At number 3 the Chiefs should take a QB...

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by cdcox

If "afforded the excuses" means "shown more patience" then yes of course. Do you honestly think every player should be given the same opportunities?

My observation is that low draft choices who far-far exceed expectations start fast and keep improving steadily: Jarred Allen, Terrell Davis, Tom Brady. I don't know too many that take a long, slow painful development. For example, I'm not expecting Page to develop into a pro-bowler. He's a great 7th round pick, but we still need better play at safety, and I don't expect he'll improve much more than he has. He can be a contributer, and could fill in as a starter another year or so, but I'm not going to give him another 2 years to develop in hopes that some how he will become the player we need. But a fair number of 1st rounders need a few years of adjustment in to the NFL, and I'm very willing to give them that chance.

Would a few more late round guys develop if given the same opportunities as the early round picks? Sure. But the return on investment would be very low. You'd have to keep a ton of turds to find a few diamonds. No NFL team can afford to do that.

cdcox, I agree that I get frustrated with people who use the argument "Brady succeeded as a 6th rounder, therefore all 6th round QBs deserve a shot." I can understand that argument. But I think once you start in the NFL, draft status goes out the window. Especially when you talk about a raw QB like Thigpen. I think it'd be different if Thigpen was a failure at the college level, but his draft status was downgraded because of the level of competition he played, not because of his measurables. but because of the school he played for.

I don't think you mortgage your future on the kid. But the kid has never been given a true chance to succeed. He's never had a real QBs coach and 95% of the attention from the coaches went to Croyle. He never played with a full playbook, as it was improvised in midseason. He never played alongside a decent running game. He never had the luxury of a defense that could help him win games. He never got to work with the top receivers like Bowe or Gonzalez until midseason.

I think Thigpen has proven enough to at least deserve a shot to be the favorite for next year's starting job. You have to bring in strong competition, but to suggest that he hasn't shown potential is ignoring the circumstances. Thigpen was thrown into a really lousy situation and while he didn't end great, he played about as well as you'd expect of anyone at that experience level.