Is Testaverde the real deal?
Send a question to Peter
King
SI's
NFL Insider received more than 900 questions this week. Here
are his answers to a select
few.
Posted: Fri August 29,
1997
Vinny Testaverde racked up some amazing stats for the
Ravens last year. Any chance he can do it
again?
—Bill
McComis
I wouldn't be surprised. Phil Simms always told me that
Testaverde was clearly the most talented quarterback in the
NFL, based on his raw tools. But Testaverde never proved it
with any consistency because he was sort of a head case.
But now Vinny has
become relaxed and confident under Ravens coach Ted
Marchibroda. His natural ability is coming out.
This summer, Vinny told me about an incident that happened
on the way home from a road game last season. He and
Marchibroda had a long conversation. Vinny talked about his
lack of confidence to change the play at the line of
scrimmage. Marchibroda told
him in no uncertain
terms: Hey you're the quarterback, you're out there, you see what
the defense is doing. You have to feel free to make
changes. I'm never going to get on your case for
that. Vinny likes the fact that Marchibroda has basically told
him that he has the freedom of a Favre or an
Elway.
You've picked the Packers to repeat. But how would they do
if Brett Favre got
injured?
—Tim
Harper
Of all the major contenders, Green Bay might be the only
team that
could—could—win the Super Bowl if its
quarterback was lost for half the season or more. Having said that, I
think the Packers would have a very difficult time
repeating if either Favre or DT Gilbert Brown were to miss
an awful lot of
time.
If Steve Bono, the Green Bay backup QB, had to play a
significant amount of time, you'd see the value of Favre.
He's the best audible-caller in the league, and he's the
best I've ever seen at quickly surveying all his receiving
options in a very short
time as he drops back and sets
up.
The Packers have the best defense in the NFL, by far. That
and their depth would allow them to hide a weakened offense
and win some 17-10 games if Favre couldn't
play.
What do you think now of the Carolina defense? Will
LB Renaldo Turnbull be able to fill Kevin Greene's
shoes?
—Kevin
Thomas
Renaldo Turnbull is well equipped to take Greene's spot. He
played under coach Dom Capers and defensive coordinator Vic
Fangio when they were assistants in New Orleans. Turnbull
won't have to cram very long to play the Carolina
defense.
Turnbull made a financial miscalculation this spring. The
Saints told him that unless he was willing to cut his
$2-million-plus salary by a million bucks, it was going to
be hard for them to keep him. He thought they were
bluffing. They weren't. So now
he goes to Carolina for less than a million per year—but
he'll have a much better chance to
win.
As far as Greene goes, he will be supremely motivated to
help San Francisco—losers of three of four to Carolina in
the Panthers' brief history—get the better of the upstart
Panthers. But keep in mind one thing: The zone blitz, which
San Francisco
doesn't use much, is the perfect defense for a blitzing
linebacker. Greene won't have as many opportunities to
blitz in San Francisco. If he gets nine or 10 sacks this
year, the Niners will have made a great
move.
If you were starting an expansion team, which
NFL coach would you
pick?
—Paul
Saunders
I'm assuming that you want to know what coach, over, say,
the next 10 years, would give me the best chance to start a
franchise, to use free agency wisely, to draft well and to
coach well. With those parameters, I'm going to pick Mike
Shanahan of the
Broncos. I think he's the IBM Deep Blue of coaches today
because he has such a tremendous ability to be doing three
or four things at once and do them all well.
I remember sitting in his office late last season. I saw
two interesting things. One was a video cassette of
Baltimore tackle Tony Jones's previous couple of games.
Shanahan knew he'd have a hole at left tackle because Gary
Zimmerman was likely to
retire. So he spent bits and pieces of his time all last year
studying all the young left tackles in the league.
Interesting thing No. 2: On the coffee table in his office,
Shanahan had reams of newspaper clippings and Internet
stories covering the other 29
NFL teams. He would read those clippings in his spare time,
hoping to get some clues about players he might coach
someday.
I just think Shanahan is really bright and a good motivator
and has a lot of energy to coach the game for a long time.
What kind of year do you think
RB Napoleon Kaufman will have for the
Raiders?
—Ryan
Murguia
 History tells us Kaufman will average five yards or so per
carry and get the Raiders' offense out of a lot of holes.
But it looks to me as if coach Joe Bugel likes Joe Aska
better after this preseason, so I don't look for Kaufman to
be an every-down
back for the
Raiders.
What does the signing of
WR Anthony Miller do for the Cowboys' passing game, and for
Michael Irvin in
particular?
—Chris
Hysock
If Anthony Miller ever gets on the field, then obviously
he's going to help the offense and Irvin specifically. But
I don't like it when a guy sits practically the whole
preseason, then has to make his debut against an
exceedingly physical
defense—Pittsburgh's—on AstroTurf when clearly he's not 100%. Only
Miller knows how healthy he is right now. But I would say
this: There is tremendous motivation for Miller to play
well this year, because if he plays like the Anthony
Miller of four or five years ago,
the Cowboys may be tempted to keep Miller and not
Irvin.
How do you think Kent Graham will fare as the lead
quarterback in
Arizona?
—Dave
Starke
Cardinals people tell me that Graham had a horrendous
preseason. They say it's probably a matter of time before
Jake Plummer takes the reins. But I know Graham a little
bit. He's a tough kid who knows he has to take advantage of
this chance. He might
surprise us, especially if Leeland McElroy gives the Cardinals
some semblance of a running game so pass rushers can't tee
off on Graham behind his crummy offensive
line.
The Falcons' Chris Chandler is a good quarterback who seems
to land on bad teams. Why can guys like Rick Mirer and Neil
O'Donnell be labeled franchise QBs, while Chandler is
considered a
journeyman?
—Robert
Hensley
I like this question. Chandler has occasionally had good
long stretches as an NFL player. But if you talk to the
people in Tennessee, they'll tell you that his Oilers
teammates didn't think Chandler was a very tough guy. And
however that started—it
might have been that game in Pittsburgh a couple of years ago
when Chandler said he was sick and couldn't play—it's
tough to recover from being branded as guy who won't play
hurt.
Contrast that with current Oilers quarterback Steve McNair.
The offensive linemen would fall on a sword for this guy
because they think he's a warrior. Fair or unfair, that's
why Chandler left the Oilers. He'll have a good opportunity
in Atlanta because
there's nothing close to a qualified backup there, but if
the Falcons are as bad as I think they'll be, they'll be
playing for Peyton Manning come December. And then Chandler
could find himself once again in the role of care-taker
quarterback.
Thanks for your e-mail. See you next
week.
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