’m writing this at all is probably too much. Such is life in Cleveland where the quarterback controversies aren’t too high and mighty for Charlie Frye. That was less than a decade ago, by the way. But now that former Cleveland Browns starting quarterback Colt McCoy has been traded away for a late-round draft pick upgrade,1 it’s time to end another era.
Like that of Brady Quinn, this one couldn’t even live up to the Derek Anderson era, though I would put the Colt McCoy stint higher than the Charlie Frye version and somewhere lower than those of Tim Couch/Kelly Holcomb. Splitting miserable, disgusting hairs is no way to go through life, but we do it out of pure obligation.
So now what? The future isn’t any clearer. As Colt McCoy has his future clearly defined as the backup for Colin Kaepernick in San Francisco, Browns fans shudder to think what the world will look like if Brandon Weeden is ushered out in similar fashion this time next year. Strangely though, if that did happen, I don’t think anyone would be asking if the world had been fair to Weeden.
This concept of fairness with Colt McCoy is weird. I catch myself at times wondering if McCoy had a fair shot. I spent time on this site saying that McCoy was probably best suited to start the first quarter of games a year ago. I said that if Pat Shurmur and company were truly the ballsy, forward-thinking kinds of guys who would eventually have the rest of the league chasing them, they might have attempted to make that plan a reality. Of course when it comes to Pat Shurmur, if my aunt used the men’s room… she’d fit right in with the miserable Browns fans left trying to get to the rest room and back to their seats during a typical overcrowded halftime in the bowels of FirstEnergy stadium. Colt McCoy was never given an honest shot at competing for the job and Browns fans were treated to a historically poor quarterbacking performance in the season-opener against the Philadelphia Eagles.
It’s ironic that the guy who did have that plan – and pulled it off to the tune of a Super Bowl appearance – will now have Colt McCoy as his backup this season. The 49ers benched Alex Smith for Colin Kaepernick defying conventional wisdom and doing what they thought was best to help their team achieve. It’s really hard to argue with the results.
Results were apparently never really enough of a priority for Pat Shurmur, Mike Holmgren and the rest of the Cleveland Browns over the past few years. Yes, I know it’s hard to talk about results like winning and also saying that Colt McCoy is somehow a necessary part of the equation and lob criticism at Pat Shurmur over it, but I maintain it’s a relevant point. Even aside from Colt McCoy and whether or not he’s a good quarterback now and going forward, his leaving is an important moment to reflect on how much time has been wasted at Browns fan expense.
The bottom line is that he now goes down in the history of the line of guys that the Cleveland Browns have had that were lost in some sort of plan or process that spat them out worse than when they arrived. Judged, propped up and ultimately dumped by an organization that has been notorious for losing. It’s one thing to try and fail. It’s another to not try that hard, fail and then act conceited with lines to the fans about “competition” and “winning.”
Those were the old guys though. These new guys also deemed Colt McCoy inadequate and shipped him out as such. With the off-season they’ve had, they’ve earned the right to make that judgment as they start a new process. Let’s just hope theirs moves more quickly and doesn’t have quite the same penchant for chewing up and spitting out young guys that we’re supposed to be able to believe in.
Colt McCoy didn’t have a fair shot, but more importantly neither have Browns fans. Rather than worrying about players and coaches and general managers, it’s time to start being selfish and demand a fair shot for the fans.
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Image: Scott Sargent/WFNY
- Basically the Browns upgraded from a 6th to a 5th in my point of view [↩]
25 Comments
!beisbol!
unreal that this is that big of a deal.. of course this is the same place that is up in arms about a 38 year old kicker leaving and begging/hoping that a basketball superstar comes back to town after embarrassing the team, city and fans on national tv.
So much for onward and upward!…
I can’t wait till we finally get a QB good enough that those Couch jerseys start collecting dust. Some day.
Frye and McCoy statlines are very similar. I’d say they were a wash, I wouldn’t necessarily put McCoy ahead.
Man this is depressing.
Lost in all the rancor about the chance Colt supposedly never got was what frauds of human beings he and his father represent, especially with respect to non-transdermal holographic chips, and their authorship of the “Growing Up Colt” book. Which is to say, good riddance.
even Harbaugh didn’t bench Alex Smith for Kaepernick until Smith had to miss a game for a concussion. still a gusty call, but one done after seeing Kaep on the field in forced duty.
out of every single QB to start for the Browns since 1999, how many have had winning records? yes, you can include 1 game spot starters.
