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Wow. Sucks for Russ Grimm. This was a false report, I guess. Pretty much everyone is denying it now. Interesting goings on. ESPN is reporting it's a done deal. But I just heard Adam Schefter on NFL Network say that noone with the Steelers or Vikings are confirming anything. He thinks the Steelers may have chosen Tomlin, but are waiting until Monday to make it official. EDIT: ESPN says sources have told them the deal is done, according to the link. They also say there is no confirmation from the Steelers or Vikes. My opinion is they're waiting until after the playoff games Sunday so as not to steal the playoff thunder and also have somewhat of a spotlight for their announcement.

Excellent decision. He will likely be in or near the top five Heisman candidates preseason and should be guaranteed a first round selection next year if he repeats his numbers.

If we traded for Andruw, it would likely take an extension of a year or two to entice him to waive his 10/5 rights. For 2008, extend him, play Pie in RF, move Soriano to 2b, and make Derosa a supersub. I'd probably be fine with that. Not sure if Soriano would like the move, though. But for me, almost anything that gets Andruw in Cubbie Blue is fine with me.

If we traded for Andruw, it would likely take an extension of a year or two to entice him to waive his 10/5 rights.

I didn't think ARam loved the Cubs enough to throw 20-30 mil in the trash either. Give him 6/96. Give him it right now. I could see him accepting 6/100-110 (18 mil/year). I think anything under 100 mil is too low, even for Z who I believe loves the Cubs. Offering 6/96 would be worth a try though. :)

Ken Whisenhunt, formerly of the Steelers, hired as the new Cardinals head coach. Good signing by the Cards, in my opinion. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2731184

You can say that about quite a few quarterbacks though. Take away Rice, and Montana and Young's numbers changed dramatically. Bad decisions aren't that uncommon among quarterbacks. Favre has how many interceptions in his career? But he's still considered one of the best. And Favre isn't anybody's mentor either. Aaron Rodgers. Bret doesn't walk through everything for him, but I've heard Rodgers say he's learned a lot from Favre.

None of what you say would defend the notion that he'd be a good mentor. He's as turnover prone as any QB in football, he's been great at times, and just as bad at others. He's an inconsistent chucker who has been at the helm, or heavily involved in multiple sinking ship type seasons. He got by on tremendous physical tools, but he's not the same athlete he was back at his best, and given the nature of his injury, probably will never be again. If I ran a team, I would never in a million years* consider him to be the guy to groom the heir apparent. I'd put him in a group with Rex Grossman, Mike Vick and Eli Manning, as guys who are either going to enjoy great success starting with their current team, have frustrating up and down success starting with their current team, or force their team into a complete rebuilding mode with somebody else. *In 5 years, maybe Daunte will have matured as a QB and could become a solid stand-in while the next guy is groomed, but right now, no way. Franchise QB's, or guys who think they are franchise QB's, don't mentor young studs on the rise. Many people said the same thing about Steve McNair throughout his career and yet I think he would have made a great mentor to Vince Young (he did work with Vince extensively while Young was at Texas). And you may be right, it may be five or more years before he really would make a good mentor. I just don't see it as a laughable thought that Culpepper could groom a young QB.

Among all qualified quarterbacks in NFL history (at least 1,500 passing attempts), Culpepper ranks sixth in passer rating. Take away Moss and you have a quite ordinary QB that makes very poor decisions. That's the problem when trying to isolate a player from his teammates. I could argue that Culpepper is actually a good QB because in his time without Moss to throw to, he's been hurt. He hasn't had a significant period of time where he has been healthy and without Moss. I don't think he's as good as the numbers may indicate and that Moss and Cris Carter helped him out, but how good he actually is no one truly knows until he's had a full, healthy season without them.

Among all qualified quarterbacks in NFL history (at least 1,500 passing attempts), Culpepper ranks sixth in passer rating. Wow, didn't realize that. I do have one thing against him: last year (his final with the Vikings) I drafted him in the first round and expected great numbers. Then he was terrible early and then got hurt, basically ruining my season.

