defiantgiant Posted February 17, 2011 Report Share Posted February 17, 2011 So this is old news, but hey it's the offseason. After the Vikings canned Childress they hired Bill Musgrave - the Falcons' QB coach - to be their offensive coordinator. I don't know how Musgrave is as an Xs and Os guy, but his track record developing QBs is seriously impressive. If history's any indicator, the Bears might have to watch out for the Vikings' QB (whoever it is) in 2011. Check out the QBs Musgrave has worked with: 1997 (Raiders) - got Jeff George to throw for over 3,900 yards, 29 TDs, 9 picks, 91.2 QB rating. 1999-2000 (Panthers) - got Steve Beuerlein to throw for over 4,400 yards, 36 TDs, 15 picks, 94.6 QB rating in 1999. Beuerlein made the Pro Bowl in 1999. He had a down year in 2000, but still threw for 3700 yards and 19 TDs. 2001-2002 (UVa) - developed Matt Schaub, who finished his college career with school records in yards passing, touchdowns, career completion percentage, etc. 2003-2004 (Jaguars) - developed Byron Leftwich and David Garrard 2005 (Redskins) - got Mark Brunell to throw over 3000 yards, 23 TDs, 10 picks, 85.9 QB rating. The Skins went 10-6 and made a playoff run. 2006-2010 (Falcons) - had one year with Vick, then developed Matt Ryan. So a couple of things jump out at me: - A lot of Musgrave's guys aren't spectacular athletes, but they don't make mistakes. Almost all his starting QBs had great TD-Int ratios and high completion percentages. - He's developed several young QBs - Schaub, Garrard, and Ryan - into solid starters. - He's worked magic on several journeyman-type vets near the end of their careers - George, Beuerlein, and Brunell. All those guys had career years under Musgrave. ...if I were running a team like the Vikings, with a glaring hole at quarterback, Musgrave's exactly who I'd want to hire. So now that they've got the coach, who do you think the Vikings will get to play QB? Who's our defense going to have to go against twice a year? My two cents: they could draft a guy for Musgrave to develop, but I don't see many QBs in this year's class that fit with his history. Gabbert and Newton will probably be gone by the time the Vikings pick, and I don't think Jake Locker, Ryan Mallett, or Christian Ponder are Musgrave's kind of guys - they've all got some problems with reading defenses and decision-making, areas where Matt Ryan and Matt Schaub excelled. My feeling is that they'll look for a veteran QB, since Musgrave has demonstrated that he can get franchise-QB production out of journeyman vets. I don't see it being Vince Young, as much as I would love to see him lofting up pick-sixes to Urlacher twice a season. McNabb would make more sense: he's an accurate passer, Musgrave's background is in the West Coast offense, and I could see McNabb having a comeback year if he gets back into the scheme he knows. The thing I'm really worried about, though, is that they'll swing a deal for Kyle Orton. He seems like exactly Musgrave's kind of QB: heady, accurate, makes great decisions with the football, gets the most out of his physical tools. Denver's new regime has made it pretty clear that they're sticking with Tebow, so Orton will probably be available. If I were Frazier or Musgrave, he'd be at the top of my list. I hope it doesn't happen: it was bad enough that he got dealt away from Chicago, but it'd just be wrong to see him in purple and gold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongo3451 Posted February 18, 2011 Report Share Posted February 18, 2011 Todd Collins? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixote Posted February 18, 2011 Report Share Posted February 18, 2011 I would only let Collins go to Minny if we got an 11th round draft pick in return. Asking too much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowlingtwig Posted February 20, 2011 Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 I would only let Collins go to Minny if we got an 11th round draft pick in return. Asking too much? I think even that is asking to much lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearsFan1974 Posted February 20, 2011 Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 I think even that is asking to much lol Especially if it was an 11th round pick in the dodge ball game at St. Francis Borgia!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TerraTor Posted February 20, 2011 Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 "developed Byron Leftwich and David Garrard".... into what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flea Posted February 20, 2011 Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 Gerrard is a solid NFL starter, nothing great but adequate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
defiantgiant Posted February 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 Gerrard is a solid NFL starter, nothing great but adequate Yeah, he's in that "can win with this guy" category to me. Nothing special, but gets the job done and he's pretty consistent. He never puts up big yardage because they're such a run-heavy offense, but he's a high-percentage, efficient passer. Leftwich is a solid backup; if he had ever managed to fix that slow delivery, he'd be a decent starter. That's the only real blemish on Musgrave's resume, I think, and fixing a guy's throwing motion is a dicey proposition even with a good QB coach. Not every QB can change the motion he's been using for his whole career. Still, Musgrave didn't manage to rebuild Leftwich's delivery, and that long windup kept him from ever being the franchise QB he was drafted to be. He's a good backup, but you don't want him starting unless your o-line can hold a pocket for 7-8 seconds every play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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