Meadowdale H.S. graduation 2012
Middletown H.S. graduation 2012
Dunbar H.S. graduation 2012
Home > Blogs > Dawging the Browns > Archives > 2009 > August > 27
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Anderson should be the starter
The quarterback derby, at least as it relates to who starts the opener Sept. 13 against Minnesota, is mercifully winding to conclusion. One of these days, even if it’s 10 minutes before that first game, we’ll know.
Head coach Eric Mangini hasn’t asked me (shocking, I know), but I vote for the guy with the track record, however brief it may be. I vote for Derek Anderson.
Not to say Brady Quinn couldn’t get the job done, but Anderson made the Pro Bowl two years ago while receiving all kinds of praise and plaudits from teammates as the Browns exhibited an explosive offense week after week.
We tend to forget Anderson led the team to a 10-6 record in his first season as a starter. Sure, he tossed those interceptions against the Bengals with the playoffs at stake, but the simple fact that the team cracked double figures in wins for the first time since the franchise returned in 1999 should count for more than it seems to be counting for with some fans.
In some fans’ minds, the case for Quinn seems to be that he isn’t Anderson. In a previous post I said it probably has to be Quinn at the start, but mainly because I thought fans would be less forgiving of Anderson if he made a couple of mistakes.
That said, I have a feeling Mangini is going to pick Quinn based on his greater mobility, then turn to Anderson if Quinn bombs or gets hurt. It seems the “competition” might be more about getting both ready to play than it is about picking one over the other.
Meanwhile, Mangini continued to play his cloak-and-dagger games with the media today, refusing to name a starter for Saturday’s third preseason game against the Tennessee Titans, the so-called dress rehearsal.
Most teams want their starting quarterback on the field for the bulk of the snaps with the first team in the dress rehearsal, but since Mangini doesn’t have one yet, he cautioned against reading anything into who plays when against the Titans.
“Somebody has to (start), but the goal is to get a balance,” Mangini said. “That hasn’t changed.”
