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Who Am I? (1 Viewer)

gianmarco

Footballguy
With some QB explosions this week, especially from some guys who haven't done it before, we're seeing some big numbers.  While guys like Brady, Russell, and Rodgers have been underwhelming, some QBs have absolutely lit the league up after 4 weeks.  So, let's play a game of Who Am I?

-- Only Mahomes has thrown more TDs than me so far after 4 weeks
-- I have the highest YPA at 10.5 ypa
-- I have the 4th best QB rating so far at 114
-- I'm on pace for over 5400 yards passing this year
-- I've done this while only attempting the 20th most pass attempts this year so far with only 32 attempts/game.
-- I've only been sacked 7 times, good for 20th most among QBs
-- My team has the 3rd highest yards/game on offense
-- I've done this with the worst rushing offense in the league -- 3.1 ypc (dead last), 12% 1st down (dead last), and 3rd fewest rushing yards in the NFL (69.5 yards/game)

Who Am I?

ETA -- Don't look if posting without spoilers.

 
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These are meant to be answered without looking.  Spoiler would be nice if you do look.
I didn't look.  Can't think of another QB with such big numbers passing and low numbers rushing.  Seemed fairly obvious.  Cousins was my only other thought but didn't think even the Vikings were that bad at running the ball.

 
I didn't look.  Can't think of another QB with such big numbers passing and low numbers rushing.  Seemed fairly obvious.  Cousins was my only other thought but didn't think even the Vikings were that bad at running the ball.
You happened to remember he's got exactly 1356 passing yards?  Ok.

 
Pretty sure he's the ideal backup.

7 teams in a 14 year career.

Never been a pro bowler

Probably the smartest guy in the NFL.

 
Not on the football field - there he’s one of the dumbest.
Fitz's intelligence is analogous to a running back with off the charts athleticism who just has bad vision. All the smarts in the world won't help you if you make bad decisions at QB, just like all the athleticism in the world won't help you if you keep running into defenders at RB.

I guess it's kind of like the people in college who claimed to know the material but just "aren't good test takers." Gotta be good under pressure. Fitz is not. He's had his moments, but a broken clock is right twice a day. You don't even have to be good to have moments. Didn't Derek Anderson make the pro bowl one year? If your guys catch enough jump balls and defenders drop enough easy picks, things can look better than they are... for a while. 

-----------------------------------

Until the last clue, I had been thinking Goff. 

 
I disagree with that.  Fitz just loves to throw 50/50 balls and trusts his WRs to make plays.  That his accuracy isn’t quite NFL quality makes him Fitz instead of Favre.  But that doesn’t make him dumb.  IMO.
He's reckless running the ball and in the passing game - it's not the 50/50 balls necessarily he throws often right into heavy coverage when it's ill advised or directly to opposing defensive players as well. Fitzpatrick not only lacks the accuracy of Favre but his arm is 75% weaker as well so a lot of the times 50/50 balls are more 60/40 balls the other way. Getting bailed out =/ smart decision.

 
Probably the smartest guy in the NFL.
I think there's an assumption that if a guy played football at Harvard, he must be smart. And sure, he can't be a dummy. But it doesn't necessarily mean that he's unusually smart. 

The way Ivy League athletics work is that coaches are allowed to designate a number of applicants where they can essentially put their thumb on the scale. Again, these kids can't be total academic basket cases. But they definitely don't meet the standards of the general population of applicants. I actually went to an Ivy (with a good football program), and there were definitely guys on the team who were not exactly lighting it up in the classroom.

Think of it this way. If I told you there were two random students, one of whom went to Harvard and the other who went to the University of Tennessee, it would be reasonable to assume that the Harvard kid was smarter. But if I told you those two students were Ryan Fitzpatrick and Peyton Manning, that assumption becomes less reasonable. Because the reason Peyton went to UT was not that he wasn't smart enough. It's that he was too good at football. If he had wanted to go to Harvard, they would have found a way to admit him. And based on what I've seen of him, I'd say there's a pretty good chance that he's smarter than Fitz.

