[sportscurmudgeon]

Matty:

If y9ou check Brees stats in his first three years, you'll find that he was good one year and miserable in the others. It 's not that he stunk in all of them; he was inconsistent. And he didn't play every game in those three years.

Ramsey in 2005 is very similar to Brees in 2004. The comparison os Ranmsey this year to Brees last year will be interesting. It may have a lot to do with what the Redskins do with Ramsey and his contract situation at the end of next year...

For the record, I don't think Brees will be as good in 2005 as he was last year. I don't think he will stink out the AFC West, but I don't think he has another miracle season on tap. In mathematical terms, this is called "regressing to the mean".

Ramsey is praised on this board and he is slammed on this board. However, we do have the precedent of someone here comparing him in his first 15 or 16 starts to Brett Favre and Peyton Manning and a few other really outstanding QBs and drawing the conclusion that Ramsey was better than they were. The CLEAR implication from that is that Ramsey deserves to be compared to that level of QB in the NFL. Maybe some day he will earn that status and deserve that comparison. As of now, I don't think so.

Let me be very clear about this. Peyton Manning and Brett Favre are absolute mortal lock certainties for the Hall of Fame. Patrick Ramsey - in March 2005 - would not get a single vote for the Hall of Fame even if ten of his family members were on the committee.

That does not make Ramsey a "Golden Boy" here by any stretch of the imagnination. But there are some folks here who think his accomplishments to date are far more significant than they actually are. Remember, he has a losing record for games that he has started in the NFL AND let's just say that he has not become a legend for making miracle comebacks in the 4th quarter and/or the final 5 minutes of games to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Maybe that will be the case some day, but not quite yet...