Brady Quinn’s Debut

Last night against the Lions, Brady Quinn played in his first preseason game. He entered the game in the 4th quarter with his team trailing 23-7, and promptly threw for 155 yards and two touchdowns.

The immediate reaction to this is – START BRADDDYY!!! While his performance was indeed impressive, one must consider the following:

- He was playing against third teamers and fodder

- Many of his passes were to HB’s

- He faced very little pass rush.

My first reaction his performance was seeing shades of Derek Anderson last year against the Chiefs. He came in down 28-14, and promptly led the Browns to victory. He looked great, but he faced the prevent the whole time (Herm Edwards is a terrible coach), and its not that hard for a backup to come in and play well. Of course from there, Derek Anderson went to hell.

As for Brady, the only thing I can say for now is SAMPLE SIZE. I want to see more of him in preaseason. He tore it up against fodder and guys that won’t be on NFL rosters – big deal. If he continues to play well, I wouldn’t be completely opposed to having him start Week 1. It scares me a little, but at the latest, he should be starting Week 8 after the bye. The first six games for the Browns are pretty damn hard (Pitt, Cinci, Bal, @ New England, yikes), and it might be better to let someone else get slaughtered in those games. If I had to choose, I’d wait until after the bye – no need for him to get hammered early in the year and maybe lose his confidence.

I don’t get to excited about the preseason, but Quinn at least gives me something to watch for.