Nagle Joins the Jets' Quarterback List
Published: April 22, 1991
It was no secret that the Jets liked Browning Nagle, the Louisville quarterback they used their first draft pick on today.
They looked at the 6-foot-4-inch, 225-pound senior long and hard before using the 34th choice over all to make him the fourth quarterback taken in the draft and second in a row
"You're going to ask why a quarterback?" said General Manager Dick Steinberg. "I know we need defense, but if a quarterback is the best player, you pick him, and he was the best player.
"He's an extremely strong guy, well trained by Howard Schnellenberger, who had Jim Kelly an extra year, but thinks this guy is ahead of Jim Kelly at the same point. He's capable of throwing the ball 70 yards in the air." More Complications
The pick complicated an already unclear quarterback situation. Ken O'Brien, the incumbent, had a so-so year last season. Tony Eason, his backup, balked at a paycut from his estimated $1.25 million salary and is now out in the cold. And the team has picked up Turk Schonert, a backup from Cincinnati, who hasn't played much in a couple of years.
Troy Taylor, last year's fourth-round pick out of California, has promise but is not deemed ready yet.
"I feel great," Coach Bruce Coslet said when asked about the pick. "We said two days ago that we'd be very happy if we ended up with Browning Nagle. We like most of all his strength and his velocity."
Schnellenberger is famous for developing another great Jet quarterback while an assistant to Bear Bryant at Alabama -- Joe Namath -- and Steinberg has a lot of respect for his methods of teaching.
Drafted by the Boston Red Sox after his senior year in Pinellas Park (Fla.) High School as a pitcher and an outfielder, Nagle was redshirted as a freshman at West Virginia in 1986 and sat out the 1987 season under N.C.A.A. rules after transfering to Louisville. Eluding the Rush
He threw for 2,601 yards last season and, despite only two years as a starter, finished third among the Cardinals' career passers with 5,104 yards.
A pocket passer with the ability to elude the rush, he threw for 451 yards and was named most valuable player of the Fiesta Bowl. But questions were raised when he hurt his shoulder in the Senior Bowl, which is why Steinberg and several other teams wanted another look at him.
"He had a separation in the Senior Bowl," said Steinberg. "He had a big workout a week ago Tuesday, throwing for about 40 minutes, and he looked stronger at the end than he did at the beginning."
"I'm extremely excited to be drafted by the Jets; I couldn't be happier," Nagle said by telephone. "My shoulder is 100 percent and you'll be able to see that in mini camp. I was disappointed about not going in the first round only until I found out that I was going to be a New York Jet."
He said other teams that had looked at him included the Seahawks, Falcons, Patriots, Browns, Bengals and Raiders. The Jets did not have a first-round pick today because they forfeited it last year when they took Rob Moore, the Syracuse wide receiver, in the supplemental draft.
On the third round, the Jets took Morris Lewis, a 6-4, 240-pound outside linebacker from Georgia. The Jets traded up to get Lewis on the seventh pick of the round, giving the Green Bay Packers their own third-round pick (No. 12) and their fifth-round pick.
On the fourth round, the Jets chose a 6-5, 285-pound defensive lineman, Mark Gunn, out of Pittsburgh.
