Nice job. The only factor that counsels in favor of retaining four is the possibility of Bellychuck snatching him up for the playbook.
great write up. just regarding this, i think its gotta be pretty clear that pennington simply gives us the best chance to compete and win now. and thats probably why he'll start. whether beck had a solid camp or not, this could have been the sentiment, upon CPs release.
This is a really good point. The speculation rampant in the South Florida media is, frankly, starting to piss me off. They seem to be clinging to the same story lines you mention above as support for wild speculation concerning Beck's future. It may or may not be true in the end, but printing it at this point is ridiculous considering the fact that cutting/trading Beck just doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense at this point.
I think that McCown goes first. With Chad Pennington around I don't see what having McCown around adds to the team. But I think the order is going to be Chad P./Chad H/Beck. Unless they make a concerted effort to flip flop Chad H. and Beck every game or something. Honestly i think Beck lasts til the Phins gets the a halfway decent offer for him. Some team offers a 3rd rounder or a 4th rounder that can conditionally go then he's gone baby!
I know you're sore about Pennington, as are a lot of folks. But I keep coming back to the idea that all they're doing is substituting Pennington for McCown in their plan for 2008. And by any measure, he's a serious upgrade. For what it's worth, Pennington is the NFL's all-time leader in completion percentage. And for all the talk about Pennington having a noodle arm, here's a stat that might shock you: he's been significantly better than Brett Favre on pass attempts of 20 yards or more over the last four years: [TABLE]Player GS Att Comp Pct Yds Avg TD Pct Int Pct Rating Pennington 40 108 39 36.1 1331 12.3 13 12.0 4 3.7 107.7 Favre 64 290 82 28.3 2963 10.2 32 11.0 35 12.1 66.9[/TABLE] Source Obviously, Pennington has many fewer throws of 20+ yards in that time, but weak arm or not, that suggests he knows right where to pick his spots. Actually, this was another reason I loved the Pennington signing. How much are the Jets REALLY going to change things by week 1? Actually, I think most of the speculation is coming from the national media, more than the South Florida guys. John Clayton said something the other day along these lines (I can't find the link, so you'll have to take my word for it), and PFW did as well.
Pennington becomes the veteran presence in camp and is certainly a better mentor for the young QBs than McCown.