Redskin fans want Boller

[Art-Florida]

From a Washington Redskins board, of all places...


Re: OT: Ravens OC resigns dispute over starting QB One of the interesting little tidbits forgotten in the boosting of the McNair signing in the offseason is that Boller appeared to "Get it" in the second half of last season. For whatever reason nobody seemed to notice.

His games during his "Get It" Period:

11/20/05 Vs Pitt: 21 of 36 for 163 yards, 1 TD and 1 Int in 16-13 win over Pittsburgh

11/27/05 @ Cincy: 18 of 32 for 211 yards, 3 TD's and 2 Int's in 29-42 loss

12/04/05 Vs Houston: 17 of 33 for 198 yards, 0 TD's and 0 Int's in 16-15 win

12/11/05 @ Denver: 23 of 39 for 251 yards, 1 TD, 2 Int's in 10-12 loss

12/19/05 Vs Green Bay: 19 of 27 for 253 yards, 3 TD's and 0 int's in 48-3 win

12/25/05 Vs Minny: 24 of 34 for 289 yards, 3 TD's and 1 Int,
in 30-23 win

1/01/06 @ Cleveland: 15 of 36 for 151 yards, 0 TD's and 2 Int's in 16-20 loss.

Then this past week:

10/15/06: 17 of 31 for 226 yards, 3 TD's and 1 Int.

I am guessing the Cleveland finale is what cost him a chance in '06, but am not sure. 5 of his final 7 starts of the 2005 season could and should be described as solid or excellent. Indeed all were excellent in my view save three. Then he plays this sunday and is terrific again.

Basically if you start at his sunday game preceeding thanksgiving last year what you have are eight starts, double it and you have a potential season, what has he done in the seven starts plus this past sundays game?

154 of 268 (just about 59% completion rate) for 1,742 yards and 14 TD's and 9 picks.

Certainly far and away the best he's ever played.

Why noone noticed this seeming light bulb coming on I have no idea. Essentially he gets it now, or at least has given a great sign that he's turned the corner and now and is ready to be an NFL QB. In his last 8 appearances he's looked solid or great in essentially six of them.

I think Fassel is probably right. Why did it take Boller this long (if indeed he gets it). Go back to his time at Cal. Tom Holmoe got one of the best QB prospects to come out of California in half a decade and preceeded to destroy his college career. The only time Boller even got anything resembling a chance in college was with Tedford's arrival in Boller's last season. The season preceeding that I believe Cal went 1-10. Then Tedford came in, and Boller was one of the best QB's on the west coast instantly but still it was only one season of quality work in his entire college career after basically working in a joke offense with a joke coach the previous three years. That would explain why his learning curve might be a bit long, much like KRob, if you only really have one season of quality college experience, you're probably gonna be a bit behind the curve.

[darb72]

I didn't know there was an argument amongst the coaches about who should be the starting QB.

Has anybody else heard this?

[Greg]

I hadn't heard it.

That's a decent synopsis but I think it over-states what he accomplished in those games. That Denver game, despite being better than what McNair did in Denver, wasn't quite as good as the stats indicate.

[StingerNLG]

Link??

[StingerNLG]

Apparently it's not just Redskin fans. Check this out from a COWBOY'S forum:

http://mb19.scout.com/fcowboyupdatef...D=114937.topic

Am I the only one who thinks this kid can play? Starting at the end of last year he was starting to finally get "it" and he put together some good games, now he comes in to replace the washed up steve mcnair and throw 3 TDs...

If the ravens would rather fool around with old washed up has beens at QB, then I say make a play for him and see if Romo can beat him next year.

I think Kyle Boller is actually a solid young QB. In the right offensive scheme I think he could be really good. IMO he should be starting over McNair. My 2 cents

[/quote]As for Boller, I think he might have a chance now that he's had a chance to sit back and catch his breath for a little bit. If someone were patient with him and really tried to limit his mistakes -- like Shanahan has done with Plummer -- I think he might be a low-risk gamble for someone. You've got to like that he has some athletic ability and the compact release, plus the big arm. [/quote]

[Greg]

I hope he gets a chance again here before he leaves.

