NFL16 Cherry Picks W15: Young Guns Blazing But Stars Tom Brady, Big Ben, Eli & Aaron Stand Ready

Dec. 13, 2016

Minute Waltz - NFL Week 14

Who better than Giants to play giant-killers: Pack (08/12), Pats (08/12) and now Dak’s Dallas Cowboys (16 (2))? Oregon State Beavers (67)?

With Ryan “Rodney Dangerfield” Tannehill now out on an ACL sprain, mature Matt Moore (32, 6‘3“ (OSU)) should fill-in fine for the Fish: Career: 13-12, 60C%, 33t-28i; 2009 (CAR): 4-1, 62C%, 8t-2i.

Whatever happened to 6-foot defensive backs (Dillon, Barney, Lott, Krause, D.Woodson, Tunnell, Atwater, Christiansen, Lewis, Blount, Vincent, Scott, Harrison, Easley, Harris, Fencik, Browner, etcetera)? Mr. Mighty Mite loves to fire in missile-mode but just can’t cover on the catch and nobody seems to care.

Kudos to Colts’ Frank Gore in passing Cowboys' great Tony Dorsett to claim #8 on the NFL's rushing leaders list.

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They are the Young Guns of NFL 2016.

They are the bounty of budding pro quarterbacks, aged 22 to 25, many of whom are leading their respective teams to more victories than most of us could’ve imagined just a few months back. And with every win that keeps their teams over the .500 mark, they, their teammates and teachers, give their NFL fans hope for the future.

Jared Goff (Los Angeles): 22, rookie, 0-4, 54C%, 4-5

Cody Kessler (Cleveland): 23, rookie, 0-8, 66%, 6-2

Dakota Prescott (Dallas): 23, rookie, 11-2, 66%, 20-4, 4 GWD

Jameis Winston (Tampa Bay): 23, 2d-yr, 8-5, 62%, 23-12, 2 GWD

Marcus Mariota (Tennessee): 23, 2d-yr, 7-6, 62%, 25-8, 1 GWD

Carson Wentz (Philadelphia): 24, rookie, 5-8, 64%, 13-12, 1 GWD

Trevor Siemian (Denver): 24, 2d-yr, 7-4, 61%, 16-7, 2 GWD

Blake Bortles (Jacksonville): 24, 3rd-yr, 2-11, 58%, 21-15, 1 GWD

Jacoby Brissett (New England): 24, rookie, 1-1, 62%, 0-0

Jimmy Garoppolo (Patriots): 25, 3rd-yr, 2-0, 70%, 4-0, 1 GWD

Bryce Petty (New York Jets): 25, rookie, 1-1, 56%, 2-4

Derek Carr (Oakland): 25, 3rd-yr, 10-3, 64%, 24-5, 6 GWD

For signal-callers Kessler, Goff and Petty, sizable slack should be cut each as their respective teams are so discombobulated that their combined win-total wouldn’t even make double-figures (8).

Blake Bortles was dealt a similar sad hand when he took controls of Jaguars’ offense two years ago (4-12 (‘13)), a franchise that hasn‘t had a winning season since 2007. It’s a team sport, sure, but it’s also a quarterback-League and while Jags upped the win total to five (5) in 2015 they’ll be hard-pressed to match that number in 2016.

And then the Patriots young backups in Jim Garoppolo & Jacoby Brissett will likely need new teams if they plan on using those guns (arms) to fire off many spirals, with starter Tom Brady looking like he could be playing well into the next decade.

Those are the guys still a bit wet behind the ears.

There are other NFL quarterbacks who clearly qualify as veterans of the game but having just entered their prime, far from that stage where a QB contemplates retirement (Romo, Big Ben, etc.) and can still be fairly classified as younger guns.

Those priming pigskin professionals include Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck, Brock Osweiler, Kurt Cousins, Ryan Tannehill (5), Cam Newton and Buffalo Bills' Tyrod Taylor (6).

But before you get in a tizzy about the youthful talent, remember who runs this NFL Territory, Misters Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Joe Flacco, Matt Ryan, Andy Dalton, Phil Rivers, Carson Palmer (Romo opted-out), Sam Bradford, Matt Stafford, Drew Brees, Jay Cutler, Tom Brady and Alex Smith.

Not all those guys are playoff bound but may play a role in deciding who does get their ticket punched for the Super Bowl tourney.

One of the best things about Brady? His arms. That’s right, his arms. Not just the tight spirals his right arm tosses but that they look normal, like your average guy, like he doesn’t spend half his life in the weight room. The best QBs work their mind more than their biceps. And they’d better with the on-rushes they face.

No doubt Tom’s in top physical form and can press close to 300, a benchmark for football men. But he’s mastered the pro game largely with his mind, not in over reliance on the muscled athleticism so much in vogue today, i.e., flash-QB.

Cherry Picks Week 15

Dolphins (8-5) @ Jets (4-9): 12.17 NFLN 8:25: Miami wins

Packers (7-6) @ Bears (3-10): 12.18 Fox 1:00: Packers win

Philadelphia (5-8) @ Ravens (7-6): Fox 1:00: Baltimore wins

Tennessee (7-6) @ Kansas (10-3) GTW: CBS 1:00: Chiefs win

Pittsburgh (8-5) @ Cincinnati (5-7-1): CBS 1:00: Bengals win

Detroit Lions (9-4) @ Giants (9-4) GTW: Fox 1:00: Giants win

Indianapolis (6-7) @ Minnesota (7-6): CBS 1:00: Colts win

New Orleans (5-8) @ Arizona (5-7-1): Fox 4:05: Cardinals win

Oakland Raiders (10-3) @ Chargers (5-8): CBS 4:25: Bolts win

New England (11-2) @ Denver (8-5) GTW: CBS 4:25: Pats win

Tampa (8-5) @ Cowboys (11-2) GTW: NBC 8:30: Dallas wins

Carolina (5-8) @ 'Skins (7-5-1): 12.19 Disney 8:30: DC wins

Record: 61 - 75 - 2

Steven Keys

NFL HunchLine

Photo credit: D.Prescott, wc.cca, 9.18.16, K.Allison; J.Winston, wc, D.July, 10.18.13; T.Brady, 8.28.9, K.Allison, wc, DC; D.Carr, E.Drost, wc, OH, 9.27.15; D.Carr, wc, Sgt.B.Parrish, DVIDS, USArmy, 1.31.16, PB-HI; A.Rodgers-P.Willis, wc, 9.9.12, M.Morbeck; cherries-cloth, wc, 6/11, picdrome; NFL-symbol, wikiproject