Why Did We Keep Sean Mannion for so Long?

[Loyal]

Seriously. I have been underwhelmed by him for years.

He's with a different team this year (Vikings), and there is no guarantee that he will be the back up QB there and CBS Sports doesn't believe he will keep a roster spot this year. Was it that he was just so cheap? I wonder if we can keep Bortles longer than this year, because some QB's will tank and the dude is a borderline starter. It just seems that as good as Les Snead normally is at picking talent, he and McVay kept a back up QB that probably wasn't worth the roster spot for two years...

https://www.scout.com/football/nfl/...ent-snaps-and-is-not-a-viable-fantasy-option/

 

[CGI_Ram]

It does feel like “wasted years”... like remodeling a car, but only getting part done and selling...

Not sure why you bought it.

Spent some cash on it.

Never made a finished product.

Sold it.

Me personally; something about Mannion... everything seems a touch too slow. The way he moves, his progressions, his wind and delivery.

I don’t see it. But, I just watch football on TV like most of us.

https://www.twincities.com/2019/06/...-the-latest-vikings-qb-arrival-from-the-rams/

He wants to be ‘the guy,’ but Sean Mannion will focus on being Vikings’ backup QB

The previous time the Vikings signed a free-agent backup quarterback away from the Los Angeles Rams, it turned out quite well.

Two years ago, it was Case Keenum the Vikings picked up. He became the starter when Sam Bradford got hurt, and led the Vikings to the NFC Championship Game. In April, Minnesota signed Sean Mannion after four years with the Rams, two as Keenum’s teammate.

Not surprisingly, Mannion reached out to Keenum before he signed. And he got an assist from his wife Megan.

“I did (reach out) a little bit,” Mannion said. “That was kind of right after he had been traded (from Denver to Washington), so things were kind of changing for him, so I didn’t want to bug him too much. But, honestly, my wife texted his wife Kimberly.’’

Mannion, though, did all the work himself when it came to getting a recommendation from another former Minnesota player.

“One of my college teammates (at Oregon State) was (offensive lineman) Mike Remmers, so I talked to Mike a little bit and they’ve had nothing but great things to say about Minnesota,’’ Mannion said.

Mannion signed a one-year, $895,000 deal, and will try to win the No. 2 job behind Kirk Cousins. His competition is Kyle Sloter, who has not taken a regular-season snap in two NFL seasons.

Not that Mannion has much experience himself — 10 regular-season games with one start. He has completed 33 of 53 passes for 258 yards with no touchdowns and an interception.

“I learned a ton getting drafted and spending four years with (the Rams),” said Mannion, who threw just three passes last season backing up Jared Goff on a team that reached the Super Bowl. “Obviously, I would have liked some more opportunities to get to play, but those are things that aren’t always in your control.’’

The Vikings obviously wouldn’t mind a repeat of last year, when Cousins took every regular-season snap. But just in case something were to happen to Cousins, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer wanted an alternate with at least some regular-season experience.

With their limited salary-cap room, the Vikings didn’t have a lot to choose from.

“I see a pro,” offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski said of Mannion. “He came from a successful program the last few years there. He is really a guy that I think fits in extremely well with Kirk.”

Cousins, indeed, likes what he sees in Mannion.

“Really strong arm, very accurate,” he said. “Works very hard (and) has a great understanding of the system.”

Mannion’s strong arm first received notice in 2013, when as a junior at Oregon State he threw for 37 touchdowns and 4,662 yards, then the most in Pac-12 history. As a senior, his numbers dropped to 3,164 yards and 15 touchdowns and he slipped into the third round of the 2015 draft.

The year after Mannion was selected, the Rams took Goff with the No. 1 pick in the draft, all but killing his chances of starting in L.A. And while the starting job in Minnesota belongs to Cousins, Mannion still hopes to be the No. 1 guy somewhere.

“Everyone wants to be a starter, especially a quarterback,” he said. “Everyone wants to be the guy, and certainly that’s something I want to be, but I think really I have to be the best I can be at this job, which is the backup quarterback and helping Kirk and helping this team win games.”

