Trent Dilfer

[Beerball]

I should clarify. It's more like one person in the shoutbox is trying to convince everybody else that due to his Super Bowl ring he's not only elite, but better than Kelly, Marino etc.

So, one person caused you to start this thread? You should have more confidence in yourself and what you believe.

I think the fact that his name is synonymous with average is enough evidence.

and yet you come here for affirmation?

You kind of answered your own question there.

and you have done the same.

 

"You're an idiot, and I'm not wasting time on you any more."

Hard to argue.

[Dibs]

With a lot of luck I think the Bills have a chance to Dilfer the Super Bowl this season.

[enlightener]

is butter non fattening? i think is a less obvious question. nice post. not.

[Beerball]

I think that once we get this to 99% we'll know for sure.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

Settle a debate for me.

 

is this a trick poll to get us to believe that Cassel can win us a superbowl?

 

This. There are actually quite a few superbowl winning QB who fall into the category of "servicable NFL QB but not elite" IMO.

The only real debate is whether this can still happen - I would argue "yes *cough*Wilson*yes*cough*Flacco"

 

watched some of the Steelers this week on NFL network and Bradshaw threw the worst duck balls all the time. It really is amazing how the level of ability has gone up on all positions. I doubt Terry would make it today but many QBs of today would thrive back then.

I think the fact that his name is synonymous with average is enough evidence.

 

dont feed the trolls

I was having this same debate with a friend of.... Wait I can't even. This is the worst poll ever. No one, EVER, including Mr Dilfer himself would argue that he is elite.

 

well there are 3

is butter non fattening? i think is a less obvious question. nice post. not.

 

yes

[QuoteTheRaven83]

Sorry but Joe Namath, Mark Rypien, Jim McMahon, Doug Williams, Brad Johnson, and Trent Dilfer are no way better than Fran Tarkenton, Dan Marino, Dan Fouts, and Jim Kelly.

[Freddie's Dead]

Two JAGs beat us in SB XXV and XXVI, Hostetler and Rypien.

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

If Dilfer is elite then so is EJ

 

 

:devil:

[Baba Booey]

Russell Wilson. Same situation great D strong running game. This guy hasn't take any crap about losing the Super Bowl. He's the one that threw the ball. Over rated!!!

[The Real Buffalo Joe]

Russell Wilson. Same situation great D strong running game. This guy hasn't take any crap about losing the Super Bowl. He's the one that threw the ball. Over rated!!!

He's better than Dilfer. He's a great game manager who makes minimal mistakes, granted he did make one huge one. But as Kirby pointed out, Dilfer wasn't even a great game manager. He was just good enough that his defense could overcome his lack of ability.

Edited March 28, 2015 by The Real Buffalo Joe

[Kirby Jackson]

Russell Wilson. Same situation great D strong running game. This guy hasn't take any crap about losing the Super Bowl. He's the one that threw the ball. Over rated!!!

RW has won more games in his 1st 3 years than any QB in history. In 3 years he is 6-2 in the playoffs with a Super Bowl victory. He is a 2x Pro Bowl QB, that has completed 63.4% of his passes for 9,950 yards, 72 TDs to 26 INTs, 98.6 rating while rushing for 1,877 yards and another 11 TDs.

 

While I am a Stern fan myself your thoughts on Russell Wilson are worse than your namesake's 1st pitch:

Edited March 28, 2015 by Kirby Jackson

[GG]

It really is an odd argument. Dilfer wasn't even an elite game manager. He was a below average QB that had a great defense and running game (sound familiar). Just because his team won doesn't mean that he was good. He was smart, and understood his role. He was the veteran QB tasked with not screwing up an elite supporting cast (sound familiar).

Hostetler?

It wasn't just that. The one pickup that put them over the top was at a certain position that many are saying Bills overpaid this year.

