Don't Judge Brady Quinn Based on Last Year in Cleveland

I remember watching a game last year in week 2, which was ironically against the Denver Broncos. Being a lifelong fan of Notre Dame, Brady Quinn was the best quarterback they had since Joe Montana. After he graduated, I couldn't wait to see what he could do at the NFL level.

After two frustrating years of seeing him mostly wearing a headset, it looked like he was finally going to get his shot at starting. My excitement to finally see him as a pro immediately turned sour. I was watching that game with a couple of Bronco fans. They told me they felt sorry for Quinn out there.

I asked them why. They said because he is a good kid who deserves a fair chance, and he has no chance out there. Other than Joe Thomas, that line was horrible. He also had nobody to throw to. His best receiver was Braylon Edwards, who is known more for his big drops than his big grabs. Not to mention Jamal Lewis was old.

From that point on, I knew he would struggle the rest of the year. He got benched a week later in favor of Derek Anderson for a few games. Anderson had even worse luck than Quinn.

Then Quinn got the job back for a Monday Night game against the Baltimore Ravens. In that game, ESPN's Ron Jaworski said that Quinn had no chance. Jaworski also said that it wouldn't matter if it were Tom Brady or Peyton Manning out there. In other words, no quarterback could have succeeded with that team.

A week later, the Browns played the lowly Detroit Lions and Quinn had a career day. He threw for over 300 yards and 4 touchdowns. Granted it was against the Lions, but it did show that Quinn does have the ability to perform when his offense isn't completely outmatched by the defense.

A couple of weeks later he had another really good game in which he carved up the San Diego Chargers defense. The rest of the time he struggled, although the team did start winning with him before he got injured.

The point is that he was in an awful situation, and it started the day Eric Mangini was hired. One of the first things he did was trade Quinn's favorite target Kellen Winslow, and replaced him with Robert Royal. Then he refused to trade him to Denver last year when it was reported that Josh McDaniels wanted him then.

While we never know how true rumors are, there has to be some truth to it since McDaniels acquired Quinn this offseason.

Mangini decided that he would keep both Quinn and Anderson and let them battle it out. Meanwhile, he would trade away or waive all of their good receivers, and replace them with unproven rookies Mohamed Massaquoi and Brian Robiskie.

Also, Mangini brought in horrible offensive linemen highlighted by John St. Clair, who looked more like an el matador than a right tackle.

Quinn and Anderson had to split reps and neither was able to develop chemistry, because neither was given the right number of reps it takes to do so. It really isn't that difficult to see why both struggled.

There is one game that Bronco fans should remember, and it is not that week 2 disaster last year. It was his debut start two years ago when the staff that drafted him was still in place. In that game he took a last place team to near victory against a team contending for a playoff spot.

Bronco fans can only hope that that is the Brady Quinn they are getting. Although he will be the backup initially, I think Denver will be happy with this trade. One way or another, don't judge him based on what he did in Cleveland. Everybody struggles there.