ETA: I just looked up, and apparently Fitz got 1580 on his SATs while Peyton got a 1030. So while my general point about Ivy League athletes still holds, I may have gotten it wrong in this specific case. Though I still think Peyton is plenty smart.

 
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ETA: I just looked up, and apparently Fitz got 1580 on his SATs while Peyton got a 1030. So while my general point about Ivy League athletes still holds, I may have gotten it wrong in this specific case. Though I still think Peyton is plenty smart.
I think your point definitely holds when comparing Ivy League athletes (I know plenty -- and Patriot League ones, too, which are the mini NE Ivys) to the rest of the population, but Fitz nearly broke the Wonderlic, also. 

He's smarter than me, for sure, and I don't consider myself very dumb, though I need the couch emoji for that comment.   :scared:

eta* Anyone ever taken the Wonderlic? I find it difficult, actually. 

 
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Back to football, Fitz should have a steady job somewhere at backup QB for at least three to four more years because of this accomplishment (and it is just that), and those are years which are handsome, handsome paydays every week. 

Nobody needs feel sorry for Fitz, nor his plight.  

Fitz has been paid during his career, and insists on being so. 

/Jetsfanhere

 
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Back to football, Fitz should have a steady job somewhere at backup QB for at least three to four more years because of this accomplishment (and it is just that), and those are years which are handsome, handsome paydays every week. 

Nobody needs feel sorry for Fitz, nor his plight.  

Fitz has been paid during his career, and insists on being so. 

/Jetsfanhere
There's an argument that backup QB is one of the cushiest jobs in America. Charlie Whitehurst made like $25M in his career and appeared in a total of 25 games (most of which consisted of mop-up duty).

 
There's an argument that backup QB is one of the cushiest jobs in America. Charlie Whitehurst made like $25M in his career and appeared in a total of 25 games (most of which consisted of mop-up duty).
Charlie Whitehurst is exactly who I think of when I think of an inept clipboard holder that wants no part of the game and every part of salary, though I have absolutely no idea about his intention or motivation and probably shouldn't cast aspersions. 

But he's been in 3-0 games, IIRC. In October. He's not a competent guy on the field. In the room may be another thing. It's not a pretty sight, Charlie at QB.  

 
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Why the debate here? The man is being benched again after being smoked by the Bears D. I know what I saw at the Dome and the guy rocks the deep ball. The bomb to DJax was a dagger on a day that was supposed to belong to the Saints. Hats off. I think for that offensive philosophy and that talent he makes the most sense as the starter. It’s on the coaches for not dialing it down vs Chicago. As a Saints fan I’m happy to see this development, but I don’t think Winston coming in is a good thing for the Bucs.

 
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Back to football, Fitz should have a steady job somewhere at backup QB for at least three to four more years because of this accomplishment (and it is just that), and those are years which are handsome, handsome paydays every week. 

Nobody needs feel sorry for Fitz, nor his plight.  

Fitz has been paid during his career, and insists on being so. 

/Jetsfanhere
Lol does anyone care to list the QBs who bracketed Fitz with the Jets. The guy comes in for mediocre teams and gives them a sense they can score and win. He did it with the Bills too. He’s the definition of hired gunslinger. The NFL and their QBs is a mysterious thing. 

 
Charlie Whitehurst is exactly who I think of when I think of an inept clipboard holder that wants no part of the game and every part of salary, though I have absolutely no idea about his intention or motivation and probably shouldn't cast aspersions. 

But he's been in 3-0 games, IIRC. In October. He's not a competent guy on the field. In the room may be another thing. It's not a pretty sight, Charlie at QB.  
At the other end of the spectrum: When 40-year-old Matt Hasselbeck took a job holding Luck's clipboard (back when we all assumed Luck was on his way to becoming Peyton Jr.), then he got hurt and Hasselbeck had to start eight games getting the crap kicked out of him behind a terrible line. It was like the grizzled old police detective in the movie who says, "I didn't sign up for this s##t."

