| Editor’s note: Following
is the first in a series of Q&A’s with Pro Football Weekly contributing editor
and personnel analyst Joel Buchsbaum that will appear exclusively on the Pro Football
Weekly Internet Edition. Q: What’s your take on the Brian Griese-Bubby
Brister scenario in Denver?
Buchsbaum: Mike Shanahan’s feeling is that Brister is better-suited to coming off
the bench, and that when he knows he’s starting and thinks about it, the pressure of
starting causes him to press. He is a great deal like the baseball pitcher who struggles,
if you make him a starter, but, as a middle-relief pitcher, can be very effective.
There’s a reason why other clubs gave up on Brister as a starter, and the Broncos are
finding this out. His personality may be too emotional to be a starter from the get-go,
and, if Griese fails and he’s got to come in as the underdog, he will be much more
effective.
Q: Kent Graham has surprised a lot of people with his play in the preseason.
What’s your take on what we can expect of him this season?
Buchsbaum: I think you’ll see a better quarterback, not an upper-echelon
quarterback Kerry Collins pushed him to another level. He’s a much quicker, more
agile player than he was, and for the first time in his career he is starting to see and
sense and the rush.
Q: Obviously it’s always a little dangerous to read too much into the
preseason, but what have been some of the bigger surprises you’ve seen in the
preseason?
Buchsbaum: The development of Graham as the Giant quarterback has to be a plus. Dallas
has to be pleased with the play of Darren Hambrick at strong-side linebacker with Quentin
Coryatt out. As a rookie, he was totally undisciplined, totally out of control. At best it
looked like he’d be a special-teams player. But now he looks as if he could be a
legitimate NFL player. Dallas has more team speed on defense than it ever had. Washington
DT Dana Stubblefield looks like he is primed for a much better year, and Redskin rookie
Jon Jansen looks as if he could be the best offensive right tackle they’ve had in a
while.
The Rams were the most improved team I saw until Trent Green went down with his
season-ending knee injury. I don’t know how dramatic the effect of the injury will be
on the Rams, but it should be dramatic. Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce were unstoppable at
wide receiver until Green went down. I really felt the Rams would be the sleeper team this
year. Dick Vermeil had laid back a little in camp, and Green had fit in so perfectly. I
think that was the most devastating injury of the preseason.
In the AFC, I was impressed by Tennessee’s two young defensive linemen, Jevon
Kearse and John Thornton. Now they’re going to have to crash-feed them because DRE
Kenny Holmes has missed practically the entire preseason, and DT Josh Evans is out for the
first four games because of suspension. It seems like new Steelers offensive coordinator
Kevin Gilbride has Kordell Stewart headed back in the right direction. Despite how poorly
they’ve played, I think the Bengals have a chance to be a much-improved because of
the athleticism they have on defense now. The Chargers are a better offensive team because
they have confidence in the quarterback although they’re a little shaky at receiver.
I was very impressed with the job that QB coach Mike Sheppard and head coach Mike Holmgren
did developing their two quarterbacks, Jon Kitna and rookie Brock Huard, in Seattle.
The biggest surprise to me was how well Rick Mirer played in the Jets’ last
preseason game. For the first time ever, Mirer looked the way he was supposed to look when
he came out of Notre Dame. I don’t know if this can last. The second-biggest surprise
to me was how well the guy who beat him out in Green Bay, Matt Hasselbeck, played.
Hasselbeck, like the Giants’ Graham, looks like a totally different athlete than he
was in college at Boston College.
I’ve been impressed with what the Eagles have done with their team. Basically,
they’re rebuilding, but now they’re younger and more spirited. At least now they
finally seem to be headed in the right direction; they have a game plan and they’re
sticking to it. Before, it was as if the game plan was changing every 10 minutes. I think
the owner is going to have to be patient, and I think the fans will have to be patient.
I think Arizona could be in big trouble with all the holdouts and the injury situation.
That’s the team that could show the biggest drop-off. |
