Derek Anderson Will Start Sunday
September 30th, 2009 at 12:41 pm by Displaced Cleveland FanEric Mangini announced today that Derek Anderson will start with Sunday against Cincinnati.
*grumble. grumble. grumble*
I haven’t seen the news conference. Honestly, I have no desire to. But I did see the Cleveland Browns twitter updates. This is what Mangini said about his decision via @OfficialBrowns:
Mangini: “I think Derek did some positive things and I think he can help us improve offensively. That’s what the decision is based on.”
Really? Anderson did so many positive things that we’ve forgotten the three interceptions in one half? That’s an improvement?
I understand that Brady Quinn has not been very good this year. But he’s leading an offense that is full of holes (running back, wide receiver, the right side of the offensive line), running a new system under a rookie offensive coordinator, and the three teams they’ve lost to are undefeated so far. That being said, Quinn does need to improve. But how is he going to do that sitting on the bench instead of playing and gaining experience?
Mangini said this decision is based on what “can help us improve offensively.” While that sounds good, that should not be the only consideration. Look, the Browns are going to be bad this year no matter who is the starting quarterback. This team is not going to make the playoffs and will finish in last place. Knowing that, let Quinn start. Yes, he’s bad now. But see if he improves. If not, pick a stud QB in the draft (because Anderson still won’t be the answer next year). If he does improve, you can build the offense around him.
There is one thing the Browns stand to gain by benching Quinn - $6.32 million. The way his contract is structured, he needs to take at least 45% of the snaps to receive a $1.32 million incentive. If he takes 70%, that amount jumps another $5 million. Is the decision to bench Quinn financially motivated? I’d hate to think so. But I can’t say it’s out of the question.
-dcf
Tags: Brady Quinn, Derek Anderson, Eric Mangini
October 11th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
[...] after this terrible performance. Another one next week, then maybe. He’s at least got to make sure DA gets more than 30% of the snaps. But I’d be surprised if Anderson loses the starting job this week. But it needs to happen. [...]
October 25th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
[...] Now, compare that to Brady Quinn’s numbers for the 10 quarters he was able to play: 45 for 74 (60.8%) for 400 yards (5.41 per attempt) with 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions. Another thing to keep in mind: Quinn started for the team’s first 10 quarters of the season. This was a team that had a new coaching staff and was trying to implement a new offense. Makes this look even more like it’s financially motivated. [...]