 |
 |
 |
|
I wanted to get a look at both million-dollar rookie QBs, Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf. CBS went heavy with the comparisons during the Chargers game, running an in-progress graphic of their respective numbers. I thought Manning looked better, except, of course, for the three picks that cost his team the game. He was smoother in the pocket and more athletic when he had to move out of it, although neither one of them had the look of pure action that the Cardinals' Jake Plummer showed last year. In the thinking department both were overmatched, of course, by the subtlety of the defenses they faced. Neither one could do the old veteran bit, looking the DBs off the receivers. The Miami secondary, for instance, had a better read on the patterns than Manning had. But that'll come. Remember, these guys are babies. I thought Manning showed better arm strength, too, and this surprised me because Leaf was the guy who was supposed to have the real gun. Yet he was looping the kind of throws you'd normally drill, such as 10- to 15-yard out patterns. Manning had more zip. Oh well, it's only one game. |