What's the Matter With Collins?

QB Kerry Collins is a tough guy to figure out. He certainly has a first class arm, and with Randy Moss he can be frighteningly effective. In preseason, he looked almost Gannon-like, finding open receivers with ease and completing a high percentage of his passes. Even now, in two losses, he looks good statistically. Yes, he has a fumble problem, but so does Daunte Culpepper, and so did Warren Moon, yet I'd be more comfortable with either of them running the Raiders' offense than I am with Kerry Collins. Why? What do I see that's lacking?

There's a reason they call it intangibles. Football intelligence, game management skills, improvisational ability, call it what you will. Great quarterbacks have it. They're calm and creative even under spectacular pressure. You know that as long as their throwing arms remain attached to their bodies, your team has a chance. They keep plays alive that should be dead. They find the open receivers you don't see. They make everyone around them better.

Peyton Manning is one of these guys. So is Donovan McNabb. So is, and I will choke as I write this, Tom Brady. The Raider parade in this area includes Gannon, Plunkett, Stabler, and Lamonica. Michael Vick may one day be one of these guys, once he puts all his tools together.

Kerry Collins is, well, not. Pressure disrupts him too easily. He can't scramble or move out of a collapsing pocket. And while people play reasonably well around him, it's hard to say that they become better for his presence. He's fine, as long as there's nothing at stake or he's got a wave of emotion carrying him, but once things go badly, or the team really needs a score, his accuracy and poise vanish. When the heat's on, rather than making those around him great, he needs everyone around him to play perfectly for him to be good.

If the Raiders continue to struggle, they'll sooner or later have to turn to Marques Tuiasosopo and begin his tenure as a Raider starter. They've invested a lot of time and money in Gannon Jr. His time may come faster than anyone expects. Tui may be great or he may be nothing, but Collins is what he is. And we know from what's around the league that we can do better.