DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum What If?

There are valid points on both sides on putting Dillon in right away. I for one would love to see what we have in him because he has shown some promise. However, I don’t feel this week is a good time. Green Bay may have the best D in football and it would probably be a beat down for him. I don’t want to see him take a beating. The next few weeks are a little better but not much. We should be prudent with him.

As lamp pointed out, every player in his first NFL season is a rookie. It is in fact their rookie season. That's the very definition of a rookie. Very few rookie QB's, even first rounders are ready to start in the NFL that by game three and most not even buy game six. Many of them have been ruined by taking your advice. Waiting until we get to the softer part of the schedule for him to start will give him the best odds of success rather than throwing him into the fire by endangering his success against some of the top teams in the NFL to start off with.

I understand we live in a world where people expect instant gratification but often times we find that ends up being short sighted and counterproductive.

If Gabriel gives us a better chance to win then he should start...I don't GAS that he's a rookie. And NO I am not opining that he gives us a better chance to win. Unfortunately I don't think AB/KS know who does either.

The last rookie QB who played here did quite well.

I think not pointing out the difference between Baker and Gabriele is shortsighted. Baker was the #1 overall pick in the draft. Gabriel was a third round selection. That's a huge difference.

Here is where I am with the quandary..

I fully believe Flacco gives us the best chance to win.. unfortunately, in the first two games, he hasn't done enough to ensure we win. The first game wasn't totally his fault, but the second, he really didn't do much to help.

If I'm wrong, and there is a really good chance I am, and Gabriel (or Sanders for that matter) give us a better chance, then they need to be in there. I understand the theory that sitting improves the odds. However, there are more than enough examples of rookies stepping in and succeeding, simply because they are good enough and belong in this league. Why waste another 3-4 games just because of the opponent they are facing? He sure looked like he belonged last week.. even if it was garbage time.

I fully agree with starting Flacco this week against the Packers, but I would have a very short leash on him and if I made the switch this week again, I would keep it that way moving forward. At least, not go back to Flacco, maybe if Gabriel didn't immediately step up, give Sanders a chance. If neither do for the rest of the season, as it seems to get easier, then we know to invest in the off-season. I don't want to waste another season, not knowing if we have a gem already on the roster. It might not be fair to either Gabriel or Sanders, but in most cases, they would never have had this opportunity to begin with. They don't have to ball out, they need to show consistency and have an aptitude to read a defense and not cost the team with bad mistakes. On the other hand, Gabriel may take the opportunity and not look back. If that happened, then they could use the draft picks to build the team the right way. It doesn't mean I would still look to improve the position in the off-season, but it might help with a high draft pick decision down the line.

...So you were a fan of DTR's work?

Could you give me "many examples" of third round QB draft picks coming in early in their rookie seasons and being successful QB's?

I understand that there are very rare examples of that but they are VERY few and far between.

That's why context matters so much when posting what you did. QB's drafted very early in the draft are chosen that early because teams consider them more "NFL ready". Even then some teams sit them for a while. When you lump them all into a group by calling them "rookie QB's" it indicates every rookie QB fits under the same umbrella and that's far from being accurate. There are reasons why some are drafted later than others and that's a huge factor in the equation.

And actually I haven't see anyone suggest he shouldn't start as a rookie. Many are simply suggesting that as a third round rookie you give him a little more time first and inject him at a point in the season where he won't be facing some of the hardest teams in order to give him a chance to get acclimated first.

I suppose if you believe that starting a third round rookie against top tier competition will change the projection it terms of the Browns making the playoffs I could see your reasoning. But with all of the other needs we have on O I don't see that as being realistic. And if you don't think starting Gabriele right way will make the difference in going to the playoffs I consider the risk of ruining him being overwhelmed straight of the gate isn't worth the reward of possibly winning a few meaningless games.

Even staring him in game six or seven gives you ten or eleven games to assess his talents and progress.