Brady quinn witness protection program

Assuming he stays healthy, Wentz looks like a decade-plus, top-five fixture in the NFL. Paxton Lynch is a chilling enigma, while Cody Kessler is embedded as a milquetoast backup in Jacksonville. The Jets have a lot of explaining to do after swinging on Christian Hackenberg in the second round, only to hide him away in the NFL's version of the witness protection program. He's a strong candidate for release come training camp.

Round 1 : Matt Ryan No. The group gave us Matt Ryan -- who is presently one year removed from the best season of his career -- and Joe Flacco , who led the Ravens to a win in Super Bowl XLVII with an insane month of pristine postseason play.

Flacco is on the downswing, but both quarterbacks have been durable starters who give their teams a solution at the most important position in sports. The names fall off a cliff from there, with Chad Henne underwhelming as a starter and Brian Brohm serving as a second-round disappointment. Matt Flynn offered hopeful moments but failed to become a QB1.

Round 1 : Michael Vick No. Feeley No. Both Michael Vick and Drew Brees changed perceptions of how the position could -- and should -- be played. Vick's rare scampering ability and off-the-charts athleticism refocused the league on the potential of running quarterbacks. It's impossible not to wonder how Vick's career would've progressed without his dog-fighting scandal and subsequent prison stint -- though he did make one more Pro Bowl with Philly in Brees, meanwhile, serves as a constant reminder that shorter quarterbacks aren't always a minus.

In his case, Brees has operated as a top-three superstar ever since he landed with the Saints in , winning a storybook Super Bowl for New Orleans and making that offense a treat to watch every single season. He's an easy Hall of Fame selection and an icon under center.

The class had its issues, too, with second-rounders Quincy Carter and Marques Tuiasosopo fading fast. Chris Weinke doesn't help, finishing with a record as a starter, while A. Feely is remembered as a mere patch in Miami. Round 1 : Carson Palmer No. Pierre No. The best passer in this class wasn't even drafted. The rest is history, with Romo taking the starting job from Drew Bledsoe in and never looking back.

Heavily critiqued early in his career for the occasional high-profile gaffe, Romo ultimately left the game as one of the NFL's most reliable quarterbacks.

He never won a Lombardi, but that falls on the Cowboys as much as Romo. First-overall pick Carson Palmer, meanwhile, proved to be well worth the selection, with some of the best work of his year career coming later on with Arizona. Byron Leftwich gave the Jaguars 44 up-and-down starts, while Kyle Boller and Rex Grossman were largely a ponderous annoyance.

Round 1 : Andrew Luck No. Coleman No. Had all gone right, this class had a chance to be remembered as an equal to the all-star cast from -- maybe even Andrew Luck is a plug-and-play Pro Bowler with incredible potential, but his career rests in a tricky spot after he missed all of last season post-shoulder surgery. Assuming he's back, Luck has the chance to be one of the game's true greats.

A troubling case, Robert Griffin III was the most exciting quarterback in football during his rookie campaign. A knee injury changed his trajectory forever, but Griffin was also quickly exposed as a pocket passer. He's hoping for a comeback with Baltimore after spending last year in absentia. The Redskins missed on Griffin but ultimately found a starter in the same draft by nabbing Kirk Cousins in the fourth round.

Who knew he'd become the prize of free agency in and Minnesota's hope for a Super Bowl crown? In Round 3, the Seahawks altered their franchise by taking a chance on Russell Wilson. Dinged by some for his diminutive stature, Wilson won the starting job in camp and tugged Seattle to a Super Bowl win during his sophomore campaign.

Few players in the league are relied on more than Seattle's do-everything starter. Round 1 : Alex Smith No. The first round produced a pair of long-range starters in Alex Smith and Aaron Rodgers. The V. Players were merely part of a show, rather than the show. In other news, we can stop reminiscing about that gun-toting wide receiver who shot himself in the thigh … it looks as if the Giants have found their new go-to wideouts.

Mario Manningham and Steve Smith both had 10 catches for over yards and a touchdown Sunday night. It was the fact that they did so by utterly befuddling the future Hall of Fame quarterback. And how about that Jets offense? Quick Hits Jake Delhomme is at the point where we go out of our way to mention that he had only one interception against the Falcons.

That pick came in the red zone on a fourth-and late in the fourth quarter. The scrutiny on Delhomme will only intensify as the Panthers make their national television debut at Dallas next Monday. Viking coaches must be thrilled. Against Detroit, they got a road victory and handed Adrian Peterson the ball only 15 times. That game had some meaning because it was a solid bounce-back performance for the Bills, plus the club avoided disaster when Terrell Owens snagged a yard touchdown five minutes into the fourth quarter.