[purplepoe]

When your QB is stinking up the joint (i.e. Bledsoe before the Houston game), any other QB looks good.

You can look at stats like these guys have (Stinger did point this out) and say "Gee, that Boller guy was very solid down the stretch last season". But I'll bet they didn't see the first half of say the Cincy game and realize we looked like a JV team.

This happens to announcers as well. There have been numerous telecasts of Ravens away games where I hear the announcers introducing the OL and stating that they are one of the best.

I remember specifically Dick Enberg commenting on how good of a center Mike Flynn is. We all know he sucks.

It goes both ways. Take AD for example. We all know how great of a player this guy is and he's just finally getting recognized. Say he and Joey Porter both hit the F/A market and visit each team in the league and each team had a chance to sign either one. Who do you think most teams' fans would want their team to sign? I'd bet 90% would want Porter even though AD is more versatile and probably an overall better player.

Now, Im not saying Boller can't be a decent QB somewhere, but you have to take what other teams' fans say with a grain of salt.

PP

[Greg]

purplepoe, I agree, I just don't want to let this guy leave without giving him another shot. I think he needed some time without the pressure on him, if he uses this time as he apparently is and gets a jolt of confidence and learns he might just be something.

[StingerNLG]

Of course. Just like we talk good and bad about other QB's in the league. Believe it or not, and contrary to the popular belief, not that many people outside of Baltimore REALLY know Kyle Boller, or have seen him play for a reasonable amount of time. You have the people who do Sunday Ticket, but the majority of fans are able to watch their team, and then see highlights of other teams on SportsCenter.

I think though that also despite what the other popular belief in the Baltimore fanbase is, there are a number of coaches around the league that would be interested in seeing if they could harness that arm Boller has. I firmly believe in 2 years he could go to Kansas City and at the least compete for that job when Trent Green retires. And I'm sure Brad Childress watched the game film from Baltimore/Minnesota last year and could see Boller as a workable possibility when Brad Johnson is ready to call it a career. Both those teams have good offensive lines that could protect him as well.

That's why while I still believe at this point in time that Boller is done as a QB here in Baltimore, it's laughable when people roll out the "there's no head coach in the league that would sign Boller to start for them". There are going to be coaches who think in their system with their OL he could play and win.

[Tspot-D-Ravenator]

I hope he gets a chance again here before he leaves.

Me too Greg, me too

[StingerNLG]

purplepoe, I agree, I just don't want to let this guy leave without giving him another shot. I think he needed some time without the pressure on him, if he uses this time as he apparently is and gets a jolt of confidence and learns he might just be something.

I just don't see it at this point, IF that whole "the team doesn't believe in Boller" crap that Preston spews all the time is actually true. If it is, then Boller has no chance here anymore. And there are those in the media who simply will never like him, and will always do things to tag him. I hate to bring this up, because it's absolutely against the grain, but our own Aaron Wilson can't write Kyle Boller without calling him "Erratic Kyle Boller". At the same time, he actually called Clarance Moore "imposing". Certain radio hosts continue to call him "awful" no matter what he does, despite the fact every QB in this system has been awful. Preston will never ever in his life give Boller an ounce of credit. And we don't need to go there anymore because it's more than obvious. We even have PFT writing on their site that the reason the defense sucked on Sunday was that they have such contempt for Boller that they "mailed it in".

With all this going on in the city as well as the portion of the fanbase that will never give Boller credit for anything, I just don't see how he gets another shot here. There's simply a hated for the kid that you don't see in other cities. It sucks, but it's true.

[purplepoe]

Stinger

That's why I can't even listen to most shows anymore. The level of ignorance on ALL topics is astounding.

The PFT bullshit was unreal. It was pure speculation with stuff like "we think" and "our opinion". Then people read it and tell their buddies that the team tanked because of Boller.

Next thing you know, Joe Blow at the grocery store is talking about it too. It goes on and on.

I don't think Boller is very good. But I never questioned his heart or his effort.

And you're right, he's done here in Baltimore unless something crazy happens this season where he leads us to something nobody expected.

The next few weeks are the crossroads for this team as we know it. It's sink or swim. To be honest, Im not all that confident we're gonna swim.

PP