 
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I think there's an assumption that if a guy played football at Harvard, he must be smart. And sure, he can't be a dummy. But it doesn't necessarily mean that he's unusually smart. 

The way Ivy League athletics work is that coaches are allowed to designate a number of applicants where they can essentially put their thumb on the scale. Again, these kids can't be total academic basket cases. But they definitely don't meet the standards of the general population of applicants. I actually went to an Ivy (with a good football program), and there were definitely guys on the team who were not exactly lighting it up in the classroom.

Think of it this way. If I told you there were two random students, one of whom went to Harvard and the other who went to the University of Tennessee, it would be reasonable to assume that the Harvard kid was smarter. But if I told you those two students were Ryan Fitzpatrick and Peyton Manning, that assumption becomes less reasonable. Because the reason Peyton went to UT was not that he wasn't smart enough. It's that he was too good at football. If he had wanted to go to Harvard, they would have found a way to admit him. And based on what I've seen of him, I'd say there's a pretty good chance that he's smarter than Fitz.

ETA: I just looked up, and apparently Fitz got 1580 on his SATs while Peyton got a 1030. So while my general point about Ivy League athletes still holds, I may have gotten it wrong in this specific case. Though I still think Peyton is plenty smart.
While the specific assertion that athletes have different admissions standards is correct, the implication that the standard is only that they "can't be total academic basket cases" is very misleading.  Check out this article:  http://www.tier1athletics.org/2013/03/22/harvard-academic-standards-for-athletes/

It identifies the "typical" Harvard athlete as having a 210 Academic index score which would involve a 30 ACT/2040 SAT, and states that a rise in general admission policies forces a rise in athlete admission policies as well.    A conflation of the stats and examples they provide is that to get into Harvard as an athlete, you still need to be in the top 15-20% of all college applicants.in terms of your academic file.

 
Lol does anyone care to list the QBs who bracketed Fitz with the Jets. The guy comes in for mediocre teams and gives them a sense they can score and win. He did it with the Bills too. He’s the definition of hired gunslinger. The NFL and their QBs is a mysterious thing. 
I'm not bagging on Fitz nor his abilities. He's always a starter for a needy team, just like the politically-loaded Kaepernick should be. But let's not do that. 

I'm just saying Fitz bought himself another four years of millions upon millions as the top backup in the league on merit, which means you can lead a good team when your QB goes down. Why did you guys give up a third for Bridgewater when you have Brees? Because guys get hurt, and you have Super Bowl aspirations. 

At some point, being Sam Bradford doesn't mean as much as opposed to being a guy who wants to be there in the room, with a chance. 

I dunno, SID, I think we agree about Fitz and the weirdness of the position in the NFL.  

 
My guess would have been Flacco. 

:shrug:


My guess was Dalton until I read the last clue. That gave it away. 


I was going to guess at Trubisky even though I'm pretty sure that's wrong.  
The fact that these guesses were all legitimate combined with the OP that folks like Brady, Wilson, & Rodgers have been underwhelming supports the idea that this was the right year to wait on drafting a QB. 

I just went back and looked at this sites preseason draft kit rankings and only 5 their top 12 (QB1) ranked QBs are currently in the top 12, and none of their preseason top 12 are currently in the top 5 QBs right now.

 
I think there's an assumption that if a guy played football at Harvard, he must be smart. And sure, he can't be a dummy. But it doesn't necessarily mean that he's unusually smart. 

The way Ivy League athletics work is that coaches are allowed to designate a number of applicants where they can essentially put their thumb on the scale. Again, these kids can't be total academic basket cases. But they definitely don't meet the standards of the general population of applicants. I actually went to an Ivy (with a good football program), and there were definitely guys on the team who were not exactly lighting it up in the classroom.

