Tuesday, December 21, 2004

QUARTERBACK ISSUES!!!

The old saying goes….there are 32 NFL teams, and 28 of them have QB controversies.

Not quite precise…but not that far off the mark. There will be a ton of teams that need to assess their QB situations in the off season. And some will be in the playoffs.

WE DON’T HAVE NO STINKING QB CONTROVERSY!

PEYTON MANNING. About the best job security in the NFL is in Indy.

DAUNTE CULPEPPER. If it wasn’t for Peyton, we’d all be up Vikes QB Daunte’s butt.

TOM BRADY. Heck, this guy has won 2 Super Bowl MVPs for New England.

DONOVAN MCNABB. Well, he’s going to have to play great to get the Eagles into the Super Bowl. No Owens anymore.

BEN ROETHLESBERGER. The guy isn’t perfect, nor is he the most talented QB. But, he refused to let the Steelers lose…and rarely puts them in a situation to. Sounds like the guy I just named.

MIKE VICK. He’s still not the most talented QB as far as passing. He has only 13 TD passes and 12 picks. But, he is the most exciting player in the NFL and sells tickets, shoes and whatever else. He is Mr. Falcon.

JAKE DELHOMME. He led the Panthers to an improbable Super Bowl appearance and has his team in the playoff race when you took away his top WR and top two RB this year. He has a never was as the back [Goines] and a rookie [Colbert] and Muhammad as his targets. Brilliant!

BYRON LEFTWICH. Did you watch that Jags game against the Packers?? Wow. What heart!

ELI MANNING. Yeah, he hasn’t played very well…but that isn’t all his fault. He’ll be fine and has no worries about losing his job. Not at least for a while. Of course, what to they do with Warner??

TRENT GREEN. Despite the Chiefs poor season…it isn’t all Green’s fault. With less-than-stellar receivers….he still gets the job done. With all the QB issues in the NFL, the Chiefs need to stay put. He trails only Manning and Brees in the AFC for QB rating.

THE STARTER….BUT NEEDS TO GET IT DONE

MATT HASSELBECK. He’s playing very well. It isn’t his fault the receivers can’t catch, Alexander can’t hold on to the ball and the defense sucks. But, he is a Holmgren guy….and if Holmgren gets canned, Hasselback could be elsewhere as well.

MARC BULGER. He’s in the same position as Hasselbeck. He runs the Rams offense better than anyone else right now. But, if Martz gets hacked….he may be hacked as well.

CHAD PENNINGTON. He’s their man…but seems to have a ton of injury issues. Also, the team needs to look at an adequate back-up for him.

CARSON PALMER. He’s the guy…Kitna is gone. In what was a controversial move, the Bengals decided to start Palmer from Day 1. That isn’t a bad thing…since they’ve stuck with him the whole season. He’s made some great improvements….and made some major errors. But, the only way to correct those errors is to work them out. Looks to be a solid top pick.

DAVID CARR. He has only 14 TD for the Texans….and 12 picks.

KYLE BOLLER. He’s more Dilfer than Manning. With a sub-par Jamal Lewis this year….he has the Ravens in pretty much the same spot as last year. And Billick seems to like him.

ISSUES AHEAD

STEVE MCNAIR/BILLY VOLEK. Not that McNair is in trouble of keeping his job….but he isn’t sure that the injuries are worth staying in the game. He has bounced in and out of the lineup all year…and has permanently been on the “questionable list”. Billy Volek has looked pretty good…and the Titans have planned for this scenario. Still, they’d be losing the co-MVP of two years ago.

BRETT FAVRE. No he isn’t going anywhere else…but he is a year-to-year proposition for the Packers now. And they have nothing in the tank behind him.

AARON BROOKS. Who else do the Saints have? He is 7th in the NFL in passing yards.

JAKE PLUMMER. What is this guy?? He can single-handedly bring the Broncos from behind to win….or from ahead to lose. For every nice play he makes…he pulls off a dumb one. NINETEEN picks! Coaching ain’t as easy without a John Elway.

DREW BREES. This is the most interesting problem to have. Drew Brees is a candidate for MVP also-ran behind Manning. But, he is a free agent and the Chargers “drafted” Philip Rivers to be their guy. They have publicly said they want Brees back…but will he re-sign when he knows he will have to look over his shoulder? And will Rivers whine because he’s not getting his shot?

JOEY HARRINGTON. There were talks of benching him.…then he throws 361 yards and gave the Lions a shot at winning the game. He has all the tools…but something is holding him back. It doesn’t help that everyone around him is injured. He may have to fight for his job in training camp.