Sloter might have something to say about that. He has said he is “more than ready” to back up Cousins.

In the first two weeks of organized team activities, Mannion got roughly two thirds of the snaps with the second team to one third for Sloter. Zimmer expects the No. 2 job to be settled during preseason games.

“I am just focused day by day,” Mannion said. “Preseason is obviously a really important for everyone.”

 

[Alaskan Ram]

With Goff's 0-7 start as the lone exception....adequate sample sizes never lie.

 

[shovelpass]

Because he was cheap and already there.

 

[kurtfaulk]

Because he was cheap and already there.

She had style, she had flair, she was there,
That's how she became the Nanny.

source: https://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/thenannylyrics.html

.

 

[tempests]

There are only a handful of backup QBs in the league I'd trust to win a game or two in relief and even fewer I'd trust to win more than that.

Sometimes you ride with what you have until something better comes along. And Bortles still has something to prove.

 

[CGI_Ram]

Yeah, not a lot of starters in reserve roles.

https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2019/5/28/18628195/nfl-backup-quarterbacks-ranking-2019

Each NFL team’s backup quarterback right now, ranked by tier

Quarterback is the most important position in the NFL. So what happens when the centerpiece of one team’s offense gets carted off to the locker room and relinquishes his claim at the top of the depth chart?

Then it’s time for Plan B — and for some teams, that’s a manageable, or even opportunistic swap. Others, like last year’s Bengals or the 2017 Packers, face disastrous returns after downgrading their depth charts. A good backup can keep the offense afloat and even create a permanent change behind center. A bad one will leave the team with little to look forward to besides a strong start at the following year’s NFL Draft.

So who is best positioned to deal with a quarterback injury in 2019? This year’s crop of backup passers can be broken up into seven categories. Here’s how all 32 teams and their collections of Art Garfunkels rate this offseason.

Tier I: Guys who could acceptably start in worse situations
Jacoby Brissett, Colts
Tyrod Taylor, Chargers
Teddy Bridgewater, Saints
Nick Mullens, 49ers
Ryan Tannehill, Titans
Case Keenum, Washington

These are the players who’d likely hover around No. 25-30 in terms of quarterback rating over the course of a full season — good enough to be a fill-in, but not good enough to build a franchise around.

Brissett’s inclusion in this tier is dicey, but I’m willing to chalk up his underwhelming year of starting in Indianapolis to a piecemeal offensive line that allowed him to get sacked every 1 in 10 dropbacks in 2017. Taylor was outright bad for Cleveland last fall, but he only started three games and is less than two years removed from getting the damn Bills to the playoffs, so he can’t be written off entirely. Bridgewater is an enigma, and his lack of free agent interest this offseason suggests the league is still uncertain about his comeback.

Mullens threw for more than 280 yards per game in relief of Jimmy Garoppoloand C.J. Beathard, making an impressive leap from practice squad veteran to league-average quarterback. Tannehill takes too many sacks and is an injury-prone backup to an injury-prone starter, but when healthy he can give you enough production to win around him.

Washington presents an interesting case, as it’s got three quarterbacks vying for a starting role, all of whom fit into different categories. Assuming Keenum backs up first-round pick Dwayne Haskins, he’s stuck here. The journeyman struggled in Denver last season, but his breakout 2017 showcased his potential under the right coaching staff.

Tier II: Our bridge to the future. Maybe
Drew Lock, Broncos
Daniel Jones, Giants
Josh Rosen, Dolphins

Here lie the players selected either in 2018 or 2019 who won’t be guaranteed any starts this fall. While Haskins and Kyler Murray have great odds to start their season openers in 2019, this trio may have to wait behind veterans in the name of development. Jones, in particular, may be waiting two to three years behind Eli Manning, according to his general manager.

Rosen, in his second year, has the best chance to start the most games assuming he can outplay Ryan Fitzpatrick in Miami. Lock is likely looking at a gap year behind Joe Flacco, John Elway’s latest 6’6 or taller quarterback.