Think of it this way. If I told you there were two random students, one of whom went to Harvard and the other who went to the University of Tennessee, it would be reasonable to assume that the Harvard kid was smarter. But if I told you those two students were Ryan Fitzpatrick and Peyton Manning, that assumption becomes less reasonable. Because the reason Peyton went to UT was not that he wasn't smart enough. It's that he was too good at football. If he had wanted to go to Harvard, they would have found a way to admit him. And based on what I've seen of him, I'd say there's a pretty good chance that he's smarter than Fitz.

ETA: I just looked up, and apparently Fitz got 1580 on his SATs while Peyton got a 1030. So while my general point about Ivy League athletes still holds, I may have gotten it wrong in this specific case. Though I still think Peyton is plenty smart.
Yeah, it wasn't just Harvard but I remember his tests were crazy high.

I think Craig krenzel was similar. Ohio State but like a 4.0 in pre med.

 
I'm not bagging on Fitz nor his abilities. He's always a starter for a needy team, just like the politically-loaded Kaepernick should be. But let's not do that. 

I'm just saying Fitz bought himself another four years of millions upon millions as the top backup in the league on merit, which means you can lead a good team when your QB goes down. Why did you guys give up a third for Bridgewater when you have Brees? Because guys get hurt, and you have Super Bowl aspirations. 

At some point, being Sam Bradford doesn't mean as much as opposed to being a guy who wants to be there in the room, with a chance. 

I dunno, SID, I think we agree about Fitz and the weirdness of the position in the NFL.  
Thanks for the response.

Just a note about Bridgewater vs ‘the field’  when it comes to backups. The Saints have been looking for an heir apparent since Oh about 2013. In lieu of that guys like Luke McCown and Chase Daniel have been just fine. Bridgewater only matters for life after Brees, which actually makes this year sort of awkward because TB had to be resigned when the Saints got him.

Something’s changed. Think of DeBerg, Delhomme and Beuerlein and guys like that who could take over a team after a journeyman career, but now teams either want ‘The Star’ or a cheap rental as backup no matter how mediocre. 

 
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How about another "Who am I?" within a "Who am I?"  

Besides Ryan Fitzpatrick, name the  current NFL player, position, & school that is tied for the #3 all time score on the wonderlic (of the scores released by the company that runs the test)?

Here are the top 2 and the others tied at #3:

1.  Pat McInally 50   Punter, Harvard

2.  Mike Mamula 49  Linebacker - Boston College

3.  (Tie) Ryan Fitzpatrick 48  Quarterback - Harvard

3.  (Tie) Greg McElroy 48   QB - Alabama

3. (Tie) Kevin Curtis 48 WR - Utah

3.  (Tie) ????????  48  ???????

NO CHEATING.  If you know, AND DIDNT CHEAT, then just pick a given stat from a given year to show you knew the answer... such as, "He had 75 tackles in 2012."  (note that is only an example and not a stat for the actual correct answer).

 
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Just a note about Bridgewater vs ‘the field’  when it comes to backups. The Saints have been looking for an heir apparent since Oh about 2013.
Bridgewater, IMO, completely outplayed the Jets QB field in the preseason and was removed because of Darnold and his future, which might have cost the Jets about four or five wins this year, again IMHO. I hope the Saints work out a reasonable agreement with him as they seem like a great landing spot for a guy like him. He's almost lost a leg and is now healthy. It might be nice to have a secure, but moderate payday (by NFL standards) for security. I think reasonable people could see a pretty big cap hit for a backup QB for him. But it'd have to be a pretty big hit

But that's the problem. The CBA is so ####ed that good mid-vets get caught in the breach. How do you compete both athletically and with rookie contract price ceilings? You can't. The value to the team, given the cap, is too great. The irony? The veterans bargained for it, and got caught in the crosshairs by billionaires. 

Enough about contracts. Thanks for the response back.  

 
How about another "Who am I?" within a "Who am I?"  

