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“How do you get to be president and you’re stupid?” Donald J Trump - 4/10/25
When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus. - Turkish Proverb

First off, you admitted you think there are several flaws in the list. I see many also. Therefore, it's not really something you should cite as credible or official just because they happened to get one you think is correct.

I dont think Ponder is a good QB right now. He is probably below average. He also had some similar problems to guys like Cutler, Freeman, Bradford, Fitzpatrick, etc, and that problem is consistency. Freeman started playing poorly when he lost his top two linemen for the season. Cutler has problems when guys get hurt around him. Ditto for Ponder with Harvin - he had a stretch in the middle of this season that he was just awful, had something like 300 passing yards combined in 3 games and like a 50 QB rating. But he rebounded and played well down the stretch against pretty good teams. These are QBs who need everything around them in place and then they can perform at above average levels. I think Ponder's ceiling is what Alex Smith has done the past year and a half. I agree with IMU that he can be good, but probably not great. He's still in his second season so I think he will get better. He was awful last year, and he was noticeably better this year, which is a good sign. So yeah, I think it's fair to categorize him as a bottom 8 or 10 QB, but he's at the top of that list right now and closer to average than Sanchez-level terrible. And he should get better. A lot of those guys ahead of him like Fitzpatrick, Cutler, Palmer, Rivers, etc will not get better.

Also, I dont think Brees is on the top level. I think he's a clear cut 4th best QB in the league, but I think Brady, Rodgers, and Manning are clearly better than the rest of the league.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Dempster got slapped around against good teams in the a.l....records mean little...I look at era..whip and I.p....I am looking forward to him getting raped in the a.l. east this year.

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Didn't you originally say that the prevailing opinion of Ponder holds that he isn't bad?

To support this view, you are linking to a webpage that contradicts your thesis. That's probably not a good idea.

Here's the bleacherreport.com analysis of Ponder and his ranking of 25 (of 32):



Does this sound like an endorsement of Ponder to you?

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1)Your initial post in this thread states that you disagree with Steve's assessment that Ponder is bad and that you "hadn't heard that at all." You then linked to a ranking that indicates exactly the opposite of your original contention.

2)The heading for the rankings you posted is "Final Regular Season NFL QB Power Rankings." The rankings encompass the entire season, not Week 17 alone. You apparently are unable to comprehend the meaning of the sources you cite to support your arguments.

3)Does it really matter that Ponder is better than all of the Cardinals 4 quarterbacks? Will any of them be starters in the NFL next year?

4)A QB ranking of 25 in a league that has 32 starters is not average. It is well below average.

5)I am not sure why you are making the Cutler comparison in responding to me. I am on the record as stating that he should be replaced as the Bears QB.

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Posting a ranking of Ponder that empasizes that he threw for under 200 yards in 9 games and under 100 in 3 and he showed an inability to produce explosive plays in a one dimensional offense is hardly gonna support your argument. It reinforced my position that he belongs in the "Bottom of the Barrel" catagory of QB's. Thanks for supporting my position on the subject.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Ponder has the 21st most attempts through 17 weeks (ESPN provides 40 entries). So you're partially correct. But he's also 31st out of 32 in yards per attempt. That's WITH Percy Harvin having the 3rd most YAC this year. His completion percentage is more a function of his conservative check-down throws. A receiver who can blow the top off the D I guess is needed to fully evaluate Ponder's potential. But FavreFan is probably right his peak is Alex Smith if everything breaks 100% right for him.

Used ESPN's sortable stats table.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/player/_/stat/passing/sort/yardsPerPassAttempt

Or he's terrible throwing the ball deep, or even medium distances. No QB has a higher % of his total yardage as YAC. The Vikings (Peterson) do a good job of masking his inadequacies.

Well I'm out.

Ponder's arrow is pointing up. Cutler's is kinda teetering on level.
Part of this is that no one expected Ponder to be worth a damn and everyone here thought that Cutler was the Prophet.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Ponder is out. Pussy. Let's see how MJD has to say about this.

Okay, so I gave each team 3 points too many.....Some people hate to say I told you so..I'm not one of those people.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Ponder was getting booed by Viking fans most of the season. The team improved and so did he towards the end of the season. He made some nice throws against the Pack in game 16. He looks like maybe another Alex Smith in the making at best.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Marginally.

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If you threw for the fewest yards in the air in the NFL you better have a decent completion %.

No QB threw the ball away less than Jay Cutler did this season and Jay had zero spikes. A model of efficiency. Go Bears!