[billsfan1959]

RW has won more games in his 1st 3 years than any QB in history. In 3 years he is 6-2 in the playoffs with a Super Bowl victory. He is a 2x Pro Bowl QB, that has completed 63.4% of his passes for 9,950 yards, 72 TDs to 26 INTs, 98.6 rating while rushing for 1,877 yards and another 11 TDs.

 

While I am a Stern fan myself your thoughts on Russell Wilson are worse than your namesake's 1st pitch:

He is also a QB that has played with a 4th quarter lead more than any other QB over the last three years, averages 15 completions a game, benefits from a strong running game and the threat to run himself, and a monster defense. He throws a lot of high percentage passes and a number of his deeper completions are to receivers who have become open because he extended the play with his ability to scramble (a definite credit to him). His strengths are definitely his athleticism and not making mistakes. However, part of the reason he hasn't made a lot of mistakes is because he has not been asked to do too much. He has played in 8 playoff games and averaged 14 completions a game. He was behind in the fourth quarter in only three of those games. He lost two of them and should have lost the other one (Green Bay).

 

I think Wilson is an above average QB, mostly because of his athleticism - not his ability as a pocket passer. His skill set fits perfectly with the team he is on. I would definitely take him on the Bills as they are built right now - no question about it. However, I am not willing to put him in the upper echelon of QBs yet.

Edited March 28, 2015 by billsfan1959

[Kirby Jackson]

He is also a QB that has played with a 4th quarter lead more than any other QB over the last three years, averages 15 completions a game, benefits from a strong running game and the threat to run himself, and a monster defense. He throws a lot of high percentage passes and a number of his deeper completions are to receivers who have become open because he extended the play with his ability to scramble (a definite credit to him). His strengths are definitely his athleticism and not making mistakes. However, part of the reason he hasn't made a lot of mistakes is because he has not been asked to do too much. He has played in 8 playoff games and averaged 14 completions a game. He was behind in the fourth quarter in only three of those games. He lost two of them and should have lost the other one (Green Bay).

 

I think Wilson is an above average QB, mostly because of his athleticism - not his ability as a pocket passer. His skill set fits perfectly with the team he is on. I would definitely take him on the Bills as they are built right now - no question about it. However, I am not willing to put him in the upper echelon of QBs yet.

Fair enough but it's very hard to argue that he is overrated when he has achieved more in his 1st 3 years than any QB ever. He was definitely drafted into a good place but he is a top 10 QB without debate.

[Maury Ballstein]

Russell Wilson is nowhere near overrated. Plug him onto this team and we run through the AFC.

 

Dilfer not elite. Shannon Sharp and Jamal Lewis that year though, über elite. Jamal was insane that season.

Edited March 28, 2015 by Ryan L Billz

[GunnerBill]

He is also a QB that has played with a 4th quarter lead more than any other QB over the last three years, averages 15 completions a game, benefits from a strong running game and the threat to run himself, and a monster defense. He throws a lot of high percentage passes and a number of his deeper completions are to receivers who have become open because he extended the play with his ability to scramble (a definite credit to him). His strengths are definitely his athleticism and not making mistakes. However, part of the reason he hasn't made a lot of mistakes is because he has not been asked to do too much. He has played in 8 playoff games and averaged 14 completions a game. He was behind in the fourth quarter in only three of those games. He lost two of them and should have lost the other one (Green Bay).

 

I think Wilson is an above average QB, mostly because of his athleticism - not his ability as a pocket passer. His skill set fits perfectly with the team he is on. I would definitely take him on the Bills as they are built right now - no question about it. However, I am not willing to put him in the upper echelon of QBs yet.

 

100% agree. Excellent, thoughtful post.

[GG]

 

Yes IMHO.

 

I was the one who said this about Trent in the shoutbox one day and it has taken on a life of it's own. Let me explain my reasoning.

 

After reading on here in dang near every thread from the one about who will be our QB next year to the one about the Bills waterboy undercooling the gatorade by 2 degrees which cost us the Raiders game and a chance at the playoffs, that if you don't have an elite QB you will never win the SB. Don't even try. Play rookies. Draft 6 QBs per year etc.