Besides Ryan Fitzpatrick, name the  current NFL player and his school that has the #5 all time score on the wonderlic (of the scores released by the company that runs the test)?

Here are the top 4:

1.  Pat McInally 50   Punter, Harvard

2.  Mike Mamula 49  Linebacker - Boston College

3.  Ryan Fitzpatrick 48  Quarterback - Harvard

4.  Greg McElroy 48   QB - Alabama

????????

NO CHEATING.  If you know, AND DIDNT CHEAT, then just pick a given stat from a given year to show you knew the answer... such as, "He had 75 tackles in 2012."  (note that is only an example and not a stat for the actual correct answer).
Of course I cheated. Huh. That's a hell of an interesting list. Not surprised, really, though. Intelligence comes from all walks, in all places. 

 
Of course I cheated. Huh. That's a hell of an interesting list. Not surprised, really, though. Intelligence comes from all walks, in all places. 
Well gee... you didn't post the answer, but you did make sure that no one is going to guess some privileged kid from a top school.  

 
How about another "Who am I?" within a "Who am I?"  

Besides Ryan Fitzpatrick, name the  current NFL player, position, & school that is tied for the #3 all time score on the wonderlic (of the scores released by the company that runs the test)?

Here are the top 2 and the others tied at #3:

1.  Pat McInally 50   Punter, Harvard

2.  Mike Mamula 49  Linebacker - Boston College

3.  (Tie) Ryan Fitzpatrick 48  Quarterback - Harvard

3.  (Tie) Greg McElroy 48   QB - Alabama

3. (Tie) Kevin Curtis 48 WR - Utah

3.  (Tie) ????????  48  ???????

NO CHEATING.  If you know, AND DIDNT CHEAT, then just pick a given stat from a given year to show you knew the answer... such as, "He had 75 tackles in 2012."  (note that is only an example and not a stat for the actual correct answer).
I wouldn't have guessed the answer. 

Even more so I would not have guessed the next best QBs.

Blaine Gabbert 42

Drew Henson 42

Ryan Nassib 41

The next QBs aren't a surprise.

 
Well gee... you didn't post the answer, but you did make sure that no one is going to guess some privileged kid from a top school.  
Oh, dude, I thought that was implied by the nature of the ask. I thought that was hook for the fish.  

Sorry, man. I mean that.  

 
I wouldn't have guessed the answer. 

Even more so I would not have guessed the next best QBs.

Blaine Gabbert 42

Drew Henson 42

Ryan Nassib 41

The next QBs aren't a surprise.
Take a look at the other end of the list.  I find it very interesting that of the bottom ten scores ever, 6 are currently in the NFL.

 
There is a small part of me that understands why he got pulled (even though I don't think it was his fault how poorly they were getting killed by the Bears).

But seriously, the guy just threw for 400 yards in the first 3 games of the season, something NO NFL QB has ever done, like, ever, and the following week he is benched mid game and no longer the starter.  The stats show the run game and the defense are the problems and his numbers are stupid good yet he's no longer the starter.

That's absurd to me.

And I could kind of understand if the guy coming in was a top notch talent.  But he's not.  Jameis is 18-27 as a starter.  He has a career 61% completion percentage.  He doesn't excel at sack percentage, INT percentage, TD/INT ratio, yards/attempt, or passer rating.  Going into his 4th year, we pretty much know who he is. 

Just plain dumb coaching, IMO.

 
If you look at Fitz, he is a risk taker and overall a good one. His TD/INT ratio is better than a lot of first round draft picks and honestly if he had the whole season I bet he would have another great year to his record, which he already had a few good years (fantasy and real) sprinkled in with marginal talent surrounding him. I don;t think anyone who graduated from Harvard with a 48 wonderlick is "dumb" in the sense the word has been used here. I would describe Jamarcus Russell as a dumb QB. He's done more with less. Hes no superstar, but with talent surrounding him I would take him over a lot of other highly touted QBs over the years.

