Warner lost — same as McNabb, but with a much better overall offense.

One dimensional teams lose once they throw too many passes trying to play catch up. Do you even need a GED to write for that paper?

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/20090203_Steelers__QB_succeeds_where_McNabb_fails.html

Make sure that you read the comments following the article.

http://950espn.com/Audio/tabid/183/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/3045/Default.aspx

He says he likes the way Andy Reid calls plays……WTF??!!

Those test scores are pulling out something discernible to me. I don’t believe its “intelligence.” I believe it’s something else and it feels different than some other players. At this point, it’s perception and I don’t have all the numbers — so I’d have to hold off. I do believe there are some compelling common threads between these players.

One — Among the low-scorers identified in the article, only Bradshaw has rings. The first two were won largely by the defense even though TB was spectacular in SB X (Swann was MVP). By the time they played SB XIII, the Steelers had the top offense in the league and were accomplished bombers.

Two — These guys all have cannon arms. Not a single one of these players had less than an A-grade arm. Their accuracy differed, but with respect to strength, you couldn’t pull another group of QBs with stronger arms than Bradshaw, Dan Marino, Jeff George, Mac 5, McNair, Vince Young and Jim Kelly.

Three — Each of these players had the reputation for winning games single-handedly. Many of these players did it with their legs, but each was known for being able to do whatever they wanted on the field. This is a Superman list with respect to physical ability.

I’m sure there is someone, somewhere who still swears by this stuff. Obviously if this system causes you to pass up guys like Marino, Kelly, McNabb, McNair and others, there are huge problems.

I’m wondering if those Wunderlic scores are actually isolating a different measure: like a sense of needing to others to succeed or some other quality. The article doesn’t go into sufficient detail to give you a sense of the right brain-left brain components of the test. (I would guess its weighted strongly to one side — the left brain.)

A right-brain player sees the big picture and is capable of implementing a game plan where they bear full responsibility for the outcome. Right-brain players are not SYSTEM QBs. They transcend systems…they’re bigger and better than systems and they give defenses fits.

Eli Manning is a system QB. Peyton is a system QB (it’s his system, but he’s a system QB). Brady is a system QB. Montana was a system QB. I would not be surprised to see players who have excelled in systems do well on this exam.

I believe these SuperMan QBs are largely right-brain players who see the big picture. Roethlisberger plays like a right-brain QB. So did Elway. I believe Steve Young may have been the pinnacle of bridging both approaches to the game (that’s why he has the highest passer rating of any QB in league history).

When you think back about all the plays you remember from these various players, most of the guys with high scores appear to be system QBs…they’re the guys who throw the ball away when the play breaks down. The right brain guys don’t do that…they don’t always go through their progressions (at least not when they’re young…when they get older they get much better). Right brain guys tend to try to keep the play alive because they believe (rightly or wrongly) that they can make something happen — either with their feet or their patience or some skill they’ve picked up along the way.

I would be willing to bet that there is a fairly skewed distribution of QBs along this Wunderlic scale. I’d love to see the numbers and see how closely it corresponds to other metrics. “Scrambling yards” isn’t the best metric…I don’t have a substitute, but the question is worth entertaining. The Wunderlic test may be measuring something entirely different than what people think…I suspect that the most successful QBs may score right around the middle — as long as their on a team with a solid system.

The middle ground players are probably able to do a bit of both. The middle ground distribution may be as “low” as 12 (especially if Marino, Kelly and Bradshaw scored 15′s — assuming they didn’t just blow the thing off.) and as high as 28 (Peyton Manning’s score).

So, if you looked at the Wunderlic Test as a distribution, you’d have:

High Scorers: 40 – 29
Mid Scorers: 28 – 12
Low Scorers: 11 – 0

Of course, with any “test” there are going to be exceptions. I’d love to know where the rings are clustered on that list.

Sista Miranda you and I must share the same brain. I saw that article yesterday and was going to post it.

And my #7 comment was not a smart azz comment about Reid but just an observation that he could stand to lose a few pounds for his health.

Here’s my to do list for the Eagles before the start of training camp in Lehigh:

1. make McNabb an Eagle for the rest of his career
2. re-sign BDawk to a two-year contract
3. ditto Tra Thomas
4. wave goodbye to Jon Runyan, Greg Lewis, Reggie Brown, LJ Smith, and Correll Buckhalter.
5. draft either Beanie Wells or Javon Ringer
6. trade or sign for any of the following: Ocho Cinco, Anquan Boldin, or Tony Gonzalez
7. send Andy Reid to a health spa to lose weight and get away from those wild-azz kids and relieve him of front-office duties and tell him to concentrate on coaching especially the running game
8. mix ingredients vigorously with the mantra of ‘Lombardi’

http://blackathlete.net/artman2/publish/Football_7/Conversion_Rate.shtml
A study of the conversion rate of black quarterbacks in the NFL