Ramsey vs. Boller - why the hype?

In several publications, Kyle Boller has been extolled as the QB most likely to "take the next step". Ramsey is, and has been, on the fence. Can someone explain to me why?

Patrick Ramsey
+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Passing | Rushing |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Year TM | G | Comp Att PCT YD Y/A TD INT | Att Yards TD |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| 2002 was | 10 | 117 227 51.5 1539 6.8 9 8 | 13 -1 1 |
| 2003 was | 11 | 179 337 53.1 2166 6.4 14 9 | 15 62 1 |
| 2004 was | 9 | 169 272 62.1 1665 6.1 10 11 | 10 19 0 |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| TOTAL | 30 | 465 836 55.6 5370 6.4 33 28 | 38 80 2 |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+


Kyle Boller

+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Passing | Rushing |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Year TM | G | Comp Att PCT YD Y/A TD INT | Att Yards TD |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| 2003 bal | 11 | 116 224 51.8 1260 5.6 7 9 | 30 62 0 |
| 2004 bal | 16 | 258 464 55.6 2559 5.5 13 11 | 53 189 1 |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| TOTAL | 27 | 374 688 54.4 3819 5.6 20 20 | 83 251 1 |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+

Boller, with just three fewer starts, has thirteen fewer TD's. He averages nearly 1 yard per attempt fewer than Ramsey, who suffered under a "short pass" offense last year. Ramsey's career QB rating of 74.4, while not exceptional, is quite a bit better than Boller's 68.1 rating.

Each player has a high caliber RB. Each has a WR corps with something to prove. Though Todd Heap is an elite TE, Cooley's rookie season (37 catches, 6 TD's) compares favorably to Heap's (16 catches, 1 TD). Point is, they have similar weapon sets. Each plays under an offensive minded head coach who has brought in new help to work with their QB's (Musgrave for the Skins, Rick Neuheisel for the Ravens).

This isn't a call to deify Patrick. I think he should be the starter of what I hope is a very good Redskins team this year, but I don't have Lionel Richie's blind girlfriend working on a Canton bust for him. I just don't understand the "Boller Brigade" and the notion that he's rising.

The main reason is probably because Boller has the support of his team and is the clear-cut starter in a stable system.

Ramsey on the other hand has been in different systems, different coaches, and on the surface doesn't seem to have overwhelming support from the team with QBs being brought in two years in a row now.

Personally I don't think Boller has the smarts to be a top notch QB. But hey, what do I know?

Great post Brudlee. I was not aware of the breakdown. I think part of the problem is that Patrick was out of the loop until the end of last season so there is not the focus that there is on Boller. Also when Boller was drafted, where he was, the Ravens and their staff to a bit of flack from the national press for the pick.

I am almost glad Patrick is not getting this kind of press. Less pressure on him and God knows he has enough to shoulder this season. Basically if he does not perform well he is gone and enter Jason Campbell.

These number's make me feel really good about what Ramsey will be able to do this season. Drew Bress situation is what we all hope for.

As I remember it, Boller didn't even look like a quaterback until week 10 of the season.

Matty -
I agree that Boller has gotten franchise-level support that Patrick has not. The deeper question may be - why?

Neutral observers of Boller's arm and skills have walked away unimpressed. The people who have raved about his abilities the most are the people who traded away draft picks to get him - his "abilities" reflect upon their judgement.

Boller is given the benefit in Baltimore because the coach that drafted him wants to keep him in place. Ramsey is shunned because the coach that drafted him is long gone. My question to those who think Boller is poised for a leap is, "What statistic or trend have you seen to suggest that?" He has the starting job because (a) Baltimore is giving almost no thought to his backup, and (b) Billick wants his hand-picked selection to be the starter. There is no (c). There is no statistical reason for faith in Boller.

I'm with you BL, personally I haven't seen much from Boller that makes me believe he's the next big thing. He did show some signs of life late last year, but even then he still looked pretty mediocre overall.

Looking through his game by game stats last year, he mixed in some good starts with some mediocre ones, and some downright awful ones. Look at his numbers against top defenses, simply horrible.

http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/396152/gamelogs/2004

Boller is a horrible QB, but Billick won with Dilfer he doesn't need a good QB per say, comparing Ramsey to Boller talent wise is like comparing and NFL team to a peewee team, Boller's job will be not to lose games that's all he's good for maybe.

I agree with this post completely. Boller has been a trainwreck for his whole carreer. For some reason the league is turned off on Ramsey. Maybe they are just taking the que from the Redskins who themselves have shown very little faith in Ramsey since drafting him. Hopefully, Patrick shuts everyone up this season.

Boller pretty much stinks. I think the reason why the experts are saying that he should improve this year is that RB Lewis will be back for 16 games (and not distracted by his criminal past), TE Heap will be back (after suffering an injury last year against the Steelers), the Ravens got WR Mason, and the Ravens drafted WR Clayton. I think Boller's a bust, but he simply hasn't had the weapons on offense to do much of anything.

Boller pretty much stinks. I think the reason why the experts are saying that he should improve this year is that RB Lewis will be back for 16 games (and not distracted by his criminal past), TE Heap will be back (after suffering an injury last year against the Steelers), the Ravens got WR Mason, and the Ravens drafted WR Clayton. I think Boller's a bust, but he simply hasn't had the weapons on offense to do much of anything.
I wonder whether the weapons aren't there, or whether they can't take advantage of them. In 2003 (his rookie season) he had a very heatlhy Jamal Lewis, he had Travis Taylor, Todd Heap, and Marcus Robinson to throw to. Robinson did caught nine more passes in Minnesota the next year in a reserve role.
In 2004, the Ravens picked up Kevin Johnson to give Boller a good target - he went from a 60 catch guy (with a career high of 84) to 35 catches. Must be a bad receiver. They also had a breakout year from Randy Hymes - he caught 26 balls.
All in all, no one in the Boller era - including Heap - has caught more than 57 passes. No WR has caught more than 39 passes in a year. This either means Ozzie Newsome has to resign because he couldn't pick a receiver during the last five years that could catch 40 passes - or - Boller throws for crap. Smart money is on Derrick Mason to take his own life around week 8 - with 16 catches for the year.