Before that, a frustrated — though, to be fair, not quite yet disgruntled — Owens had just two receptions for 9 yards, spending most of the afternoon as a decoy against a feeble Bucs secondary.

Chicago, without its best player Brian Urlacher , held the Steelers to 14 points. The Browns offense is a disaster. I noticed Sunday night that the esteemed N. It's incredible that the 49ers made Giovanni Carmazzi the second quarterback off the board with Brady -- a Bay Area resident -- still available, but the blame falls on every single team in the NFL who failed to recognize what the future Patriots star would become. Round 1 : Cam Newton No. Yates No. Another class filled with juicy talent and devastating, franchise-altering busts.

With an MVP award and Super Bowl appearance under his belt, Newton has lived up to the pedigree while making Carolina a relevant franchise. His success is offset by a trio of first-round disasters -- Jake Locker, Blaine Gabbert and Christian Ponder -- which would be enough to shuttle this class down the list if it weren't for the supporting cast. Andy Dalton is imperfect, but he's led the Bengals to the playoffs five times, while sixth-rounder Tyrod Taylor has blossomed into a starter.

Colin Kaepernick 's career is on the downswing, but he brought the Niners within one completed pass of a Super Bowl title and was seen by many as the most exciting quarterback in football for a two-season stretch.

Round 1 : Jameis Winston No. This class has potential to be remembered as a special bunch based entirely on its two first-rounders. Jameis Winston of the Bucs and Tennessee's Marcus Mariota have just begun to leave their mark for a pair of franchises with bright futures.

Trevor Siemian , a seventh-round pick by Denver, would go much higher in a re-draft after developing into a starting-level quarterback with plus arm talent. Brett Hundley has dazzled in the preseason but nowhere else, while Bryce Petty was something of a raging flop for the Jets last season.

Round 1 : Matt Ryan No. From here on out, every class is tasked with producing at least two starters with playoff experience. Both quarterbacks have been durable starters who give their teams a comprehensive solution at the most important position in sports. The names fall off a cliff from there, with Chad Henne underwhelming as a starter and Brian Brohm serving as a second-round disappointment.

Matt Flynn offered hopeful moments but failed to become a QB1. Round 1 : Michael Vick No. Feeley No. Another class armed with two bona fide starters.

Both Michael Vick and Drew Brees changed perceptions of how the position could -- and should -- be played. Vick's rare scampering ability and off-the-charts athleticism refocused the league on the potential of running quarterbacks. It's impossible not to wonder how Vick's career would've progressed without his dog-fighting scandal and subsequent prison stint -- though he did make one more Pro Bowl with Philly in Brees, meanwhile, serves as a constant reminder that shorter quarterbacks aren't always a minus.

In his case, Brees has operated as a top-three superstar ever since he landed with the Saints , winning a storybook Super Bowl for New Orleans and making that offense a treat to watch every single season.

The class had its issues, too, with second-rounders Quincy Carter and Marques Tuiasosopo fading fast. Chris Weinke doesn't help, finishing with a record as a starter, while A. Feely is remembered as a mere patch in Miami. Round 1 : Andrew Luck No. Coleman No. Had all gone right, this class had a chance to be remembered as equal to the all-star cast from -- maybe even A knee injury changed his trajectory forever, but Griffin was also quickly exposed as a pocket passer. Today, he might be done for good.

That ugly pick aside, the Redskins ultimately found their starter in the same draft by nabbing Kirk Cousins in the fourth round. In Round 3, the Seahawks altered their franchise forever by taking a chance on Russell Wilson. Dinged by some for his diminutive stature, Wilson won the starting job in camp and tugged Seattle to a Super Bowl win during his sophomore campaign.

They lived. It's going to be interesting to see if Childress and Bevell can continue to manage Favre's exposure. In many ways, it's the key to the Vikings' season. Josh McDaniels can exhale now. It might have gotten ugly. You think? Here's what I think: McDaniels deserved some magic in his life. A head coaching job is supposed to be a reward for a long apprenticeship of hard work.

And ever since McDaniels got this job, the Broncos led the league in headaches. But with less than half a minute left and the Broncos trailing with the ball at their 13, quarterback Kyle Orton went back to pass, aiming for one of the headaches a former headache, maybe , Brandon Marshall.

Cornerback Leon Hall of the Bengals leaped high to deflect the ball, and the would-be duck fluttered into the air. McDaniels said: "I was sure they'd have someone chasing him, a defensive back, but when I looked, all I could see was [linebacker] Dhani Jones.

I was shocked. McDaniels has gone over lots of odd game situations in practice. One of them is using the clock at the end of half the game, and having a sense how much time is left. When Stokley got near the goal line, he looked behind and saw there wasn't a Bengal close to him, so, with about 17 seconds left, he got to the two-yard line and took a slow right turn, burning six seconds before going into the end zone.

