The following quotes are from NFL scouts, coaches and front-office personnel, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

• "The (media) loves Joe Flacco to death because the NFL is always trying to create 'the next' great thing. As far as I'm concerned, the jury is still out on Flacco. Too many quarterbacks get drafted in the first round and do not pan out. Look at Brady Quinn, J.P. Losman, Patrick Ramsey, Jason Campbell. There have been too many of those guys. Alex Smith, Rex Grossman. There is a big gap between (Peyton) Manning and (Tom) Brady and the next group. Donovan McNabb is 11 years in. (Drew) Brees is (nine) years in. There is a big gap between that class and the young guys, and they better start developing some names. Eli (Manning) and (Ben) Roethlisberger are there, but they need 6-7 young guys. It's all about creating star power so you can get the Montana-Elway matchups. This is a quarterback-driven league. We saw the same thing in the NBA. It lost its luster after they lost the Magic-Bird and the Jordan-(Isiah) Thomas matchups. After Mike stepped off, they had to bring in Kobe (Bryant). They tried to pass it off to (Jerry) Stackhouse and (Vince) Carter, but they could not carry it. You got to have some rivalries and star power because that is what sells the game."

• "Jim Zorn is taking all the heat right now, but it's difficult to play and scheme when you have no players to run schemes, and that falls directly on (director of player personnel Scott) ­Campbell, (executive vice president of football operations Vinny) Cerrato and (owner Dan) Snyder. I don't think I will ever work for a guy like Snyder. I was told he travels around his own building with security because of the way he constantly talks down to his employees and bullies people. I'd put him on his ass if he talked to me like that."

• "It was the (salary)-cap guys around the league who built up the importance of their jobs. If you look around, they have taken a backseat these days. The money is really not that big of a deal. Everyone is realizing now that the most important part of building a 53-man roster is the evaluation. There is enough cap room to go around for everyone. There is too much cap space now — you don't hear anything about cutting this guy or that guy because of the cap anymore. There's not much to the numbers if you hit on the evaluation. What the NFL needs is more stock analysts. There are not enough good ones, and the ones who have proven they can do it are as valuable to organizations as coaches. You can't win without players."

• "Mike Singletary's bravado will only carry the 49ers so far. At some point, you have to be able to coach and teach and get past all the bravado. You can't turn chicken (feathers) into chicken salad with a bunch of fist pumps. At some point, it becomes negative because everyone has heard it enough. He called a timeout in the first half just to rally the guys (vs. Atlanta in Week Five) — to get them all around him and give an 'Iron Mike' speech — and it wound up costing them seven points. The ball was not fumbled on the kickoff (before the first half ended), but they did not have a timeout to challenge the call. It's another pants-down thing. You have to be better than that in the NFL."

• "Philip Rivers, to me, is not winning any big games. He has Antonio Gates and Vincent Jackson. He had L.T. when he was at the top of his game, and they could not (advance). Drew Brees is probably doing more with less than anyone. He has some football players on that roster, but he does not have any superstars. Rivers had two superstars — Gates and Tomlinson. And they went out and got Chris Chambers and drafted Jackson, but they are going in the opposite direction."

• "John Fox's problem is he is now in his eighth year and he has never developed a quarterback. So now this is the year where they are going to have to get one, and they can't get a retread. If you get a young guy, you probably won't be around to see him play. They are in a tough position. (Jake) Delhomme just got more money, and he has been doubling and tripling up interceptions some weeks. He'll finish with more interceptions than touchdowns. ... Steve Smith caught one ball for four yards against Tampa Bay, and you know how those prima donnas are. They get to bitching and moaning. I don't know if his game has fallen off, but it is not looking good out there. When you start to think of 'Steve Smith,' he's not even the first receiver (with that name) you think of anymore. You think of the (one with the) Giants."

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