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Home > Blogs > Dawging the Browns > Archives > 2009 > August > 27 > Entry
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.”
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Comments
By eric
August 28, 2009 12:04 AM | Link to this
Sean, I’m with you. Anderson should be the starter. Mangini is hurting the entire by not naming a starter. Heiden is going to have one of his best seasons because of Mangini’s conservative game.By Tim
August 28, 2009 9:53 AM | Link to this
Just a minute - you say “I vote for the guy with the track record”. Well I hate to bring up the obvious but 2008 goes along with the track record, not just 2007. And while we’re at it, 2007 had 16 games in it. DA had maybe 8 good halves in 2007. So before you start kissing DA’s butt some more look at his track record more closely.By Tim D
August 28, 2009 10:01 AM | Link to this
I think that Brady Quinn manages the team better than DA in the nfl team defences are sophisticated and will play to your weaknesses and DA can’t play small ball because you have to take what the defence gives you when you begin to force things is when you get in trouble he ‘s not very accurate on short passes and that causes turnovers which kill you in the NFL you have to PICK YOUR SHOTS DA has the big arm but we’ll be more efficent with BQ all he needs is some reps. remember Brian Sipe? Great QB no big arm but a winner except for RED RIGHT 88.By Steve M
August 28, 2009 11:25 AM | Link to this
I’m tired of hearing DA made the Pro Bowl. He was an injury replacement. Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger were the 3 quarterbacks elected to the Pro Bowl. Although the fans’ vote counts a small percetange, the votes of the coaches and one’s peers counts more. Does anyone think DA will sniff PRO Bowl unless he’s an injury replacement? Not saying BQ will be a Pro Bowler, but I’d like to see what he can do based on what we invested in him.By eric
August 28, 2009 12:14 PM | Link to this
Everyone knows defenses win games. Until Mangini can get our D on track, it doesn’t really matter who our qb is between the two. Mangini turned the jets defenses around. Hopefully he can do the same with the browns. We have AP the first game.By Matt
August 28, 2009 3:14 PM | Link to this
This is the definition of the bad argument for DA. Backing into the Pro Bowl is completely irrelevant at this point. If you break down what he did statistically, he shredded the worst teams in the NFL in 2007, and fell on his face against the better ones. By the time the end of 2007 rolled around, every team in the NFL had figured out all you had to do to stop Derek Anderson was shut down the long routes and make him beat you in the short game. The result of that was 2008. If your entire argument is that two years ago he beat the snot out of teams that stink, then you have no argument. He has not grown as a player, and has proven he cannot perform when it really counts.By Sean McClelland
August 28, 2009 8:33 PM | Link to this
Those are legitimate concerns, of course, but I’m just not convinced the good part of 2007 was a fluke. It was good enough to get D.A. to the Pro Bowl, alternate or not. It was good enough to have the whole league buzzing about him for a time. I just think he deserves another chance to show what he can do. If he bombs, there’s always the other guy. I’d throw last year out the window. The whole team collapsed.By boris
August 28, 2009 11:25 PM | Link to this
Umm, Sean? Anderson backed into the Pro-Bowl ‘cause Fatheadberger chose not to go. And, if you look at Anderson’s stat’s the last 12 games that’s not a track record that I’d want to use to name a starter. Sorry, but Quinn’s the guy on 9-13!By PocketPressure
August 29, 2009 12:09 AM | Link to this
If people have to argue about how a guy got into the Pro Bowl they’ve already lost the argument. Good article Sean. One of the things you could have pointed out is that Anderson has also been the better player in the QB competition this summer. So not only does Anderson have his good play in 2007 but in a competition tailor made for Quinn to win, Quinn is coming up short. No thanks to a 1st round guy who is supposed to be a franchise player if he can’t do better than this in his 3rd year.By David
August 29, 2009 7:35 AM | Link to this
I realize that Mangini loves his mind games, is a control freak, and looks for every edge he can possibly dredge up, but do you really think that Minnesota’s def coordinator is losing sleep over either of our qb’s? Based on last year and the preseason, if he unleashes his dline, he can probably just sit back and eat popcorn.By browns girl
August 31, 2009 8:57 AM | Link to this
I know that preseason doesn’t make a whole lot of difference, (look what happened to Lions last year) but I was at training camp this year for the Browns and I watched the QB’s, Brady Quinn definitely wants it more than DA. DA was @ camp goofing off and not really doing anything impressive, I watched as Quinn was there in full game mode, he was all business. Also he had Mangini’s full attention.. I believe he’ll be the starter.By Jack
September 2, 2009 1:14 PM | Link to this
Well stated Sean…now with that being said, I fully expect Mangini to annouce Quinn to start. When the Browns start 0-3, he will be able to say he gave Quinn a shot and he could not produce…and now its time to move on.By D
September 4, 2009 10:48 AM | Link to this
Anderson has proven he can’t perform as a starter. His track record is lousy. Quinn needs to start, even if he loses the 1st game he needs to continue.