 

So I have taken it as true that you have to have an elite QB to win SB. So the inverse of that would be that any team that does win the SB has an elite QB. They have to. Can't win without one.

 

Hence, Trent Dilfer, Hoss, and Mark Rypien are ELITE!

 

Actually it is somewhat sarcastic because I believe this whole "elite" and "franchise" QB is a ridiculous argument anyway. QB while important, is only one guy on the team. The other 21 guys contribute and have a big impact as well.

 

That said, plenty of QBs with good teams/coaches/defenses have choked away playoff games. The elite QBs don't choke away golden opportunities like Trent didn't in 2000.

 

Besides, Trent was not a bad QB. He had a decent run with Tampa Bay and even got them to NFC Championship in 1999. As I recall there was a controversial bad call that set up the Rams for the go ahead TD.

 

He wasn't quite elite that year, but he was getting close.

 

I think your premise is off base. Dilfer, along with the other guys mentioned lucked out in being on great teams. He was not great, however, yet lucked out to be in the right place at the right time.

 

Whether you look at Dilfer, Hostettler, D Williams, Rypien, etc, they all have ne thing in common, they were on teams that have been built up for years, and happened to strike lightning at the right time. It's also not a coincidence that these teams had a hard time not only repeating a playoff appearance let alone another Super Bowl run with those quarterbacks.

 

Now contrast that with the "average" QBs that have been mentioned here - Wilson & Flacco. Both of these guys have led their teams to repeat runs deep into the playoffs. We all heard how Flacco's contract was going to decimate the Ravens. Yet, there they were, one pass play away from another SuperBowl. Just like they have been nearly every year for the last five. Wilson has benefited from a stellar supporting cast, but when the team needed him, he's made throws than only a few QBs can make. He is elite.

 

And that's why every GM will look to find the quarterback who can carry the team. Tom Brady cures a lot of mistakes that the Pats* made over the last decade. Manning instantly makes Denver a contender no matter who is lucky enough to catch the ball.

 

This should even be a discussion. Once a decade you may get a guy who's fortunate to be on a team stacked with great players, who just happen to put it together for that one season. That happenstance doesn't make that QB great.

[Fredo G.]

Yes IMHO.

 

I was the one who said this about Trent in the shoutbox one day and it has taken on a life of it's own. Let me explain my reasoning.

 

After reading on here in dang near every thread from the one about who will be our QB next year to the one about the Bills waterboy undercooling the gatorade by 2 degrees which cost us the Raiders game and a chance at the playoffs, that if you don't have an elite QB you will never win the SB. Don't even try. Play rookies. Draft 6 QBs per year etc.

 

So I have taken it as true that you have to have an elite QB to win SB. So the inverse of that would be that any team that does win the SB has an elite QB. They have to. Can't win without one.

 

Hence, Trent Dilfer, Hoss, and Mark Rypien are ELITE!

 

Actually it is somewhat sarcastic because I believe this whole "elite" and "franchise" QB is a ridiculous argument anyway. QB while important, is only one guy on the team. The other 21 guys contribute and have a big impact as well.

 

That said, plenty of QBs with good teams/coaches/defenses have choked away playoff games. The elite QBs don't choke away golden opportunities like Trent didn't in 2000.

 

Besides, Trent was not a bad QB. He had a decent run with Tampa Bay and even got them to NFC Championship in 1999. As I recall there was a controversial bad call that set up the Rams for the go ahead TD.

 

He wasn't quite elite that year, but he was getting close.

The Smoothie. Shawn King took them to the playoffs

[The Wiz]

I voted yes out of sympathy for anyone that thinks he actually is.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

If Dilfer is elite then so is EJ

 

 

:devil:

It's funny- Dilfer didn't have a better season average than EJ first or second until his fourth year. And his career averages are worse. But oh yeah they played with lead balls and WRs had Vaseline gloves, different era... Something something.