Fins Should Draft Using "IF" Factor

[EKnight]

I'm not saying speed of graduation should be held highly, lowly, or not at all. I think the idea of disregarding athleticism and numbers in favor of "IF" is dumb to begin with. My point was that if you are going to hang your hat on such a notion, fullfilling your degree requirements ahead of time seems like the kind of thing that would be taken into account. No comment on the Feidler flub? Classy. -EK

[Spider-Dan]

I originally mentioned Fiedler two posts prior ("Jay Fiedler was clearly a better QB than Alex Smith, and I don't see how that's even arguable"), but since you had replied, I was going to move everything I added to the next post.  Then I decided that Fiedler wasn't really relevant and would just sidetrack the discussion.  But fine, you want to talk about Fiedler vs. Smith?

Fiedler is 37-23 as a starter.  Smith is 32-34.
No team in the AFC East finished with a better record than the Dolphins for the first three years Fiedler was a starter.  For Alex Smith, the opposite was true for 6 out of 7 years.
Even with the inevitable end-of-career decline, Fiedler's career passer rating (77.1) is still better than that of Smith's (76.4).
Smith has 4 more career turnovers (99) than Fiedler (95)... and Smith isn't done playing yet.  Oh, and Smith has 8 less TDs right now, 80 to 72.

But hey, you want to argue that a #1 overall pick had good "IF" because his career path might be arguably better than an undrafted journeyman?  Go right ahead.  The fact that you are mounting a defense for #1 overall pick Alex Smith against Jay freaking Fiedler PROVES that Smith was a bust.

[EKnight]

And THOSE are the overwhelming numbers that are supposed to convince me Fiedler was "clearly" better? That's weak. No one on this planet is going to look at their body of work and say, "Oh yeah, Fiedler is head's and shoulders better than Smith. That's obviosu."  I've already stated that "IF" is a dumb way to draft. I have no idea what you're even arguing. You just keep plugging along trying to prove you're right, but that's not going to happen because you're arguing something that I'm not. Do you not get that? -EK

[Spider-Dan]

Wait... so you're arguing in favor of something you don't even believe in?

1) I say that on draft day, Peyton Manning did not have IF.
2) You cited Peyton's speed of graduation (along with some records he doesn't actually hold) as proof of his IF.
3) I point out that Alex Smith graduated even faster, and he's clearly a bust.
4) You say that "'IF' is a dumb way to draft"...?

Why the hell did you even reply to my statement about Peyton Manning in the first place, if even you don't believe "intestinal fortitude" is a factor?  Are you literally arguing just to argue?

[EKnight]

No. But I think you might be. Your intitial statement about Manning was, "The Peyton Manning that came out of college was a silver-spoon choker who lost literally every year to Florida." That sounded like, and came across as- whether you intended it to or not- drafting Manning was dumb because he not only had everything handed to him in college and still lost to a rival three times, but also lacked the "IF" that this thread was about. Perhaps that wasn't your intent, but it reads pretty much like, "Drafting Peyton was stupid." I pointed out Peyton's academic success to indicate that, even if you thought he lacked the ability to win the big game, and even if he was "a silver-spooned choker," and you wouldn't draft him because of that (although I have no idea why you'd pass on Manning for ANY reason) he still had some form of IF as far as I interpret it. I didn't bring Alex Smith up at all- you did, but my response is, no, he's not a bust, and no, he's not clearly inferior to Fiedler. And FWIW, the records I mentioned he DID hold when he graduated. They've been since broken, which I already agreed with and said I should have been more clear. -EK

[Spider-Dan]

So even though we both agree that "IF" is a silly and useless characteristic to base a draft decision on, you will be damned if you're going to let me say that Peyton Manning doesn't have it.  Got it.

It's not my fault if you assumed that I was evaluating anything other than Peyton Manning's IF.  Read the thread before posting.

[MikeO]

And now we have arrived at the logical conclusion of your position.

If your system tells you that Alex Smith is a good choice for the #1 overall pick, your system is fundamentally broken and worthless.

I agree. Alex Smith is a BUST for a #1 overall pick or a first round pick really. There is no way to spin that. For a #1 overall pick he is a total BUST! He has one good year (in which he throws less than 450 pass attempts) and now all of a sudden is a good or great QB, no way! Dude is a marginal NFL starting QB. He is on Ryan Fitzpatrick level.