Traina Thoughts: Majority Of NFL Quarterbacks Are Unwatchable
1. After the Giants announced that they would be benching Eli Manning for Geno Smith this Sunday, I sent out the following tweet:
Naturally, Twitter being Twitter, some people either misinterpreted the tweet or read too much into the tweet, so I just want to clarify a few things.
Even though I firmly believe Colin Kaepernick should be in the NFL, he was not the impetus for my tweet. The point of my tweet was to reinforce something I've been writing about here in Traina Thoughts: the NFL on-field product this season has been very bad. The biggest problem the league may be facing is the lack of star power at quarterback. Die-hard NFL fans will watch the games on Sunday no matter what. To attract the casual or fringe fan, you need star power, especially at quarterback.
I was trying to point out that there are just so many quarterback who will be under center this week who are completely unattractive to fans. I'm fully aware that guys like Kizer and Trubisky are rookies. Yes, they may turn out to be solid quarterbacks, but their play this season has been unwatchable.
So just to be perfectly clear about what I was going for, he's a very quick summary on each and every quarterback who will be starting in Week 13. As you'll see, it's not pretty.
AFC EAST
Patriots: Tom Brady - GOAT.
Bills: Tyrod Taylor - The guy was benched for Nathan Peterman. Yes, that was a mistake, but Taylor is just OK.
Jets: Josh McCown - Yes, played decent this season. But he's a 38-year-old journeyman who's been on eight teams.
Dolphins: Matt Moore - At least he's not Jay Cutler.
AFC NORTH
Steelers: Ben Roethlisberger - Good QB, fun to watch.
Ravens: Joe Flacco - OK? Maybe?
Bengals: Andy Dalton - Not good, not bad. The definition of "just whatever."
Browns: DeShone Kizer - A rookie who has been awful all year.
AFC SOUTH
Titans: Marcus Mariotta - Decent QB, fun to watch.
Jaguars: Blake Bortles - A bad QB.
Texans: Tom Savage - A bad QB.
Colts: Jacoby Brissett - Has played OK this season, but he's not a QB anyone in America tunes in to see play.
AFC WEST
Chiefs: Alex Smith - A mediocre QB.
Chargers: Philip Rivers - Good QB, fun to watch.
Raiders: Derek Carr - Good QB, fun to watch.
Broncos: Trevor Siemian - A bad QB.
NFC EAST
Eagles: Carson Wentz - MVP candidate, fun to watch.
Cowboys: Dak Prescott - Has taken a big step back this season after a good rookie year.
Redskins: Kirk Cousins - Decent QB.
Giants: Geno Smith - Not good.
NFC NORTH
Vikings: Case Keenum - Who would've guessed this one? He's been solid and fun to watch.
Lions: Matt Stafford - Decent QB. Maybe good? Fun to watch.
Packers: Brett Hundley - Played well last Sunday. Unwatchable in all his previous games.
Bears: Mitch Trubisky - A rookie, but has been very rough to watch.
NFC SOUTH:
Saints: Drew Brees - Good QB, fun to watch.
Panthers: Cam Newton - Good QB, fun to watch.
Falcons: Matt Ryan - Good QB, fun to watch
Bucs: Jameis Winston - Has not progressed the way you'd like
NFC WEST
Rams: Jared Goff - Got a new coach, became a good QB and fun to watch.
Seahawks: Russell Wilson - Good QB, fun to watch.
Cardinals: Blaine Gabbert - Bad QB.
49ers: Jimmy Garapolo - Handsome, but nobody knows if he's good or not yet.
So, by my assessment, about 1/3 of the quarterbacks starting this week are good, while 2/3 are either medicore, bad or watchable. That's a problem for the NFL.
2. LeBron James is playing in his 15th NBA season. He has played in 1,082 games plus another 217 in the playoffs for a total of 1,299. Last night was the first time he's ever been ejected from a game. Pretty amazing.
The King had a solid response to the ejection after his Cavaliers finished off the Heat.
3. Happy 90th birthday today to Vin Scully. Here are his top 5 calls.
[youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLexiZHy9wI]
4. Big props to SportsHandle.com which came up with prop bets for the oral arguments in the Supreme Court Sports Betting Case, Christie vs. NCAA, which will be heard Dec. 4.
5. Poor Geno Smith took a beating on the Internet yesterday (although not as bad as a beating his coach, Ben McAdoo took from the Sports Pope, Mike Francesa), but can we all agree that Smith deserves credit for this great video he posted on Thanksgiving.
6. Like I said yesterday, Lane Kiffin is basically doing a daily stand-up routine on Twitter over Tennessee's disastrous coaching search.
7.RANDOM WRESTLING VIDEO OF THE DAY: In honor of Jerry "The King" Lawler's birthday, we take a trip down memory lane to what is his most famous moment.
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BONUS ITEM: It's good to see Mike Francesa go out with a bang. Hopefully we get more of that in the next two-and-a-half weeks.