That's funny. Not sure what your problem is with Culpepper. Three pro bowls and solid success in Minnesota. With Harrington, I can understand questioning him, but I tend to think that a lot of his problems have been having no one around him. Things changed somewhat when he went to Miami, but outside of Chambers and McMichael he doesn't have great weapons. Again, I'm not crazy about Harrington but I'm not sure you can just write him off from being an adequate mentor. If Culpepper/Harrington qualifty as adequate mentors, everybody in the NFL qualifies as adequate mentors. Miami would be wise to get rid of both and start from scratch if they want to groom somebody. Again, what do you not like about Culpepper? His completion percentage has never dropped below 60%, he's thrown for over 3000 yards four times in his career and in three of his five full seasons he's had at least a 2:1 TD:INT ratio. I think people's opinion of Culpepper has dropped because of his last couple injury-plagued years. And like I've been saying, I won't strongly argue Harrington. I think he could still become productive, to an extent, but I'm not convinced of it.

That's funny. Culpepper's been to three pro bowls, has led the league in passing, etc. He's had some success. Harrington... not so much. And I would be less comfortable with Harrington grooming Stanton to be a starter. But at the same time, there have been crappy players in all sports that have been great teachers/coaches/mentors.

That's funny. Not sure what your problem is with Culpepper. Three pro bowls and solid success in Minnesota. With Harrington, I can understand questioning him, but I tend to think that a lot of his problems have been having no one around him. Things changed somewhat when he went to Miami, but outside of Chambers and McMichael he doesn't have great weapons. Again, I'm not crazy about Harrington but I'm not sure you can just write him off from being an adequate mentor.

I tend to agree, but I'm not completely sold on him. May just not know enough about him. He is a good QB though. I think if the circumstances are right he will be a steal. He needs to go somewhere that he can sit behind a solid veteran for a couple of years, then be ready to take over a competitive team. The other option would be to go to a good coaching situation. I dont follow the NFL regularly so I have no idea where this would be. I know this may not be the most popular thought on this board but I bet either Henne or Brohm is the #1 QB taken next year. I am not saying who will have the best NFL career I am just saying that one of these guys will be the top QB taken. If either one was in Brady Quinns position they would be Top 5 picks this year. I could see the Bucs taking him in the second or third round to replace Chris Simms (I know they say they're high on Simms, but I don't completely believe them) or Miami behind Harrington or Culpepper. Either of those situations would fit your scenario. Not sure about the Miami situation. Culpepper/Harrington, whichever is the starter next year, is a solid veteran. Both struggle on the field, but (Culpepper in particular) both have had some level of success in the NFL.

I tend to agree, but I'm not completely sold on him. May just not know enough about him. He is a good QB though. I think if the circumstances are right he will be a steal. He needs to go somewhere that he can sit behind a solid veteran for a couple of years, then be ready to take over a competitive team. The other option would be to go to a good coaching situation. I dont follow the NFL regularly so I have no idea where this would be. I know this may not be the most popular thought on this board but I bet either Henne or Brohm is the #1 QB taken next year. I am not saying who will have the best NFL career I am just saying that one of these guys will be the top QB taken. If either one was in Brady Quinns position they would be Top 5 picks this year. I could see the Bucs taking him in the second or third round to replace Chris Simms (I know they say they're high on Simms, but I don't completely believe them) or Miami behind Harrington or Culpepper. Either of those situations would fit your scenario.