Tier III: Career backups
Brett Hundley, Cardinals
Matt Barkley, Bills
Chase Daniel, Bears
Drew Stanton, Browns
AJ McCarron, Texans
Chad Henne, Chiefs
Brian Hoyer, Patriots
Trevor Siemian, Jets
Tom Savage, Lions

This group is comprised of quarterbacks who accepted they look better on the sideline wearing a headset than on the field wearing a helmet. They’re fine, and you hope to never see them for more than a few garbage-time series per season.

Barkley is the most questionable inclusion on this list, but he was somehow the Bills’ top quarterback last season so he gets to spend 2019 as a “not completely depressing, I guess” option.

Tier IV: Veteran mentors
Matt Schaub, Falcons
Robert Griffin III, Ravens

Like Tier III, but with more experience. RG3 is the guy Baltimore is hoping can convince Lamar Jackson to slide more. Schaub has taken Josh McCown’s mantle as the player whose presence makes you feel oldest.

Tier V: Former starters who no longer (or never did) have it
Blake Bortles, Rams
Mike Glennon, Raiders
Blaine Gabbert, Buccaneers

These three are capable of sustained competence, but they’re known for so much worse. I want to write the rest of this section exactly as much as you’d like to read it, so let’s move on.

Tier VI: Possibly in our long-term plans, but possibly not ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Will Grier, Panthers
Gardner Minshew, Jaguars
Nate Sudfeld, Eagles
Joshua Dobbs, Steelers

These are the young quarterbacks who can start in a pinch, but aren’t rock-solid parts of their franchise’s future plans. These are the mid-to-late round picks still in the first few years of their NFL careers with limited regular season resumes from which to build. They don’t inspire confidence, but there’s a certain measure of hope that comes with the announcement they’ll be making an unexpected start.

Rookies Grier and Minshew could each flame out horribly, but they bring a combination of collegiate production and potential to teams that’d prefer to leave them on the bench the next four years. Dobbs was good enough to convince Pittsburgh to release Landry Jones, which means ... something. Sudfeld now gets the chance to fill Nick Foles’ shoes as Philadelphia’s unexpected savior should Carson Wentz get injured again.

Tier VII: Young guys who look in no way ready
Jeff Driskel, Bengals
Cooper Rush, Cowboys
DeShone Kizer, Packers
Sean Mannion, Vikings
Paxton Lynch, Seahawks

Maybe they’ll surprise by exceeding the challenges placed in front of them, but these are the players who combine low NFL ceilings and limited experience. Driskel was a major step down from Andy Dalton last season. Kizer was a plunge off a cliff from the play of Aaron Rodgers.

Rush looks like young Andy Dalton trying to sneak into an R-rated movie and had a 1:4 TD:INT ratio last preseason. Mannion has averaged just 4.9 yards per pass in his four-year NFL career. Then there’s Lynch, who could easily lose the No. 2 spot to Geno Smith. If that happens, Seahawks’ backup situation will move to either Tier III (if we’re being generous) or Tier V.

 

[den-the-coach]

Sean Mannion has a couple of great preseasons and that helped his cause. Also great locker room guy and picked up the offense quick. Plus Sean Mannion always picked up the Doughnuts.

 

[Akrasian]

Because he was cheap and already there.

Yes, I don't understand why they didn't make a real effort to upgrade him a year early.

Just like I don't understand the Rams getting Bortles for a year but making no real effort to find a draft pick to develop for 2020-2022. They have pipelines of players everywhere else - why not for backup QB?

 

[12intheBox]

We got to the Super Bowl with him and I don’t think it was his fault that we lost.

 

[Kevin]

Seriously. I have been underwhelmed by him for years.

He's with a different team this year (Vikings), and there is no guarantee that he will be the back up QB there and CBS Sports doesn't believe he will keep a roster spot this year. Was it that he was just so cheap? I wonder if we can keep Bortles longer than this year, because some QB's will tank and the dude is a borderline starter. It just seems that as good as Les Snead normally is at picking talent, he and McVay kept a back up QB that probably wasn't worth the roster spot for two years...

https://www.scout.com/football/nfl/...ent-snaps-and-is-not-a-viable-fantasy-option/

I live in the Twin Cities so I can see how Mnnion does in camp and preseason, if people still have a burning desire to discuss him.

