If we still need a backup or developmental QB

Don't get blinded by where he was drafted because that is meaningless. Look at how poor his mechanics and decision making were in the games he started. He will be available for free rather sooner than later.. not that I want him on our team even for free.

lancerman said:

Ehhhh the Texans have been a pretty talented team, their issue for the last couple years was almost exclusively bad QB play holding them back.

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The Texans were not a talented offensive team when Hoyer was there. The running backs were terrible

RB:
Alfred Blue
Chris Polk
Akeem Hunt
4 games with the rotting corpse of Arian Foster

and so was the offensive line (not bad against the pass, terrible in the running game). The WR group wasn't terrible, with Hopkins, a declining Nate Washington in his last year, and an overrated Cecil Shorts, but even that was no great shakes.

KontradictioN said:

He won’t be. He played with a lot of talent in college and the coaching staff still had to restrict the playbook due to his weaknesses. His best shot is on the Practice Squad. It’s Hoyer’s job to lose until the team makes a move otherwise.

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lancerman said:

Wishful thinking. Etling is a fringe talent at best that you hope everyone ends up being wrong about.

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So why did our beloved Patriots draft him? Kinda like rolling a dice?

SammyBlueCat said:

So why did our beloved Patriots draft him? Kinda like rolling a dice?

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His 3 post scratching time was off the charts.

IcyPatriot said:

His 3 post scratching time was off the charts.

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What about his red lazer pen test?

SammyBlueCat said:

So why did our beloved Patriots draft him? Kinda like rolling a dice?

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I hope we get to keep him for a year (53 or PS) and see where he is at. Maybe he sucks but his mechanics have been touched up and he played in a relatively pro style offense. I think he has a shot at being a long term backup. In the perfect world that happens and we find the starter next April.

Based on decent minicamp reports I'm going to see how he looks in camp before declaring him a bust.

SammyBlueCat said:

So why did our beloved Patriots draft him? Kinda like rolling a dice?

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7th round draft pick is an incredibly low risk value. They probably liked enough things to give him a chance. Brady was a 6th round draft pick and Belichick had to be talked into making roster room for him. Nobody in the org would lose sleep if Etling isn't on the team 2 months from now.

I think that the hope is that after a year on the Practice Squad, he might be good enough to be an eventual backup.

lancerman said:

7th round draft pick is an incredibly low risk value. They probably liked enough things to give him a chance. Brady was a 6th round draft pick and Belichick had to be talked into making roster room for him. Nobody in the org would lose sleep if Etling isn't on the team 2 months from now.

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mgteich said:

I think that the hope is that after a year on the Practice Squad, he might be good enough to be an eventual backup.

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I'm sure that's the hope, but nobody there will care if he's just dreadful or they have to cut him to make room

lancerman said:

Kurt Warner is the exception not the rule. Warner was a guy who was never given much fo an opportunity and when he did he looked good in college. People saw potential in him. He tried out for the Packers and at that age couldn't beat all time great Brett Favre and then a very competent QB in Brunnell. Therefore he proved himself in other leagues before he got his chance. When Warner was in college and finally got his shot he was recognized, in Arena football he was largely recognized as the best QB they had at the time. He led the league in TD's and yards in NFL Europe.

Etling's had chances to show what he could do and just doesn't pass the smell test. He's not Kurt Warner

And quite frankly most of your list showed much more early promise than Etling. Keenum was also a stud in college. Brunell also looked really good when he played in college and an injury screwed up his trajectory and eventually he lost his starting spot.

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College Kurt Warner couldn’t hold Etlings jock strap. I’ll give Warner all of the credit in the world, and be the first to say that the odds of Etling becoming even a fraction of what Warner was is slim to none, but let’s be careful to not re-write history here.

luuked said:

Don't get blinded by where he was drafted because that is meaningless. Look at how poor his mechanics and decision making were in the games he started. He will be available for free rather sooner than later.. not that I want him on our team even for free.

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I think it can be a bit challenging in terms of trying to project how a certain player may grow in a better environment. We take fliers on guys with good size/speed/etc all of the time, particularly former high round talent.

You’re most likely correct about him, but I don’t blame the OP for suggesting an acquisition for a certain type of “raw” player who was projected by most as a high round draft pick. How the Broncos did/didn’t groom him would only be a piece of the puzzle for me.

Difficult to assess the talent of Etling this early in the season, at least wait for training camp and a couple of preseason games..

Trading guys like Gillislee, Allen et al is a foolish exercise as there is not a lot of value to other teams there... BB likes Allen's role as a blocking TE and that will probably not change all that much.

If Brady retires within the next 2 years our QB will be
1. Teddy Bridgewater
2. Andy Dalton
3. (laughter of derision from the assemblage) Nathan Peterman
4. AJ McCarron

Kraft already screwed up the future by not letting BB trade Brady and keep Jimmy G.

Paxton Lynch sucks.

A developmental project QB is one option. IMHO, Belichick has decided to use this route to find his backup rather than his starter. Etling or an Etling equivalent is likely to head for the Practice Squad, although he could make the 53, with the idea of replacing Hoyer in 2019 or 2020. If Belichick chooses a low level vet for this position (a Bridgewater or Lynch), this player could challenge Hoyer this year or next and have an outside chance to be the future starter.

Another is to look for a QB in the top of the draft. This would require lots of draft capital, perhaps 3 firsts (or 2 firsts and a top player). I think that we tried to move up in the last draft.

Or, we could trade for a vet when the time comes, expected to have a average cap hit of $20M per year. This is Brady's cap hit now, so the cap effect would be minimal. This is a viable default option.
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BOTTOM LINE
There are 2 QB positions for 2020. We need plans for both. I think that Belichick didn't think that it was worth a 4th or 5th to draft a quarterback who would likely be competitor for the backup QB spot this year or in the future. If Belichick saw a potential starter, he'd be on the team.

p8ryts said:

If Brady retires within the next 2 years our QB will be
1. Teddy Bridgewater
2. Andy Dalton
3. (laughter of derision from the assemblage) Nathan Peterman
4. AJ McCarron

Kraft already screwed up the future by not letting BB trade Brady and keep Jimmy G.

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Yeah we should trade the GOAT and keep an unproven backup because we didn’t want to go to the Sb any more right?

Problem is you have it wrong. Lynch asked for Brady in a trade an B.B. laughed in his face and gave him jimmy

I'd be fine with giving Bridgewater a shot to be Brady's replacement if Brady was to retire next year. He's still just 25 and was pretty good in 2015 on a pretty bad team before his injury. His most comfortable projection is probably a Kirk Cousins-level player. It wouldn't be Brady, but Hoyer and Bridgewater and maybe a rookie duking it out next year wouldn't be awful in his absence.

primetime said:

I'd be fine with giving Bridgewater a shot to be Brady's replacement if Brady was to retire next year. He's still just 25 and was pretty good in 2015 on a pretty bad team before his injury. His most comfortable projection is probably a Kirk Cousins-level player. It wouldn't be Brady, but Hoyer and Bridgewater and maybe a rookie duking it out next year wouldn't be awful in his absence.

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Hoyer is emergency only. He chokes.He had Cleveland 7-4 playing for first place and self destructed. He had Houston in the playoffs and threw, I believe it was five interceptions. They were terrible interceptions. He is not a viable starter.