Agree on Brady. Brady is nothing more then Chad Pennington with SB rings. Does that mean Brady is a GREAT QB, of course, nor am I saying he is a bad QB, he is just overrated. Peyton Manning is still the better QB. I like the Patriots when they beat the Rams (due to the Rams being in St. Louis, come on Chicago, you can't ever root for a St. Lou team) and I was partially to Adam Vintieri. With that said, I should be thankful for the Patriots and the Ravens, seeing as Robbie Gould was given a shot with both clubs. Comparing him to Chad Pennington is a bit harsh. Watch Tom Brady play a bit more often, the guy can make some really great throws and pretty much has carried his team this year. I don't even like defending the guy, but someones gotta play devil's advocate. Tom Brady might be overrated, but he's still a fantastic QB. Look at how consistent his stats are. He always manages 28 or so TD's, lower than 14 Ints, and around 3500-4000 yards passing. He's done this for the past 6-7 years. Pennington's image is hurt by his injury history. Brady hasn't been hurt since he took the starting job from Bledsoe. Even while healthy, Penning hasn't even been CLOSE to Brady in production. Brady does it with worse receiving options to boot. He hasn't been as good, but he has been close. In 2002 (15 games) Pennington threw for 3120 yards and 22 TDs. Brady threw for 3764 yards and 28 TDs. This year (16 games) Pennington threw for 3352 yards and 17 TDs. Brady threw for 3529 yards and 24 TDs. And Pennington isn't exactly throwing to prolific receivers, he's got Lavernaeus (sp?) Coles, Jerricho Cotchery, Justin McCareins and Brad Smith. Brady has Jabar Gaffney, Reche Caldwell, Chad Jackson and Troy Brown. Pennington has better weapons, but not significantly. EDIT: Just FYI, in the same years Peyton has thrown for 4200 yards and 27 TDs (2002) and 4397 yards and 31 TDs (2006). Sure, Peyton can chuck the ball, but they play in different schemes. Brady isn't asked to throw for 4,000+ yards in his offensive system. With that said, its hard to compare anyone because of how much scheme, offensive line, wide receivers and running game weigh on someone's statistics. It's hard, but it doesn't mean it's invalid. Peyton threw 557 times, completing 362. Brady threw 516 times and completed 319. So there is a 41 attempt difference between the players, but that's not that significant a difference. That's 2.5 passes per game more for Peyton. A comparison that, while not perfect, is a more scheme/attempts/style-exclusive is QB rating. Brady's was 87.9 this year, Pennington's was 82.6 and Peyton's was 101. Interesting.

I tend to agree, but I'm not completely sold on him. May just not know enough about him. He is a good QB though.

Agree on Brady. Brady is nothing more then Chad Pennington with SB rings. Does that mean Brady is a GREAT QB, of course, nor am I saying he is a bad QB, he is just overrated. Peyton Manning is still the better QB. I like the Patriots when they beat the Rams (due to the Rams being in St. Louis, come on Chicago, you can't ever root for a St. Lou team) and I was partially to Adam Vintieri. With that said, I should be thankful for the Patriots and the Ravens, seeing as Robbie Gould was given a shot with both clubs. Comparing him to Chad Pennington is a bit harsh. Watch Tom Brady play a bit more often, the guy can make some really great throws and pretty much has carried his team this year. I don't even like defending the guy, but someones gotta play devil's advocate. Tom Brady might be overrated, but he's still a fantastic QB. Look at how consistent his stats are. He always manages 28 or so TD's, lower than 14 Ints, and around 3500-4000 yards passing. He's done this for the past 6-7 years. Pennington's image is hurt by his injury history. Brady hasn't been hurt since he took the starting job from Bledsoe. Even while healthy, Penning hasn't even been CLOSE to Brady in production. Brady does it with worse receiving options to boot. He hasn't been as good, but he has been close. In 2002 (15 games) Pennington threw for 3120 yards and 22 TDs. Brady threw for 3764 yards and 28 TDs. This year (16 games) Pennington threw for 3352 yards and 17 TDs. Brady threw for 3529 yards and 24 TDs. And Pennington isn't exactly throwing to prolific receivers, he's got Lavernaeus (sp?) Coles, Jerricho Cotchery, Justin McCareins and Brad Smith. Brady has Jabar Gaffney, Reche Caldwell, Chad Jackson and Troy Brown. Pennington has better weapons, but not significantly. EDIT: Just FYI, in the same years Peyton has thrown for 4200 yards and 27 TDs (2002) and 4397 yards and 31 TDs (2006).

