Is Russell really better than Quinn?

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by hooskins

But back to the thread, I think there is something else the experts have against Quinn. They just want the bigger, stronger QB rather the smarter experienced one. I still dont get it.

This point is probably worthy of its own thread topic. But since Russell vs. Quinn may be the shining example that ushers in the new era of scouting principles, this may be the best place to make this point.

I'll try to keep this brief. It's not my strongsuit.

Russell vs. Quinn is just the most fitting example of all the problems that are wrong with scouting today. Among them:

1) The gross refusal to learn from past mistakes
2) The overvaluation of skills that do not contribute to winning football OR contribute far less than we are led to believe
3) The TV scouting media is centered around just a few select opinions, and these select few (exception to Kiper) aren't the hardest workers, to say the least.
4) The out-of-control media hype machine and the cutthroat, dangerous nature surrounding the draft.
5) The inability to admit even the possibility that the qualities that created a good football player 40 years ago just maybe might be somewhat obsolete (see: Roy Williams, Dallas Safety)
6) The perception of the draft being a crapshoot and a lack of desire to even attempt to improve scouting techniques to gain a competitive edge.
7) The inexplicable slow nature of incorporating college statistics into the scouting process.
8) The ridiculous emphasis on the combine and the pride that scouts defend the value of the combine with.
9) The ridiculous inability to correctly evaluate NFL talent even when you get to see these guys play every Sunday.
10) The refusal to realize that rookie football players are almost always a liability and the propensity of teams to draft for immediate need, when they should be trying to draft for future need.
11) The propensity to give up on a successful prospect way too early
12) Teams that hold onto a worthless prospect way too long

I'm sure theres a few I forgot, but these inherent biases (and some scouts may avoid Quinn like the plague because they learned to hate ND at a young age...it happens) are causing the draft to become a crapshoot. Either more people will realize stuff like this and there will be a leaguewide upheavel of scouting departments, or a select few teams will fix these principles, and dominate the league while the other teams wallow in their ignorance. With sabremetric football evaluation starting to gain popularity, some teams will get a lot better at avoiding busts in the draft and through FA. The question is, will all teams adhere to this, or just a select few?

These are going to be a very interesting next couple of offseasons.