You’ll not see nothing like the Mighty Quinn

Bob Dylan (as recorded by Manfred Mann)

 My first indication that something happened last night was an email from the Shadow blaming me. He saw my inflammatory Notre Dame article as the karmic fuel that last night sent Brady Quinn to the Broncos for ‘Tyler Hanbrough effect’ fan favorite Peyton Hillis and a couple future late round draft picks.

So do I feel guilty about possibly being the cause of this trade?

No, because it is a great trade for the Broncos.

I am not the biggest fan of Quinn. I have maintained since his Golden Domer days that Quinn was a mediocre quarterback who relied on bigger, stronger wide receivers to get open and make him look good. However, let’s face it. He was in a no-win situation in Cleveland, which come to think of it, is really the only situation in Cleveland.

He was surrounded by little talent, both on the field and in the coaches’ offices. He was going into his fourth season under coaches Romeo Crennel and Eric Mangini, two rotted limbs that fell off the Belichick coaching tree and have shown no leadership ability since leaving Bill’s womb that doesn’t involve crying uncle to the NFL that the other team is cheating.

Quinn’s best receiver in Cleveland was either stone-hands Braylon Edwards or rookie Mohamed Massaquoi who was only an average receiver catching passes from Matthew Stafford in the run oriented SEC.

By the way – apparently the brass at the Browns doesn’t read PFB. I can’t be the only one that sees Jake Delhomme starting for the Browns as the worst idea since someone asked Sarah Palin to write a book. Playing against better defenses with worse talent around him? Someone get Vegas on the line. Whatever the Over/Under is on number of interceptions for Delhomme next year, I will take the over.

Will Quinn come into Dove Valley, blow away the coaches and take over the starting role from Kyle Orton? Probably not. Will he be a better back-up than Chris Simms? We can only hope. If he finally gets the apprenticeship denied him in Cleveland and learns from a quality quarterback coach and quarterback that has started (and won) for several years than he can only get better.

Even if Quinn demonstrates that his ceiling as an NFL player is to be Steve Beuerlein, a mostly career back-up that can start in the pinch and is on occasion traded to a team convinced he can start , than Quinn will be a success for the Broncos.

The best thing about this trade is that the Broncos gave up nearly zero for him. Despite the constant pleading of the fan base, Hillis was never going to see significant playing time for McDaniels. Even as the running game faltered late last season, Hillis remained on the bench.

While the fans calling for Hillis to play seemed to have an unspoken (maybe even unconscious) reason for wanting to see Peyton play, McDaniels likewise had an unspoken reason for not playing him.

Whatever the reason, Hillis was never going to be a factor in the Broncos backfield. Whether his one good game as a rookie warranted an opportunity or not, can be debated forever.

After Hillis all the Broncos gave up was a 6^th round pick and a conditional pick. Yes, the 6^th round is special to Bronco fans, thanks to the gift from god named Terrell Davis; but since T.D. descended from heaven to play for the Broncos, the 6^th round has brought players like Greg Eslinger, Chris Myers, Traindos Luke, Josh Sewell and Aaron Hunt. The best players drafted by the Broncos in the 6^th round since 2001 are Jeb Putzier and Spencer Larson.

Whether Quinn comes in to hold a clip board or ends up taking Orton’s job under center, I would much rather have him than someone with as much of an impact as those guys.

So blame me if you want. My only response will be:

You are welcome.

Tagged as: brady quinn, broncos, browns, cleveland, denver, jake delhomme, josh mcdaniels, kyle orton, peyton hillis, steve beuerlein