Don’t write off Marc Bulger just yet as the Ravens top-notch backup QB…reports of his being traded or released are greatly exaggerated…and he’s still a cool customer under fire.
Here’s the biggest bunch of crap to be fired in this wacky “lock-out” season so far:
Former Rams Vice President of Player Personnel Tony Softli says Bulger is too “shell-shocked” to be a starter.
“Marc Bulger was rumored to be headed [to Arizona] last season, but ownership rejected the transaction,” Softli wrote for ESPN 101 Sports in St. Louis. “A backup to Joe Flacco with the Baltimore Ravens, he is in the right spot as a No. 2.“
“Shell-shocked quarterbacks really struggle with happy feet and give up on a play rather than stand in there and throw under pressure.”
What utter bull-crappio!
Must be planting season! The stank of fertilizer is all over Softli’s remark.
Bulger is anything but “shell-shocked”. Sure, he’s only put together a full 16-game season once, in 2006. And many injuries, the byproduct of porous line play by the St. Louis Rams OL that had been shuffled and reshuffled over and again, had cost Bulger many a continuous peformance in years since. But look at 2006— he threw for 4,301 yards, and that’s the last season in memory he had good OL protection and good blitz-pickup blocking from his running backs.
Yes, Bulger was sacked an average of 41 times per year over the 2007, 2008 and 2009 seasons…
But those years no longer exist in Bulger’s head. He’s a Raven now. And the Ravens don’t give up 41 sacks in a season anymore…ever.
Bulger knows that, and his swagger as a confident QB is in full-swing again.
At 6-3, 205, in his 11th year out of West Virginia, Bulger has never been more ready to compete at the highest level. He’s comfortable backing Joe Flacco’s play…and he’d like to keep it that way.
After speculation surfaced last year that Bulger wasn’t into the game anymore, Head Coach John Harbaugh said he hadn’t noticed any signs of that.
“I haven’t seen that, and I don’t know how you know if you can read a guy’s mind,” Harbaugh said last year. “Marc has never said that. He didn’t say that in our meetings, and from what Marc has told me, he is definitely not ‘shell-shocked’ or afraid to stand up to a defensive pressure… and I’ve seen nothing but an energetic, competitive guy who loves football out here.”
“He’s competitive, he’s into everything we do. He was excited about the good throws in the (exhibition) game, he was disappointed with the bad plays. He’s done a great job.”
If other teams aren’t convinced that Bulger can still be a starter, that would be fine for Ravens executives, who haven’t bought into the hoopla. Bulger seemed to be a good fit behind Flacco in 2010, and the 33-year-old veteran said after the season that he would be interested in returning to the same role.
I would love to have Bulger back. He was a great QB when the Rams had a decent offensive line, and is still capable of being productive. Joe can continue to learn a lot from him. Marc is a solid option in a situation where Flacco can’t play…maybe the best backup QB in the NFL right now.
Two very important things are being seriously overlooked by Tony Softli…. (1) Bulger can make the quick decision and get the ball out about as fast as any QB when he has good wide outs (which the Ravens now have)… and (2) his O-line in St. Louis wasn’t nearly as good as the Ravens’, and he knows he has better protection here, which only helps his confidence and accuracy. We all know he can play the position & make the throws… plus, Cam’s system fits his style of play.
How can you call that “shell-shocked” ? I call it “relieved”…
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