The “fair chance” rhetoric concerning Colt still baffles me. He had an opportunity to start 21 games, not 2. Plenty about Colt was learned in that span of time.
Yes, during that period, the rest of the offense was putrid. However, the rest of the offense wasn’t fluttering passes on simple 7 yard outs. The rest of the offense wasn’t throwing balls behind (rarely open) wide receivers. The rest of the offense wasn’t largely incapable of throwing a deep ball. And the rest of the offense didn’t have a father and brother who didn’t know when to STFU.
Yes, the “competition” with Weeden was not “honest.” But did anyone in their right mind think that it would be? Long gone are the days you draft a first round quarterback and have him sit the bench and learn. Longer and goner are the days when that quarterback is already 30 and is going to sit the bench. Wisdom of drafting Weeden aside, if you thought there was going to or should be a “competition” you’re probably a resident of a reality with which I am wholly unfamiliar.
People cite Weeden and McCoy’s numbers as some sort of evidence Colt deserved “a shot.” In reality, it’s probably just evidence that both guys are not very good quarterbacks.
I’ll never understand the love affair with Colt. Brady Quinn, at least, had dreamy hair.
LARRY VICKERS! RAAAAGHHHH
I have never understood the “McCoy was treated unfairly” narrative. It is 100% clear Shurmur liked Weeden a lot better than McCoy. No dispute there. But what evidence is there that Shurmur’s preference for Weeden was baised or unfair to McCoy?
Colt McCoy played A LOT of football in his first two years with the Browns, and the results were mediocre without much upside. As such, going into last season, it was not unreasonable to think that Weeden had more upside than Colt. That is what Shurmur concluded. If McCoy was never given a chance, and when he did have a chance he was very good, I could see having a beef with Shurmur’s decision. But McCoy played 21 games in his first two years! Given how much footage they had on him, and given how mediocre he was, and given that Shurmur knew his job was on the line, doesn’t it make sense to invest in the guy who has more natural ability to see if he can help the team?
As it turned out, of course, Weeden (while having different skills than McCoy) performed at about the same level Colt did the previous two years. That was certainly disappointing, but it doesn’t imply Colt was treated unfair. It implies Weeden was disappointing.
Bottom line: Colt got more opportunities here than he will likely ever get anywhere else. The results speak for themselves.
I just wrote the same comment…. Should have read yours first. Needless to say, great post 🙂
Great minds!!!
I can’t wait until the browns get a player whose jersey we can buy and have it still be relevant after 2 years.
No such “era” existed. Derek Anderson went to a freakin’ pro bowl and nobody refers to his days in Cleveland as an era.
You get an era when you win something of significance. Mike Hargrove gets an era. LeBron gets an era (Finals appearances count in Cleveland). It’s debatable whether or not Bernie had an era considering the fact that the team never made a Super Bowl.
A Colt era? Nope.
I honestly don’t understand how Colt McCoy is even a topic of discussion. The competition last year was no different than the one he benefited from with Wallace the year prior. He ended his rookie season with QBR’s of 27.0, and 41.6, and for that he was HANDED the job of starting QB? I didn’t hear about him whining about fairness in competition then. Eve while being allowed to STAY on the field through poor play, the best he could do was whine about how badly he was treated, and how coaches didn’t like him.
McCoy NEVER showed improvement, NEVER won a division game, had obvious LIMITATIONS, and was very EASY to defend. He just wasn’t very good. The way he was praised after every abysmal performance, its really no wonder why he thought he should be the starter. When the best guy doesn’t play, it creates problems. Seriously, how many 5 yard, back shoulder throws in traffic, can one take?
It was over for McCoy the moment Weeden was drafted, McCoy was not going to start another game in Cleveland, there was NOTHING Weeden could effectively learn from McCoy. He had no upside, or value, other that was locally generated falsely. He should have been cut, or asked for his release. Knowing there was no interest, he kept his mouth shut, played the good shoulder, and collected a check. It made absolutely no sense for the Browns to enter into last season with 3 developmental QB’s on the roster.
McCoy will be done in San Francisco, IF he makes it to opening day, the moment he has to take the field, and win a game. There wasn’t a game manager better than Alex Smith the past 2 seasons, and he was replaced by a 2nd year player, while he was playing his best football. Don’t waste money purchasing a McCoy’s San Francisco jersey, better yet, if you are a fan, I’m sure they have a few on sale here in Cleveland.