 

[Loyal]

I live in the Twin Cities so I can see how Mnnion does in camp and preseason, if people still have a burning desire to discuss him.

Have you been watching him in Minnesota? I guess he hasn't been playing with pads on yet, but he never seemed to excite me when I saw him play the position in St Louis and LA.

 

[fearsomefour]

Will see how he does in Minnesota.
Could be one of those guys who ends up having a 10 year career by just showing up and not making waves.
Has the arm....who knows if he can play NFL football?
He was a cheap option and was going to stay until there was a better cheap option.
Will
Be interesting to see what the Rams do after this year.

 

[OldSchool]

Lack of options, salary, need to address the draft more at other positions and a lack of other options.

 

[Loyal]

Lack of options, salary, need to address the draft more at other positions and a lack of other options.

I would have rolled with one of the AAF QB's over Mannion. I had zero hope if Goff went down last year, that we could win with Mannion...

That is, before they were AAF Qb's

 

[OldSchool]

I would have rolled with one of the AAF QB's over Mannion. I had zero hope if Goff went down last year, that we could win with Mannion...

That is, before they were AAF Qb's

AAF was open for a few weeks after this past season ended and lasted what 3 weeks?

 

[RamsFlash80]

Yeah, not a lot of starters in reserve roles.

https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2019/5/28/18628195/nfl-backup-quarterbacks-ranking-2019

Each NFL team’s backup quarterback right now, ranked by tier

Quarterback is the most important position in the NFL. So what happens when the centerpiece of one team’s offense gets carted off to the locker room and relinquishes his claim at the top of the depth chart?

Then it’s time for Plan B — and for some teams, that’s a manageable, or even opportunistic swap. Others, like last year’s Bengals or the 2017 Packers, face disastrous returns after downgrading their depth charts. A good backup can keep the offense afloat and even create a permanent change behind center. A bad one will leave the team with little to look forward to besides a strong start at the following year’s NFL Draft.

So who is best positioned to deal with a quarterback injury in 2019? This year’s crop of backup passers can be broken up into seven categories. Here’s how all 32 teams and their collections of Art Garfunkels rate this offseason.

Tier I: Guys who could acceptably start in worse situations
Jacoby Brissett, Colts
Tyrod Taylor, Chargers
Teddy Bridgewater, Saints
Nick Mullens, 49ers
Ryan Tannehill, Titans
Case Keenum, Washington

These are the players who’d likely hover around No. 25-30 in terms of quarterback rating over the course of a full season — good enough to be a fill-in, but not good enough to build a franchise around.

Brissett’s inclusion in this tier is dicey, but I’m willing to chalk up his underwhelming year of starting in Indianapolis to a piecemeal offensive line that allowed him to get sacked every 1 in 10 dropbacks in 2017. Taylor was outright bad for Cleveland last fall, but he only started three games and is less than two years removed from getting the damn Bills to the playoffs, so he can’t be written off entirely. Bridgewater is an enigma, and his lack of free agent interest this offseason suggests the league is still uncertain about his comeback.

Mullens threw for more than 280 yards per game in relief of Jimmy Garoppoloand C.J. Beathard, making an impressive leap from practice squad veteran to league-average quarterback. Tannehill takes too many sacks and is an injury-prone backup to an injury-prone starter, but when healthy he can give you enough production to win around him.

Washington presents an interesting case, as it’s got three quarterbacks vying for a starting role, all of whom fit into different categories. Assuming Keenum backs up first-round pick Dwayne Haskins, he’s stuck here. The journeyman struggled in Denver last season, but his breakout 2017 showcased his potential under the right coaching staff.

Tier II: Our bridge to the future. Maybe
Drew Lock, Broncos
Daniel Jones, Giants
Josh Rosen, Dolphins

Here lie the players selected either in 2018 or 2019 who won’t be guaranteed any starts this fall. While Haskins and Kyler Murray have great odds to start their season openers in 2019, this trio may have to wait behind veterans in the name of development. Jones, in particular, may be waiting two to three years behind Eli Manning, according to his general manager.

