The Best Quarterback in Cleveland is . . . .

The Cleveland Browns have been in the news a lot recently about who will start for their team when the season starts. Mainly for the fact that they have one of the most polarizing players in the game with Johnny "Football" Manziel. The Browns have made a decision to start Brian Hoyer over Manziel and I think that's the wrong decision on there part. They have a better option that will fill their need at the Quarterback position and are completely overlooking his talents. No not that party boy from Texas. I'm talking about the cool calm and collected Southern Boy name Connor Shaw.

That's right. Connor Shaw, un-drafted rookie out of South Carolina University. While he played in the same loaded SEC as Manziel, he was not even closely mentioned as mush as everyone else in the league. So if you don't know who he is, here's a little bit of background. He was a three year stater (played four years) for the Ol' Ballcoach and is the winningest quarterback in school history with a 27-5 record as a starter (17-0 at home). He's good just trust me.

So why should Connor start over Manziel? Easy. Feel free to look back at my previous post about who will be better Luck v. RGIII. There's a lot of the same arguments to be had. For one, he's more balanced and has better decision making skills in the pocket. Since he played in a more Pro-Style offense at USC, he wasn't allowed to zip the ball around as much as the other SEC QB's, which is why he probably didn't get as much attention within the league. In fact, in two years of play, Manziel had over 100 more attempts than Shaw. But while he didn't put up the gaudy stats, he was efficient. In four years of play he only had 16 interceptions to 56 TD's. A ratio of 3.5+ (Manziel had 22 INT's to 63 TD's. Ratio of just 2.8+)

His style also translates better to the NFL. Lets take the comparison of Luck and RGIII. Luck a balanced QB with both the passing acumen, and enough mobility to allow him to not simply rely on one skill set. RGIII on the other hand has had a tremulous time adapting to what he needs to be to become a successful NFL signal caller. Shaw has a similar skill set to Luck. He can run (ran a 4.66 40 yard dash, faster than Manziel) and he can stand in the pocket and throw the ball accurately (shown by his college statistics).

Connor has the skills and abilities to be a legitimate NFL Starter. Will he get his shot in Cleveland, probably not. Mainly for the fact that NFL GM's have such large egos, very few will admit their mistake and cut ties with a high profile first round draft pick (case in point Christian Ponder in Minnesota, Matt Leinart in Arizona and Vince Young ... Pretty much everywhere he's been. How is he still getting jobs?!) Hopefully I'm wrong, and Connor can show the NFL what he can do, and prove me right.

*Partial credit for the discovery of Connor Shaw must go to my girlfriend Kara*

Love-Wiggins Trade: Do It Already!

ESPN has started to piss me off and I need a place to vent. So I'm going to jump start this sports blog again but in a little different format. Instead of fact checking every analyst (since this isn't my full time job and 90% of the time they're wrong to begin with) this will be an open sports forum. So, lets rant!

What's been bugging me the most recently is all this talk/hype about the Kevin Love/Andrew Wiggins trade talks. The main reason is because of all this chatter about if Kevin Love is enough for the Cav's to trade Wiggins. Seriously, Kevin Love: emerging All-Star with the skills and ability to grow into a Superstar of this league: isn't enough of a return for Andrew Wiggins: a highly athletic young player who averaged under 18 points per game in college where he couldn't even get his team out of the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament? Yeah seems pretty un-even.

Another thing that's bugging me is how little the Wolves are looking at getting out of this trade. With current rumors of them receiving Wiggins, Anthony Bennett (Minnesota would then trade Bennett to Philadelphia for Thaddeus Young) & a future protected 1st Rounder, that seems like the team is banking on a lot of "potential" rather than getting "proven" talent. This trade reminds me when the Denver Nugguts traded Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks. They got a deal that has helped set them up for immediate success by getting proven NBA talent along with prospects and picks. In the three years since trading Melo, they have made the NBA Playoffs twice, and have been a highly competitive team in the much stronger Western Conference. in my opinion, Love is better than what Melo was when he was traded.

To further support my idea that the Wolves deserve a Melo equivalent deal, let go to the stats. Below are Kevin Love's career stats (brown) compared along side Melo's stats (Green) while in Denver. 

*Removed Kevin Love's '12-'13 season - only played 18 games due to injury

Not only does Love surpass Melo in many of statistical categories, just take a look at the progression throughout the years. Melo (to his credit) has been a consistent shooter, but has not improved significantly in any one category. On the other hand, the continuous progression of Kevin Love's offensive and defensive production show that we may not have seen the best of his playing ability yet. With this comparison in mind, the Wolves should be looking for deals that not just give the fan base hope for the future, but allow them to remain competitive in the current NBA landscape. Also, I just don't think Wiggins is going to turn into the All-Star player everyone has anointed him to be. 

Unfortunately I know this will never come to be since the Timber Pups have been arguably one of the worst run sports franchise in the world and now that LeBron is in Cleveland, the NBA will do whatever it can to get him what he wants. But that's for another rant, another time.