Really? Matt Ryan had a bad start? You can't be afraid to draft someone because there have been failures at that same position before. That's why the teams drafting at the top usually stay there. Clausen is a once in a decade talent.
once in a decade talent??? sorry, i didnt quite see that out of clausen. that could be, and was, said about a bunch of these guys on the list below.
year/player/draft position
1992 David Klingler 6
1993 Rick Mirer 2
1994 Heath Shuler 3
1997 Jim Drunkenmiller 26
1998 Ryan Leaf 2
1999 Akili Smith 3
1999 Tim Couch 1
1999 Cade McNown 12
2002 Joey Harrington 1
2005 Alex Smith 1
heck, since 2002 alone, you have JaMarcus Russell, Matt Leinart, Alex Smith, JP Losman, Byron Leftwich, Kyle Boller, Rex Grossman, David Carr, and Patrick Ramsey who add to the first round bustage...then there is Quinn (i'll be kind and say the jury's still out on him).
part of the problem is there is no way to know how any of these guys will adjust to reading nfl defenses and to the speed of nfl defenses. another problem is that lots of these quarterbacks were throwing to guys in college who were either consistently wide open or dominated the people defending them, things that arent as commonplace in the nfl.
my fear is that floyd, and especially tate this year, really did some spectacular things for clausen that masked deficiencies.
as far as Shanahan, Michael Wilbon last week said in speaking with "sources" that Shanahan either wanted to stick with Cambell or go the free agent route at QB, preferring to look for a QB in a later round. take that for what it's worth.
should the rams take clausen. i wish i knew the answer to that one. statistically, they will have equal or better luck at finding the answer at qb later in the first round or in later rounds.
