How Bad is Brady Quinn?
December 30, 2012; Denver, CO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Brady Quinn (9) leaves the field after the game against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Broncos won 38-3. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
This season, and in reality over the last few years, the Seattle front office has been making so many prudent transactions that it’s beginning to approach infallibility in the eyes of many fans. With the recent signing of Antoine Winfield, on a very reasonable contract, the legend of John Schneider grows further. It is not my goal to discredit the Seahawks GM because I agree with most of the praise he has been getting wholeheartedly. Perhaps for that very reason my standards for this front office have reached unreasonable levels, but alternatively I think that each transaction can be evaluated for its merits in isolation.
With this in mind I find the Seahawks signing of Brady Quinn both puzzling and problematic. In a perfect world Brady Quinn will never take a snap for the Seattle because Russell Wilson will be durable or, preferably, invincible. However, football is a violent game where injuries are common and as a result it is important to have quality depth, especially at the game’s most important position. Brady Quinn is not quality depth. I’d go so far as to say that Brady Quinn isn’t an NFL caliber quarterback. I don’t know if the Seahawks believe that they can unlock some hidden potential in Quinn but he turns 29 this year so you can color me skeptical.
Here is a look at Brady Quinn’s careers stats:
Games Started |
Record
Yards
TD
INT
Yards per Attempt
Passer Rating
TD%
INT%
Completion %
20
4-16
3043
12
17
5.5
64.4
2.2
3.1
53.6
I know that the win-loss record is a bit of an unfair way to evaluate quarterbacks but it helps paint a picture of Quinn’s relatively legendary ineptitude. Things do not look rosier when we delve into some of the more advanced statistics. Keep in mind that for every statistic in the table below, 100 is the league average.
Yards per Attempt+ |
TD%+
INT%+
Completion%+
Sack%+
Passer Rating+
71
78
95
78
91
76
Quinn approaches adequacy when it comes to avoiding sacks and interceptions but proves woeful in all other facets of quarterbacking. Quinn is mildly athletic, having rushed for 4.2 yards per carry and 7.7 yards per game in his career but he can’t run the read-option. It’s not as if he’s a grizzled veteran that has some kind of unique perspective to offer in the locker room (if you are the type who thinks that sort of thing matters). Quinn also did not make great strides last year which might have suggested he would improve on his career numbers in the future. His QBR in 2012 was 27.4 (average is 50), a career low and good for 35th in the NFL. (Only 39 quarterbacks threw enough passes to qualify.)
I wish I had some profound insight to add here. All I have to say is that Brady Quinn is an abysmal NFL quarterback and I can only hope that John Schneider finds someone better in the draft or that Josh Portis can step into the backup role. Usually, whether I agree or not, I can find the logic in the transactions made by the Seahawks’ front office, but this time I’m dumbfounded.