I guess you missed out on that Phil Dawson jersey huh :-
Frye gets the edge, he was able to win a game in the division (Baltimore) Even Quinn got a win vs Pittsburgh :-
Derek Anderson was never the choice at QB for the Browns. He should have been the starter in 2006, the job was HANDED to Frye. Anderson had by far the best season as a QB since returning, and even then, they reluctantly brought him back in 2008. He was always viewed as being in the way of Brady Quinn. The way the Browns have handled the QB situation since returning, can best be described as a #Shamockery
Harbaugh didn’t have to bench Smith, he CHOSE too.
Keith, you quote the QBRs for McCoy’s 7th and 8th games to show he wasn’t any good?? Why not look at his 2010 season QBR of 45 — so much better than Weeden’s 26.
Or look at what he did in the other games in 2010, in addition to beating 2 of the best teams in the league, taking another to overtime, and almost beating one more.
In the majority of 2010 you left out, McCoy completed 65.8% of his passes, for an 8.01 yards per attempt average, 6 TDs and 3 INTs, and a passer rating of 93.04. Those numbers put him in elite company with Ben Roethlesberger, Russell Wilson, and RGIII — the top rookie stats for anyone in NFL history who started as a rookie.
Like so many McCoy haters in Cleveland, you falsely claim that McCoy couldn’t even complete passes 10 yards down field. Look at McCoy and Weeden’s record completing passes over 20 yards (ESPN splits):
In 2011, McCoy completed 15 of 35 long passes for a 42.9% completion percentage, 6 TDs and 3INTs, 14.3 yards per attempt, and a passer rating of 93.8.
In 2012, Weeden only 11 of 52 passes over 20 yards for a pitiful 21.2% completion average, 8.25 y/a, 8 TDs and 6 INTs, for a passer rating of 61.5.
To put this in further perspective, successful NFL QBs complete between 40 and 50% of their long passes like McCoy did.
If McCoy throw for over 10 yards, how did he complete so many passes over 20 yards???????
Weeden’s performance falls on 3rd and 4th down, converting on only 30% of his 3rd down plays, and in the red zone where he completed only 41% of his passes and beat only Jimmy Clausen when compared to QBs in the last 3 years.
In contrast, McCoy converted on 40% of his 3rd downs in 2010 and 2011 and led the Browns to rank 12th in the league, while in 2010 he completed 64.3% of his passes with a passer rating of 100.4 and, in 2011, when he was the only scoring threat and a target for the defense, he completed 52.5% of his passes for a rating of 78.8.
And finally, in avoiding turnovers, the 2011 Browns ranked 4th best in the NFL along with Green Bay, New Orleans, New England, and San Francisco. In contrast, the 2012 Browns dropped to 22nd in taking care of the ball.
Keith is a typical McCoy hater. He doesn’t pay much attention to facts. But coaches do. For example, when Bill Belichick looks at stats he pays attention to 3rd down conversions that keep drives alive, to red zone play, to completion percentage, and to big plays (passes over 20 yards).
These are the areas where McCoy excels.
Complaining now that one of the best teams in the NFL wanted McCoy on their roster sounds a lot like sour grapes. Time for you to move on Keith.
sorry Anne, he’s gone.
Not gone got busy with life
not you, Colt. just letting her know it’s okay to move on. 3 different coaching staffs thought Colt wasn’t good enough. Good luck to him in SF.
First and foremost Anne I apologize for the late reply, For some reason I didn’t get an update, and I got busy with some other things, I don’t come here often, unless something of interest comes my way, and I respond to it.
In regards to the QBR’s I posted (McCoy’s 7th and 8th GMS) I didn’t do so with the purpose of saying he was no good, I came to that conclusion, as well as the conclusion he wasn’t prepared to lead this team by watching the games. Personally I don’t put much into QBR, its the most overrated stat in sports, next to the +/- in the NBA. My point was, from what I seen from McCoy in the last 2 games, and during training camp the next season, he should not have been the starting QB in 2011. He was HANDED the job, much the same way Weeden was handed the job in 2012.
In regards to beating 2 of the best teams in 2010, what he actually did, was manage not to lose them. Let’s be HONEST for a minute. In the victory at New Orleans, it was ALL defense, they dominated the Saints and Drew Brees, 4 INT (2 RET for TD) 2 FUM 3 SACKS, held them to 5-15 on 3rd DN. The defense alone OUTSCORED McCoy. He was 9-16 74 YDS 0 TD 0 INT, the team ran for more yards than McCoy passed for, and half was on a fake punt by Hodges. McCoy was 2-11 on 3rd DN, 212 TOT YDS What McCoy did was NOT lose the game, and the TEAM won, in spite of him. The Browns were up 30-10, giving up a McCoy like TD with less than 2 MIN left in the game. He did get credit for the win though, kudos.