Rosen, in his second year, has the best chance to start the most games assuming he can outplay Ryan Fitzpatrick in Miami. Lock is likely looking at a gap year behind Joe Flacco, John Elway’s latest 6’6 or taller quarterback.

Tier III: Career backups
Brett Hundley, Cardinals
Matt Barkley, Bills
Chase Daniel, Bears
Drew Stanton, Browns
AJ McCarron, Texans
Chad Henne, Chiefs
Brian Hoyer, Patriots
Trevor Siemian, Jets
Tom Savage, Lions

This group is comprised of quarterbacks who accepted they look better on the sideline wearing a headset than on the field wearing a helmet. They’re fine, and you hope to never see them for more than a few garbage-time series per season.

Barkley is the most questionable inclusion on this list, but he was somehow the Bills’ top quarterback last season so he gets to spend 2019 as a “not completely depressing, I guess” option.

Tier IV: Veteran mentors
Matt Schaub, Falcons
Robert Griffin III, Ravens

Like Tier III, but with more experience. RG3 is the guy Baltimore is hoping can convince Lamar Jackson to slide more. Schaub has taken Josh McCown’s mantle as the player whose presence makes you feel oldest.

Tier V: Former starters who no longer (or never did) have it
Blake Bortles, Rams
Mike Glennon, Raiders
Blaine Gabbert, Buccaneers

These three are capable of sustained competence, but they’re known for so much worse. I want to write the rest of this section exactly as much as you’d like to read it, so let’s move on.

Tier VI: Possibly in our long-term plans, but possibly not ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Will Grier, Panthers
Gardner Minshew, Jaguars
Nate Sudfeld, Eagles
Joshua Dobbs, Steelers

These are the young quarterbacks who can start in a pinch, but aren’t rock-solid parts of their franchise’s future plans. These are the mid-to-late round picks still in the first few years of their NFL careers with limited regular season resumes from which to build. They don’t inspire confidence, but there’s a certain measure of hope that comes with the announcement they’ll be making an unexpected start.

Rookies Grier and Minshew could each flame out horribly, but they bring a combination of collegiate production and potential to teams that’d prefer to leave them on the bench the next four years. Dobbs was good enough to convince Pittsburgh to release Landry Jones, which means ... something. Sudfeld now gets the chance to fill Nick Foles’ shoes as Philadelphia’s unexpected savior should Carson Wentz get injured again.

Tier VII: Young guys who look in no way ready
Jeff Driskel, Bengals
Cooper Rush, Cowboys
DeShone Kizer, Packers
Sean Mannion, Vikings
Paxton Lynch, Seahawks

Maybe they’ll surprise by exceeding the challenges placed in front of them, but these are the players who combine low NFL ceilings and limited experience. Driskel was a major step down from Andy Dalton last season. Kizer was a plunge off a cliff from the play of Aaron Rodgers.

Rush looks like young Andy Dalton trying to sneak into an R-rated movie and had a 1:4 TD:INT ratio last preseason. Mannion has averaged just 4.9 yards per pass in his four-year NFL career. Then there’s Lynch, who could easily lose the No. 2 spot to Geno Smith. If that happens, Seahawks’ backup situation will move to either Tier III (if we’re being generous) or Tier V.

I would take Bortles over any of the tier 3's and lower

 

[Loyal]

AAF was open for a few weeks after this past season ended and lasted what 3 weeks?

Like I said, Mannion is so bad and slow, even those AAF QB's would give me greater hope than him.

 

[OldSchool]

Like I said, Mannion is so bad and slow, even those AAF QB's would give me greater hope than him.

Nothing in that league gives hope, I get it not many around here had faith in Sean but let’s not get carried away with hyperbole.

 

[Loyal]

Nothing in that league gives hope, I get it not many around here had faith in Sean but let’s not get carried away with hyperbole.

It's how I've felt about him for years . He has a big arm and that's it. He's slow in everything, when even a less talented arm could at least escape a sack or two. Mannion escapes no one and would be a tackling dummy if the defense does anything confusing, ie, what they normally do to confuse inexperienced starters...