Four Downs with Stock & Doc
by Ben Stockwell and Paul Hopkins
18/9/2008
 
This week, the guys reflect on those teams who have had successful and unsuccessful starts to the season, what the Browns should do at quarterback, where Rich Rodriguez goes next with Michigan and whether Ohio State deserve to be mentioned as among the elite in college football after another resounding defeat.
 
The most surprising 2-0 and 0-2 teams in the NFL are:
 
STOCK – Carolina and Jacksonville – Who saw Carolina coming to get to 2-0? Yes some people might have seen them as a playoff threat, but to win those first two games without Steve Smith, that is some outstanding play and the way they've done it playing from behind with clutch drives is eerily reminiscent of their “Cardiac Cat” Superbowl run. With Steve Smith returning this surprise team is only going to get stronger. Contrast that with the Jaguars, going all out for 2008, all out to overhaul the Colts; well they've dug themselves a damned big hole to climb out of haven't they? They've overhauled their wide receivers to give a bigger threat but lost the consistent dink and dunk efficiency. They lost a key member of their defensive tackle rotation to get the ammo to upgrade their outside pass rush. They've tried to upgrade their weaknesses, but have they taken too much away from their strengths?
 
DOC – Denver and San Diego – Jay Cutler has arrived ladies and gentlemen. Now I'm not going to go into dissecting Ed Hercules as that's the job of someone more solemn than me. But the Broncos look the real deal to me right now. I've always thought Cutler looked the part and now with Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal (not to mention Tony Sheffler) the receiver corps is there. Plug in the rusher and the offence will always get you points. The defence was ran a bit ragged by Phil Rivers and the Chargers on Sunday, so that may be their achilles heel but right now, the Broncos look to me, the class of the AFC. On the other hand, the Chargers are now 0-2. And nobody can have seen that coming. By the finest of margins in both games they have lost against teams that most would have thought they would hav put to bed before the end. That has to be a worry for Norv, as does the continued injury question marks over L.T. However, it will come to an end on Monday. Favre rolls into town and the Chargers will begin their clawback to the top of the West.
 
After another poor performance and a 0-2 start, Derek Anderson should be dropped for Brady Quinn immediately.
 
STOCK – FACT ! – He wasn't even that good last year, the stat line was good but frankly with the amount of time he was given to put up lame duck passes for Kellen Winslow and Braylon Edwards to go and make plays on, he'd have been hard pressed not to. He put up equal proportions of good games and bad games and when it counted, he screwed the pooch. Brady Quinn was drafted to be your future; Derek Anderson was viewed as this year's gamble to try to get to the playoffs. Well, after failing to beat two playoff teams from last season (they didn't beat playoff teams last year either) you have to question where this team is going this year. If Anderson can't beat playoff teams then why not move on to Brady Quinn and see where he can take you. If Anderson isn't good enough to lead you all the way, why wait for the future?
 
DOC – FACT ! – This year he hasn't been helped by Edwards in particular dropping some dollies, but the guy has been rumbled. There are only so many times you can sling it up and expect/hope your receivers will make a play. Quinn on the other hand handles himself like an NFLQB, and will play like an NFL QB. As Ben says, you give up a first rounder to take Quinn, it's time for him to come in. The schedule for the Browns is hard, real hard this year, hence why I didn't predict them to get more than .500 at most. So why waste the time, when you've gambled everything on winning now, on a guy who, in two years time everyone will wonder why there was ever any hype about him, when you have your future holding a clipboard? There's plenty of poor teams who would take a gamble on Anderson, so bite the bullet now, and give Brady the time to grow. You never know, he might even salvage the season.
 
After a disastrous start, Rich Rodriguez's Michigan could end the season with a losing record.
 
STOCK – FACT ! – They could end up with a losing record, absolutely, and after predicting them to surprise folks and make a bowl game, I suddenly am not looking so strong on that prediction am I? With their next two games against ranked opponents, one that just came off a big win in Fresno (#8 Wisconsin) and the other a team far more adept at running a spread offence (#22 Illinois), a 1-4 start for Rich Rodriguez is far from out of the question. My quick picks see them at 5-6 headed into their showdown with Ohio State in the Horseshoe on November 22nd. Two years ago that was labelled as the game of the century (and my what a game it was), this time around it'll be Ohio State venting on Michigan as they clinch yet another meaningless Big 10 title. Rich Rod needs to find that running QB to run his offence successfully, how different would things be if he'd managed to land Terrelle Pryor?
 
DOC – FACT ! – Rich would kill for a Terrelle Pryor, or a Pat White right now. Heck, he cannot have thought this would have got off to a worst start. Losing to Notre Dame had to be a point he didn't think was going to come, and this little run is simply going to continue over the next couple of weeks. It looks incredibly likely in my eyes that Big Blue is heading for a losing season, Stockers is heading for more humble pie and the big Ten is – hopefully fading into obscurity where it belongs right now. All is right with the world!
 
After laying yet another goose egg in a big game the BCS voters would be right to stuff the ballot to ensure that Ohio State aren't in the BCS National Title game.
 
STOCK – FACT ! – Except for Ohio State fans (and they must be seriously self-deprecating if they want to see it) who seriously wants to see Ohio State outclassed again on the big stage? We saw it in Glendale against Florida, we saw it in New Orleans against LSU, we saw it in Los Angeles on Saturday night against USC, why do we need to see again that Ohio State simply aren't good enough? The problem is that it's highly conceivable that they will be in position for a re-match with USC in January in Miami. It's tough to see another loss on their schedule; it'll take a special team to run the table in the SEC and Oklahoma seem to find a way to lose a game they shouldn't, thus leaving a 1 loss Ohio State team in position with an early season loss to get to Miami. The media can try to spin us a line about Ohio State being motivated to prove everyone wrong and redemption and all that, but seriously, how many times can they try to sell us this before we stop buying it? Big Ten, please, deal Ohio State another loss and spare them embarrassment of another spanking on the big national stage, it's getting beyond a joke, jokes are only funny the first time or two that you see them.
 
DOC – FACT ! – Jeez they suck on the big stage. Big schools win big games and for that the Buckeyes are simply another run of the mill school. A big reputation, a big history but of late, no credible reputation. I dare say the writers here could beat Youngstown The Buckeyes need to slide down the rankings, reflecting their real position in the elite of college football – i.e. – towards the bottom, and play with those teams rather than the likes of USC. They are just simply no longer in their class, and its beyond a joke that they try to convince us otherwise. So, Kirk Herbstreit – take your Buckeyes and shove 'em. Shove 'em right down outside the top 10. Where they belong.