In beating New England at Home, it was the same blueprint, another DOMINATING performance by the defense. They made Brady uncomfortable all day, 1 INT, 2 FUM, 1 SACK, and held him to 3-11 on 3rd DN, 283 TOT YDS, and 21:52 TOP. Hillis was also a BEAST (29 RUSH 184 TDS 2 TDS) McCoy was efficient (14-19 174 YDS 0 TD 0 INT) on mostly dump offs, but CLEARLY not the reason they won, but nevertheless, another impressive win on his resume.
He took NY Jets to OT, almost beating them?McCoy was awful vs the Jets, he managed to get to OT first of all because the defense kept them in the game, and the NY Jets decide to go prevent on the last possession, after DOMINATING the whole game. McCoy was 4-12 on 3rd DN, and 3 of the conversions came on the last drive, and in OT. in FACT prior to the last drive and OT, McCoy’s STAT line was 8-16 79 YDS 0 TD 0 INT 2 SACK, so basically he was 8-17 79 YDS 1 TD 0 INT 1 SACK on the last possession, and OT, and the NY Jets had a TOP differential of almost +20:00, so I guess he just didn’t MANAGE to win that one.
Let me say this, nothing about McCoy puts him in elite company,attempting to draw comparisons to his rookie stats to those that are HOF’ers he could easily be compared to stiffs like Smith, Harrington, Kilngler, Carr, etc. McCoy shouldn’t be mentioned in the same sentences with Griffin lll, and Wilson, other than to say they all had success in college. I don’t think anyone would take McCoy over either, other than maybe Holmgrem.
When you attempt to try and use statistics to show McCoy in a positive light, you have to take the game situation and circumstances into context. Who cares how many passes he completes with the game ALREADY having been decided. I was never high on Weeden, but he clearly gave the team more options than McCoy, who had OBVIOUS limitations. You press the outside WR’s and bring pressure to his strong side, it doesn’t get ANY easier than that.
McCoy completed so many passes over 10 and 20 YDS in 2010-11 because he USUALLY trailed by DD’s and the opposing defense was playing prevent. Prime example, in setting the team record for COMP (40) in a GM vs Tennessee, he COMP quite a few in the 4th Q as the Browns trailed 31-6 after 3 Q’s. You can go back to EVERY game, and its constant. You look at his numbers through 3 Q’s when game is in doubt, and the 4th Q when games has already been decided. I covered this topic in GREAT DETAIL before.
Through McCoy’s first 8 starts in 2011. Through 3 Q’s McCoy was 110-191 58% 1165 YDS 5 TD 4 INT 14 SACK 66 PTS (only 15 PTS in 1st and 3rd Q all Dawson FG) in the 4th Q of those same first 8 starts of 2011, McCoy was 67-117 57.3% 599 YDS 5 TD 1 INT 7 SACK 53 PTS. Those are the FACTS, feel free to make of them what you will.
Converted 3rd down’s when? Putting together scoring drives on last possession of games ALREADY decided, do nothing but distort final numbers. Never winning a division game is also FACT. Once again, let’s be clear, I never made an argument for Weeden, but I’ll take my chances with him more so than McCoy, but that’s my preference, there isn’t any NFL team out there that fears opposing McCoy, the game plan hasn’t changed.
I don’t hate McCoy, I just don’t think he’s a very good QB,and is a game manager at his BEST. n regards to Belichcik, there’s always MORE to numbers, not FINAL numbers, but how you ARRIVE at them. One thing’s for sure, Belichick damn sure wouldn’t have kept McCoy around because he was a good guy, and won at Texas. If he had drafted a QB with the intent of handing him the ball, McCoy would have been waived, regardless of media generated perpetuated value.
So what McCoy is in San Francisco, I say they draft a QB and McCoy is FAR from a lock to make the team. Harbaugh hasn’t gone Holmgren, and stated McCoy would redshirt (again o_O) and make the team. What San Francisco has done in the interim, is traded off a more costly game manager (who had success) for a far less costly one in McCoy, who may not make it out of camp. San Francisco will NOT win with McCoy at QB, you heard that here first! In all seriousness, McCoy is GONE, and you need to move on.
Great time to get McCoy gear for cheap, I mean on sale :-
Ps Just curious, what were your FACTS on McCoy in his showing vs Seattle? Maybe Harbaugh should go back and look at that game film. Have a safe weekend.
Just not really sure what FACTS I’ve posted she finds fault with :- Have a great weekend as well