For whatever reason he's fallen off the map. Not sure if it's because he struggled this year or just because Michigan State was so bad. A poster earlier said he was likely behind Troy Smith which likely puts him low 2nd, early 3rd at best.

Which is very likely somewhere in the second round, if not early third. I think he'd be fighting Ainge (and probably one or two others, not sure about next year's QB class) for the first QB taken if he left next year. Brohm, Henne, and I think Booty if he's eligible. Many thanks, I forgot about them. Still think Brennan or Ainge, assuming a repeat, can go ahead of them. Of course, it's moot for Brennan now. I don't think Brennan or Ainge could have topped Booty next season if they all had similar seasons. The question is, will they all have similar seasons. Ainge has lost his top three receivers and the #1 option will be sophomore Josh Briscoe. But, he has one of, if not the best, QB coaches in the nation in David Cutcliffe. For Booty, he's losing Steve Smith and Dwayne Jarrett but I'm sure he has plenty of talent waiting in the wings. Both had similar numbers last year with Ainge missing essentially two games (he threw six passes, all incomplete in the LSU game) and showing signs of injury in the Kentucky game. If both Booty and Ainge have similar years, I agree Booty goes first. I'm just not sure Ainge won't be better, if the running game has early success.

Not sure if this is a very good move. He's got a lot of talent, but it would seem smarter to play another year in June Jones' spread offense and show off his talents a little more. I figure he'd better do great at the combines to compete with Quinn, Russell, et al. Yeah, I think he should have stayed another year as well. There is always skepticism about how good the quarterback in these gimmick passing offenses (Hawaii and Texas Tech) actually is and I think another year would have only helped his draft stock. I don't think he's a product of a gimmick offense simply because unlike many QBs that throw an average of 50 times a game, he has a very high completion percentage. That means he's efficient with his passes and most QBs that are products of gimmicks are not efficient. I do think NFL scouts will worry about that and he'll drop because of it, though. Thanks for pointing that out. I didn't realize he had such a higher completion percentage than Timmy Chang before him and the Texas Tech QB's the past few years. If I recall correctly, it's somewhere in the 70's. I could be rembering wrong but I do know it stood out when they announced it during the bowl game. EDIT: Brennan was at 72.6%, Chang at 54.9, Graham Harrell at 66.8, Cody Hodges at 66.5, Sonny Cumbie at 65.6 and Kliff Kingsbury (probably the best of the bunch) at 69. So Brennan's not as much better then them as I thought, but he's still a few points higher than the most highly regarded of the rest.

Somewhat along the lines of what BCB81 said, it's not so much putting up better numbers, it's about repeating. If he puts up similar numbers to this year, especially the completion percentage, I think he rises up the board quickly. Plus, after coming out of a JUCO, it couldn't hurt to prove your worth for one more year and end any questions that last year may have been a fluke.

Which is very likely somewhere in the second round, if not early third. I think he'd be fighting Ainge (and probably one or two others, not sure about next year's QB class) for the first QB taken if he left next year. Brohm, Henne, and I think Booty if he's eligible. Many thanks, I forgot about them. Still think Brennan or Ainge, assuming a repeat, can go ahead of them. Of course, it's moot for Brennan now.

Which is very likely somewhere in the second round, if not early third. I think he'd be fighting Ainge (and probably one or two others, not sure about next year's QB class) for the first QB taken if he left next year.

Not sure if this is a very good move. He's got a lot of talent, but it would seem smarter to play another year in June Jones' spread offense and show off his talents a little more. I figure he'd better do great at the combines to compete with Quinn, Russell, et al. Yeah, I think he should have stayed another year as well. There is always skepticism about how good the quarterback in these gimmick passing offenses (Hawaii and Texas Tech) actually is and I think another year would have only helped his draft stock. I don't think he's a product of a gimmick offense simply because unlike many QBs that throw an average of 50 times a game, he has a very high completion percentage. That means he's efficient with his passes and most QBs that are products of gimmicks are not efficient. I do think NFL scouts will worry about that and he'll drop because of it, though.