That's an understatement. That stalling gave the Bengals one fewer play to run on their last-gasp drive. McDaniels, by the way, wouldn't be drawn into the oh-we-really-needed-this-one discussion. Jeremy Shockey lives. Shockey hadn't caught a touchdown pass in 22 months. In the span of three minutes against Detroit, he caught two.

The story of this great drought by a former star tight end, and how the drought ends, is a cute story, but the Saints aren't looking for a one-hit wonder. They're looking for consistency out of Shockey, which they haven't gotten since they dealt for him 16 months ago. Shockey uses words like "humbled'' and "embarrassed'' when talking about last year, when he was never healthy.

He went to work this offseason on his core. Time will tell if the year-old Shockey, who likes the good life, will keep himself in great shape so he can validate the trade to the Saints. Atlanta stopped the Wildcat, and stripped the Dolphins.

Miami coach Tony Sparano is maniacal about turnovers. He knows the exact percentages of chances of winning if you have one or two or three turnovers less or more than your foe. Miami turned it over four times, and it didn't help that their three Wildcats plays generated exactly four yards. I'm not saying the Wildcat's dead, because we saw Josh Cribbs run it effectively in Cleveland Sunday, and we will see Percy Harvin and Michael Vick run it later this month in Minnesota and Philadelphia.

But defenses might be gaining. The Falcons spent two training camp periods on the Wildcats this summer, then spent some significant refresher time last week in practice preparing for Ronnie Brown or Pat White to run it Sunday. You cannot be a gap short against the Wildcat because the runner can change the angle or cut back quickly, and you won't be able to recover.

For one week, anyway, it worked, and shutting down the Wildcat helped Atlanta to a win. Smith said the player reps authorizes the union to divert all royalty payments from the union's marketing division, Players Inc.

Oh happy day. New England I don't care if Tom Brady has to take a bunch of Aleve tonight for that shoulder, I bet he's never looked forward to a game more than tonight's against Buffalo. Pittsburgh Men of Steel must play better to repeat, of course. But that was a survival game Thursday night, and they survived. New York Giants How good and brutish did that Giants' offensive line look in mauling Washington?

Green Bay I loved what I saw out of the debut of Dom Capers' , even with the long scoring drive on Chicago's second-to-last drive of the night. Minnesota Meaningless Stat of the Week: Brett Favre is the first quarterback in history to win opening games three straight years for three different teams. I'll volunteer to start the pool.

Which team will Favre win a fourth with in ? Chicago Two things worry me: the Brian Urlacher wrist injury and the way Jay Cutler threw carelessly. Remember a couple of weeks ago, at Denver, when Ron Turner, the offensive coordinator, told me what impressed him was Cutler basically taking what the defense was giving and not being greedy? That was not Cutler Sunday night. New Orleans We all have to see how New Orleans plays in a game with a competent offense on the other side of the field, and we should get to see that Sunday in Philadelphia.

But the Saints, offensively at least, are scary good. Philadelphia San Diego I'll be glad when we stop asking LaDainian Tomlinson if he's still The Man, and actually let him go out and show us if he is.

Dallas Tony Romo and his offense put 34 points up at Tampa Bay, which is probably about par for the course against a struggling team.

But this is the kind of game the Cowboys have traditionally struggled to win in the Romo Era. Baltimore We always knew Baltimore could play defense. Look out if the offense becomes consistently just as potent.

Tennessee When the Titans got outbid for Torry Holt and didn't sign Matt Jones, they counted on rookie wide receiver Kenny Britt to carry a major load, starting opening day. And Britt four catches, 85 yards in Pittsburgh didn't disappoint, giving Tennessee the deep threat GM Mike Reinfeldt was sure he drafted five months ago.

I thought the Atlanta defense was supposed to have training wheels on, but the Falcons gave the Dolphins a four-turnover pummeling. Bill Polian told me after the game that the Colts, even if Anthony Gonzalez's knee injury is more than a one-month deal, wouldn't consider bringing Marvin Harrison out of retirement. Valiant game for the Singletaries, winning at Arizona. They harassed Kurt Warner for four quarters. The action this week will be focused on Rex Ryan and the funny, flippant stuff he says about the Patriots.

Bill Belichick, once he gets through tonight's game against Buffalo, will be smart to ignore what Ryan says which he will and see if he can figure a way to protect Brady from the band of lunatics rushing the passer for the Jets.

When we walked into the stadium and looked at it, we said, 'That is so hittable. Then, in warmups, we probably hit it 25 to 30 times. It's going to get peppered all season. Trapasso to me Friday, on the Dallas video board that is 90 feet above midfield, stretching from the yard-line to the yard-line at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota.