Afternoon Beer with Andrew Hofheimer

Ahhhhh…time for that first beer of the afternoon. Despite the lack of action in the NFL this time of year (have you heard there’s also a lockout? Crazy…) there is still plenty to discuss. Do I wish there was more excitement? Sure I do…what’s more fun than seeing which GM think TO has finally turned over a new leaf at what, 41 years old? But really, the lack of action has given me the opportunity to do some things I’d normally not have time to do because I’m checking Rotoworld every 6 minutes to see if Darren Sharper left town without a contract. I am enjoying baseball for the first time since I was in Little League and even decided to join a Baseball Fantasy league – gotta get my fix somehow and Peter King told he THINKS the regular season will start on schedule BUT, there may not be a televised games until the continents regather into Pangaea 2.0. With that much uncertainty, I was forced to go on living my life and for now, baseball it is. That being said, I’m not gonna lie, it’s kind of nice to be free of the junkie-like fixation that even the NFL offseason demands and not having to hear the consensus voice of Jacksonville infuriated about why we aren’t making moves for Randy Moss or Albert Hayneworth and that this proves once and for all Wayne Weaver does not want to win or keep the Jaguars in Jacksonville. Sheesh.

We explore the best of O-Zone and Ask Vic: CHEEZE Edition after the jump…

We begin with Scott’s question in today’s O-zone…

"Scott from Jacksonville: Which in your opinion is worse for a team, a QB who cannot make “all the throws” or one who can, but does so inconsistently? John: Probably the latter, but if a guy can’t make all the throws, he’d better be able to make ones that matter – i.e., he needs to have the arm strength to make certain throws to the side of the field and not have them be intercepted. At some point in the NFL, arm strength matters."

I guess worse for the team is a relative statement here, because a team simply cannot grow around and thus expect long-term success around a quarterback that doesn’t belong in the NFL. Look, Colt McCoy seems like a real nice guy and his girlfriend sure is cute and heck, I even hope he finds a way to redeem himself after that mysterious Jay Cutler-esque injury in the National Championship two years ago. But Cleveland has to be throwing smoke now, right? Seneca Wallace is a nice West Coast stand-in when you need a game manager for a few starts because your starter’s down and don’t get me started on Jake Delhomme’s flailing Cajun ineptitude, so that leaves wienie-armed Colt as your franchise’s cornerstone? Please. I don’t care how many guys get down in the box to stop the bulldozing, Hannibal Lector-masked Peyton Hillis – even on a quick slant, the quickest and easiest and shortest of NFL throws, the cornerbacks are going to have time to gain ground on leadfooters like Massoquoi and Robieski and slap the ball away and the linebackers will probably even have time to do ten jumping jacks and still get back in time to make a play on the ball. The 2-minute drill is out of the question – we saw it in Jacksonville when they tried to rally and Colt could not complete a down-and-out (and definitely not the deep ones) to stop the clock and when he did attempt a long pass down the seam, Sean Considine, who in a charity event at a Jacksonville nursing home single-handedly was responsible for his team losing while running the anchor leg of the relay race, was able to make a play and intercept it. So the deep ball’s gone, you can’t stage a late come-from-behind victory, the running lanes are stuffed, and your QB cannot beat the resulting man-to-man coverage because he doesn’t have the zip? Every throw matters in the NFL and if you can’t hit the outs, then you should be coaching the triple option in Pop Warner.