The Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Terry Pluto shared his thoughts, thus far, on QB Competition 2k9 and I just had to pass it a long. A link on the sidebar just wouldn’t suffice.

1. I asked Eric Mangini what things mattered most when judging a quarterback, and his first two points were “huddle presence and the ability to run the offense. … Who can look at the defense and understand what the coverage is and go to the right places with the ball.” The coach talked mostly about the mental approach, about poise, about dealing with pressure and making the right decisions. Could be wrong, but that seems to favor Brady Quinn.

2. Mangini will play the QB guessing game as long as possible. Part of it is not just to confuse the opposition, but in respect to Derek Anderson. He is the incumbent. He did make the 2007 Pro Bowl. I sense Mangini wants Anderson to truly have a fair shot to win the job.

3. That said, I sense it still will be Quinn. Part of the reason both QBs have not looked good in the summer sessions is Mangini is overloading them with new plays and other changes to pile up the mental pressure and see how they react. The coach is convinced much of the game is mental, that keeping cool in the heat of battle and remembering assignments often is the difference between winning and losing. It’s more than raw ability.

There really isn’t much for me to add to this. Just pointing out positive news whenever I can. That’s my job here, right? Especially when there isn’t a whole lot else going on.

We’ve been preaching for a long while that Brady’s strengths were the intangibles he brings as a leader, student of the game, and overall competitor. Mr. Pluto’s thoughts pretty much confirm that we aren’t alone in that thinking.

Advantage Brady Quinn? The saga continues!

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