DREW BLEDSOE/JP LOSMAN. What if Losman was healthy?? Where would the Bills be now? Who knows…but Bledsoe does have them in contention, even if it is in spite of him. Losman is their future…but when does Buffalo decide when the future starts?

KERRY COLLINS. I can’t see Rich Gannon being able to play again….but if he does, it may be to backup Collins. Collins is a Norv Turner type QB who can sling it. However, it can also drop it hold it to long, side-arm it and throw it to the other team. But, he’s probably going to be the starter next season as well.

QUARTERBACK MESSES

JOSH MCCOWN. He had Arizona winning when he was benched. Replacements King and Navarre lost their games. McCown comes back, and they win again. Denny Green…take a hint!!!

TIM RATTAY. Rattay can fling it. But, he is injury prone and is giving Ken Dorsey a chance to steal his job. And Erickson may not be around to make that decision.

JEFF GARCIA. Who knew that the San Francisco breakup of Garcia and Owens would result in Garcia being the bad teammate? In a season that started so promising at 3-3, they’ve lost 8 straight and no one seems to have a guaranteed job next year. Kelly Holcomb?? No. Luke McCown?? Not right now. Paging Tim Couch.

PATRICK RAMSEY. Decisions. Obviously Mark Brunell can’t bring it anymore. The Skins gave him WAY more time [and $$$] than they should have to prove it. Ramsey, who was killed last year is Spurrier’s system, can make plays and the offense actually moves. However, he has made plays that have absolutely killed the Skins chances to win. Just look at the Eagle game.

BRIAN GREISE. Who knows what Tampa will do. They’ve peeved Johnson off so much that I doubt he’d play for them again. Chris Simms is the future…but he’s start lasted about a quarter. Griese has played well since inserted as the starter [#3 in the NFC in QB rating]…but this was a guy the Dolphins let walk.

JAY FIEDLER/AJ FEELY. What to do here?? It is tough to know what they have…since the offensive line didn’t give them a chance to perform and the defense knows that Ricky Williams isn’t back their running. Feely will most likely stick, especially with this win against the Patriots on Monday Night.

DA BEARS. One would think that Rex Grossman would still be their top guy. He did have the team play well and win some surprising games during his time. His injury showed that Chicago isn’t much without him.

DALLAS COWBOYS. I’m expecting Troy Aikman to come down from the booth to take snaps. The QB situation is a huge issue…something Boys fans aren’t used to. Vinny’s best days were 7 years ago. Drew Henson’s better days were fielding grounders. So that leaves Tony Romo. Yeah. They’ll be going after Drew Brees pretty hard, I think.

QUARTERBACKS THAT ARE LOOKING FOR WORK

KURT WARNER. The Giants began the Eli Era so Warner, who played well, is on his way out. He threw for over 2000 yards and 6 TD [Barber was hot then]….with only 4 picks. His QB rating is better than Leftwich. He may be a guy that Dallas may look at acquiring.

JOHN KITNA. As 2003 proved…Kitna can lead a team. The Bengals were nothing….and Kitna did all of the right things to get them to 8-8. He is an excellent teammate and never toots his own horn. And if he was the starter this year, the Bengals may be 8-6 instead of 6-8.

ROOKIES THAT WILL BE HERE TO SPICE UP LIFE

MATT LEINART [USC]. He could be the top QB taken in the draft. And with a team like Miami, Cleveland, Washington and Dallas picking high…the Heisman winner could be headed there.

AARON RODGERS [Cal]. He will be #2.…or #1...of the QB’s taken. Solid guy with solid arm. I can see him in burgundy and gold.

ANDREW WALTER [Arizona State], KYLE ORTON [Purdue], CHARLIE FRYE [Akron] and JASON CAMPBELL [Auburn] all could be first or second rounders. And you never know…one of these guys could be the next Big Ben.

WHO ARE THESE GUYS??

All of these guys below started at QB for NFL teams this past week.  Can you name them?? [Answers below]

 

 

 

 

 

Chad Hutchinson...Bears
Chris Chandler...Rams
Ken Dorsey...Niners
Jon Kitna...Bengals
Kyle Boller...Ravens
AJ Feeley...Dolphins
Billy Volek...Ttians
Luke McCown...Browns

 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think mcown, hasselbeck and harrington are definetely the future. eli will be lucky to EVER make the pro bowl and i cant wait to see leinert in the nfl.