Carr driving same road as Plunkett? (1 Viewer)

[Horrorshow]

(The signing of former Texans and Panthers quarterback David Carr last week by the New York Giants generated an understandably mixed response from a number of online Big Blue fans around the world wide web.

The current career path of Carr prompted me to recall Jim Plunkett and the former Heisman winner’s rocky road to eventual success in the NFL. On further inspection I discovered a number of odd similarities that link the two passers.

My research yielded the following light hearted written piece (please don’t think that I’m actually predicting future Super Bowl victories for Carr or insinuating that he and Plunkett are genuinely identical!) that perhaps you might enjoy taking a look at.)

Submitted for your perusal. A broken quarterback. A maligned player. A man with perhaps one last chance. David Carr.

They say that it’s always darkest just before dawn. Well, 2007 got pretty dark for Carr.

A look back through the annals of pro football history might well indicate though that dawn is about to break. Consider the story of the two time Super Bowl winning quarterback, Jim Plunkett – then consider the uncanny similarities shared by Plunkett and Carr…

Plunkett was selected first overall in the 1971 draft by a lowly AFC team. Born in California, Plunkett is listed at 6-3 and weights around 215/220lbs.

Carr was selected first overall in the 2002 draft by a lowly AFC team. Born in California, Carr is listed at 6-3 and weights around 215/220lbs.

Plunkett starts in every game as a rookie while logging a passer rating in the 60's and throwing for over 2,000 yards. His longest completion of the season goes for over 80 yards. Plunkett also add 200+ rushing yards at an average of 4.7 YPC.

Carr starts in every game as a rookie while logging a passer rating in the 60's and throwing for over 2,000 yards. His longest completion of the season goes for over 80 yards. Carr also adds 200+ rushing yards at an average of 4.8 YPC.

Plunkett spends five campaigns with the club that drafted him, starting in every single game in four of those five years. The team fails to record a single winning season during this span. In only three of those seasons does Jim throw double digit touchdown passes, and falls short of twenty each time. To this point, Plunkett's most wins in a single season stand at seven.

Carr spends five campaigns with the club that drafted him, starting in every single game in four of those five years. The team fails to record a single winning season during this span. In only three of those seasons does David throw double digit touchdown passes, and falls short of twenty each time. To this point, Carr's most wins in a single season stand at seven.

Plunkett leaves the franchise that drafted him and is signed by an NFC team who are coming off a season where they finished second in their division but failed to post a winning record. Jim’s new club has finished second in their division for two straight years.

Carr leaves the franchise that drafted him and is signed by an NFC team who are coming off a season where they finished second in their division but failed to post a winning record. David’s new club has finished second in their division for two straight years.

After an unsuccessful stint, Plunkett leaves his second club and is signed by a third as a back-up quarterback behind an established Southern starter who has previously won a Super Bowl with the team. Plunkett’s new club is coming off a second place finish in their division from the previous season.

After an unsuccessful stint, Carr leaves his second club and is signed by a third as a back-up quarterback behind an established Southern starter who has previously won a Super Bowl with the team. Carr’s new club is coming off a second place finish in their division from the previous season.

In his second campaign with his third team, Plunkett comes off the bench early in the year to replace the injured starting quarterback. He leads the club to a Super Bowl victory. For good measure, Jim lifts another Vince Lombardi trophy three seasons later for the franchise, making it two in four years.

So what next for David Carr? Obviously if history is anything to go by he’ll spend a year wearing a visor and holding a clipboard on the sidelines of Giants Stadium before replacing an injured Eli Manning in 2009 and capturing another Super Bowl title for the New York Football Giants!

 

[The Shizzle]

That is insane. Good research!!!!

 

[JAA]

awesome read, thanks

 

[Chase Stuart]

Creative way to use statistics.

Only problem is, Plunkett was a pretty bad QB in the beginning, and a pretty bad QB in the middle, and a pretty bad QB in the end. He was sacked a ton and threw a ton of interceptions. He played well in the playoffs, sure, but people think Plunkett and think "#1 pick + 2 SBs" and think good QB. Now that I think about it, Carr is a pretty good comparison for Plunkett's career.

 

[KoolKat]

Good stuff man!!

 

[I Am Rick James]

Creative way to use statistics.Only problem is, Plunkett was a pretty bad QB in the beginning, and a pretty bad QB in the middle, and a pretty bad QB in the end. He was sacked a ton and threw a ton of interceptions. He played well in the playoffs, sure, but people think Plunkett and think "#1 pick + 2 SBs" and think good QB. Now that I think about it, Carr is a pretty good comparison for Plunkett's career.

"Carr is a pretty good comparison"Would you rather have a Marino that NEVER got it done, or a Plunkett that gets it done twice (almost singlehandedly in '81)?This was the time of Al Davis and his castoffs. Plunkett was a reject amoung rejects looking for a leader and that is the reason he rediscovered his confidence. People discount his big game abilities but those are the games that matter most so don't discount them. In the end, Plunkett proved the doubters wrong and who knows how good he would have been if not for the bad luck of his early and middle years. Somebody may try to recreate something similar with Carrcrash, but recent attemps (mostly by Al) have shown it just won't work in todays game and I think it's very unlikely Carr finds a team that believes in him or even a shread of Plunketts confidence.

 

[The Man With No Name]

Plunkett won the Heisman and was NFL Rookie of the Year, Carr didn't, wasn't.

David Carr, 2 time Super Bowl Champion starting quarterback? I give him a 0.2% chance. It is possible.

 

[Black]

That was cool. Sort of like Nostraudaumus sort of stuff.

Did Plunkett have a secretary named Carr, and Carr have one named Plunkett?

 

[redman]

It's not a ridiculous comparison, even though it's highly unlikely that Carr or any other QB similarly situated will get to a Super Bowl, much less win two as the starter. There are plenty of examples of journeymen/mediocre QB's being at the right place at the right time and leading at team to the Super Bowl, from guys like Jeff Hostetler and Chris Chandler, to Trent Dilfer, Stan Humphries, Neil O'Donnell, etc. It happens.

That's a far, far cry from saying, however, that in the case of a given journeymen/mediocre QB that it's worth holding onto him with that expectation.

 

[Chase Stuart]

Creative way to use statistics.Only problem is, Plunkett was a pretty bad QB in the beginning, and a pretty bad QB in the middle, and a pretty bad QB in the end. He was sacked a ton and threw a ton of interceptions. He played well in the playoffs, sure, but people think Plunkett and think "#1 pick + 2 SBs" and think good QB. Now that I think about it, Carr is a pretty good comparison for Plunkett's career.

"Carr is a pretty good comparison"Would you rather have a Marino that NEVER got it done, or a Plunkett that gets it done twice (almost singlehandedly in '81)?This was the time of Al Davis and his castoffs. Plunkett was a reject amoung rejects looking for a leader and that is the reason he rediscovered his confidence. People discount his big game abilities but those are the games that matter most so don't discount them. In the end, Plunkett proved the doubters wrong and who knows how good he would have been if not for the bad luck of his early and middle years. Somebody may try to recreate something similar with Carrcrash, but recent attemps (mostly by Al) have shown it just won't work in todays game and I think it's very unlikely Carr finds a team that believes in him or even a shread of Plunketts confidence.

Plunkett was about 1/10th the QB that Marino was. Plunkett had exactly four seasons in his illustrious career where he threw more TDs than INTs. You may think he was great with the Raiders (he was awful with everyone else), but he threw more INTs than TDs there, too.

 

[I Am Rick James]

Creative way to use statistics.Only problem is, Plunkett was a pretty bad QB in the beginning, and a pretty bad QB in the middle, and a pretty bad QB in the end. He was sacked a ton and threw a ton of interceptions. He played well in the playoffs, sure, but people think Plunkett and think "#1 pick + 2 SBs" and think good QB. Now that I think about it, Carr is a pretty good comparison for Plunkett's career.

"Carr is a pretty good comparison"Would you rather have a Marino that NEVER got it done, or a Plunkett that gets it done twice (almost singlehandedly in '81)?This was the time of Al Davis and his castoffs. Plunkett was a reject amoung rejects looking for a leader and that is the reason he rediscovered his confidence. People discount his big game abilities but those are the games that matter most so don't discount them. In the end, Plunkett proved the doubters wrong and who knows how good he would have been if not for the bad luck of his early and middle years. Somebody may try to recreate something similar with Carrcrash, but recent attemps (mostly by Al) have shown it just won't work in todays game and I think it's very unlikely Carr finds a team that believes in him or even a shread of Plunketts confidence.

Plunkett was about 1/10th the QB that Marino was. Plunkett had exactly four seasons in his illustrious career where he threw more TDs than INTs. You may think he was great with the Raiders (he was awful with everyone else), but he threw more INTs than TDs there, too.

Marino way better overall, sure, but Plunkett just didn't start in 2 SB's, he was outstanding and showed big game heart. His QB rating in SB15 was 145 and the week before on the road against the heavily favored Fouts led Chargers, it was 155. He owns that Lombardi trophy without a doubt.

 

[I Am Rick James]

Plunkett as a playoff starter 8-2

Marino as a playoff starter 8-10

 

[Chase Stuart]

Plunkett as a playoff starter 8-2Marino as a playoff starter 8-10

Dilfer 5-1 Hostetler 4-1

 

[Riffraff]

Nice write-up. Pretty cool on the correlations.

 

[I Am Rick James]

Plunkett as a playoff starter 8-2Marino as a playoff starter 8-10

Dilfer 5-1 Hostetler 4-1

Those guys didn't lose there SB as where Plunkett absolutely, singhandedly, undoubtably won SB15. The poor guy went through qb hell and is the untimate comeback kid. Why you would want to take that awy from him, I just don't understand? BTW, Plunketts playoff QB rating is higher than Marino's too.

 

[Jason Wood]

Putting a bit more flesh on the bone...in their first five years in the league:

Plunkett was sacked 118 times in 1,193 attempts = 9.89% of attempts
Carr was sacked 249 times in 2,070 attempts = 12.03% of attempts

 

[Blue-Kun]

First off, was a good read. Amusing to see some of the similarities.

Only problem is, Plunkett was a pretty bad QB in the beginning, and a pretty bad QB in the middle, and a pretty bad QB in the end.

Plunkett got destroyed during his stay at NE. If I remember correctly he was the second most sacked QB over his first three years in the league 1971-1973 behind Archine Manning and basically got rushed nearly every play. He was pretty badly shell-shocked and did poorly subsequently until he was finally just sitting on the bench for a few years versus getting driven into the ground. In his first game for the Raiders in 1980, he threw 5 interceptions because he was playing like he had the joke of a line from back in NE. Plunkett wasn't a great QB by any stretch, but he certainly did well in the playoffs and was directly responsible for the SB15 win.

 

[TheLastDispatch]

Good posting Horrrorshow

 

[Donnybrook]

I think you could have titled this “Carr driving the same road as Couch”. There are a lot of similarities between the two IMO.