Comments on: Russell Wilson, Peyton Manning

By: Dave in Tucson

Dave in Tucson — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 21:04:39 +0000

…and now that I’ve thought about it some more, there’s a real good reason why the Cardinals might be on Manning’s short list.

The Cardinals have a solid D, good special teams, and an adequate running game. They made it to the Super Bowl in the 2008 season, and could easily be one good QB away from making another run deep into the playoffs.

And unlike the Dolphins, they have an established coaching staff, and unlike the Jets, their HC isn’t a flake. The Broncos might be one of the few clearly better choices: they’ve got a good defense, and a good running game, and with a solid QB they’d easily be the favorite to win the AFC West again.

D∈T

By: Dave in Tucson

Dave in Tucson — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 20:42:59 +0000

Another reason teams might not want Manning–even if he is healthy, and can throw, he’s going to be 36 in just a couple of days. Best-case scenario, he’s healthy and as a Favrian late-career resurgence and plays 4 or 5 more seasons at a reasonably high level.

There’s a lot of scenarios (many that seem to me more likely) that aren’t so rosy: maybe he gets hurt again, or maybe he just doesn’t have the stamina to make it through a 16 game regular season + 3 or 4 playoff games. Is it worth it to sign him if he can only play one or two more seasons?

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 18:08:52 +0000

I disagree that Manning over Flynn is a no brainer. We don’t even know if Manning can actually play this year or ever or if he plays whether he will be the same guy (arm strength; accuracy;etc). Or how soon he’ll be back on the sidelines with his 5th serious neck injury. Flynn offers lots of upside but the sample is really small 2 and half games is not a lot to go on.

As i see it it is a weighing of unknowns.

By: tangysizzl

tangysizzl — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 17:47:06 +0000

Russell Wilson is a talented QB, if he was 2 inches taller he wouldn’t make it past the 2nd round. I feel like he will make some team very happy that they took a chance on him. His accuracy, his mobility and his decision making are top notch, that usually translates well to the pros.

As to the Flynn vs Manning debate well, if it a choice between the two then its a no brainer. Manning is one of the best to ever play the game, Flynn is a big question mark still.

Miami’s pursuit of Manning likely comes from the top and not so much from Philbin so anyone that thinks its an indictment of Flynns ability is jumping to conclusions.

Now if Miami doesn;t land Manning and they still don’t pursuit Flynn then people can start talking about the red flags it sends up.

By: awhayes

awhayes — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 14:00:08 +0000

very solid point dave. the cards did have problems with that last year and it’s one of the reasons why i thought kolb really wasn’t as bad as it seemed. manning does get the ball out almost instantly on most plays, but he might be far more comfortable in a place like miami with Jake Long watching his backside than in az. good point.

By: awhayes

awhayes — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:58:40 +0000

good point 56 – local talk radio was talking about this very thing yesterday. what does all this manning stuff mean for flynn? i think it comes down to the likelihood that manning has the talent to take a mediocre team and turn them into a playoff team instantly – whereas flynn, as impressive as he’s been, would likely need a few years to build toward this. i also think there remains some skepticism, fair or not, about whether flynn will really turn out to be as good as his apparent reputation.

By: Dave in Tucson

Dave in Tucson — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 03:52:34 +0000

One reason P.Manning might not want to come to the Cardinals: their o-line kinda sucks. A lot. One of the things I saw quite often was Kolb and Skelton running for their lives from various pass rushers.

The Cardinals gave up a combined 54 sacks, which is really not good. Of course, Manning is (presumably) a lot quicker than Kolb or Skelton at reading coverages and finding an open guy, but I would think a guy who is coming off multiple neck surgeries would think twice about the idea of lining up behind that line…

D∈T

By: 56Coop

56Coop — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 17:58:04 +0000

I totally agree with the AZ take and watch out if Reggie Wayne comes with him. Does it say anything about Matt Flynn that both the Dolphins & the Seahawks,the two teams which have close ties with Flynn, are so agressive in going after Peyton? I understand that they both want to win now but I would think that if Flynn is all he’s cracked up to be that at least one of them woiuld be thinking long term. Then again, since Peton is saying he wants to decide within a week I suppose they’ll still have their shot at Flynn should they not land Manning.