He doesn't have epic speed, strength, accuracy size or ability, therefore he is always replaced with potential (whether it pans out or not) because in this league you have to be great not good to win it all.

 
There is a small part of me that understands why he got pulled (even though I don't think it was his fault how poorly they were getting killed by the Bears).

But seriously, the guy just threw for 400 yards in the first 3 games of the season, something NO NFL QB has ever done, like, ever, and the following week he is benched mid game and no longer the starter.  The stats show the run game and the defense are the problems and his numbers are stupid good yet he's no longer the starter.

That's absurd to me.

And I could kind of understand if the guy coming in was a top notch talent.  But he's not.  Jameis is 18-27 as a starter.  He has a career 61% completion percentage.  He doesn't excel at sack percentage, INT percentage, TD/INT ratio, yards/attempt, or passer rating.  Going into his 4th year, we pretty much know who he is. 

Just plain dumb coaching, IMO.
I keep saying that it's Fitz's prior history and Selection One, Round One. They're not going to give up on this guy who looks, to all NFL eyes, like the better quarterback. They're just not. And I'm really sympathetic to your argument.  

There was a great article Faust (I think) posted about Mike Martz and his belief in Fitz. It was sort of eye-opening. I know how people can slip through recruiting cracks of all sorts because they haven't had the teammates or coaching or pedigree. 

Every professional judgment is a million times a screen in a million different ways, if that makes any sense. Melville was a customs officer in life. We don't like it when things fly through the screen. It rocks our world. Years later, we find we were wrong.  

 
He doesn't have epic speed, strength, accuracy size or ability, therefore he is always replaced with potential (whether it pans out or not) because in this league you have to be great not good to win it all.
Well that and he usually implodes terribly the following season after his amazing previous season. The guy has had one of the weirdest careers ever.

 
Well that and he usually implodes terribly the following season after his amazing previous season. The guy has had one of the weirdest careers ever.
Thats true but in his defense he has a very short leash throughout his career. Look at what Rogers did vs CHI D in the first half. WHat other starting QB in the league would get pulled in the 1st half vs CHI after throwing 3 games of 400+ yards with his TD/INT ratio? If the HC was smart he would have known the only way to win was to keep Fitz in the game as he has shown he can put up 400 yards and score TDs. He almost pulled off the win last week. Rogers and Brady have sucked this year. Eli Manning has shucked for many years now. I mean the leash is so long on his ### he could poop right smack in the middle of the owners bed and still play the next day. How many times has Eli Manning imploded and look at his supporting cast not just this year but throughout his career??

 
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Thats true but in his defense he has a very short leash throughout his career. Look at what Rogers did vs CHI D in the first half. WHat other starting QB in the league would get pulled in the 1st half vs CHI after throwing 3 games of 400+ yards with an 8-1 TD INT ratio? If the HC was smart he would have known the only way to win was to keep Fitz in the game as he has shown he can put up 400 yards and score TDs. He almost pulled off the win last week. Rogers and Brady have sucked this year. Eli Manning has shucked for many years now. I mean the leash is so long on his ### he could poop right smack in the middle of the owners bed and still play the next day.
I'm not saying he should have been pulled this season - Chicago is a tough D - but look at his seasons in Buffalo following them awarding him a franchise QB contract and what he did in Year 2 versus what he did in Year 1 with the Jets.

 
I'm not saying he should have been pulled this season - Chicago is a tough D - but look at his seasons in Buffalo following them awarding him a franchise QB contract and what he did in Year 2 versus what he did in Year 1 with the Jets.
I'm not a FItz apologist. He didn't have this WR corps to throw to in Buffalo though. Just saying whatever clicked this season, the system, the personnel, the experience of past with Fitz learning his lessons, whatever it was, the chemistry was that he broke all time records in passing and had an competitive team. You don't throw that away after one bad half vs CHI. Let's also realize that TB has no running game at all and he did what he did.

 
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