Sports

Draft. Resign. Cut. – NFL Playoff Virgin QB’s

By January 5, 2012June 18th, 2018No Comments

The NFL playoffs. Four exciting weekends of glued-to-the-seat-of-your-couch, cling-to-a-twelve-pack-of-Miller-Lite, don’t-talk-to-me-until-its-over NFL bliss. The best of the best battle it out for a shot to bring home the coveted title of World Champs. If there has been a glorified season of the quarterback this is it. All eyes will be on this position more than ever. We typically envision big-name veterans leading their teams through the most critical stretch of the NFL season, but it’s not every year that we find a handful of youngsters and rookies marching their team on to the field in January. Three quarterbacks who have never seen the NFL post-season before will be starting this coming week. T.J. Yates (Houston Texans), Andy Dalton (Cincinnati Bengals), and Tim Tebow (do I need say more?) will all be making their first post-season appearances this weekend.

With no further adieu I would draft T.J. Yates, resign Andy Dalton, and cut (more like aggressively throw off the bus) Tim Tebow.

I think Brian Urlacher said it best – “He is a good running back.” Do you keep Tebow as a running back who can run the Wildcat on occasion? Your sure can, but you better tell him to keep his Tebowing at a minimum. However we are talking about quarterbacks here, so Tebow gets the cut. Some might think I’m crazy, but I think the majority would agree that Tim Tebow hasn’t got the right tools to make it in the NFL as a true QB. Do you keep him as a backup to a true #1? Maybe. I just can’t see this guy making it through more than four seasons without getting concussed to the point of no return. Tebow possesses the size and speed of a starting half back in the NFL, but this kid can’t throw a spiral to save his life, and rarely do you see him make a good decision down the field. As of today Tebow is completing just 47% of his passes, and with the exception of the 4th quarter he looks absolutely down-right awful. If I’m John Elway I’m preparing to trade the farm to bring in a top 5 QB in the draft. Bye, bye, Tim Tebow. Out you go! CUT!

Though Tebow was an easy decision for me, Yates and Dalton provided me a little more trouble than I thought. Interestingly enough we get to see these two battle it out in the Wild Card round this Saturday. Yates has only played in six NFL games thus far in his very young career, while Dalton had 16 weeks to tighten up his game leading to this weekend’s showdown. If Yates had started as many games as Dalton, he would be right around 8 TD’s and 8 INT’s for 2,530 yards passing. That isn’t good enough for me. Any quarterback who can only squeeze out eight touchdown passes over 16 games might as well be named Caleb (cough!) Hanie. The thing I like about Yates is that he went from third string to starter in just one game, and he still came away with the win. The kid looks to have confidence and plays well under pressure. The real question is what will happen when he doesn’t have the elite offensive line and record-breaking rushing attack? I just don’t think that Yates is there yet, but he still gets a chance. I see him as a solid backup to Matt Schaub next season. DRAFT!

Andy Dalton has dazzled this season in his NFL debut. I had the chance to see him take on a very good Raven’s defense in November and boy did he look good! He has enough poise in the pocket to get his passes off clean, and he throws a tight spiral. His tendency to complete passes to the other team can be easily corrected with a little work. He puts some real zip on the ball but also throws a spectacular rainbow pass downfield. In his first season Dalton has put up 20 TD’s and passed for 3,400 yards – not bad for a rookie. But it’s not necessarily in the numbers with Andy Dalton. He simply looks and plays like a professional football player, and a good one at that. I’m not saying this guy is the next Dan Marino or even Aaron Rodgers, but he sure looks like Cincinnati’s future. I would build the team around Dalton and let him keep building on a very promising first season. You put another go-to receiver on the line and I will bet we see this team in the post-season for years to come. Bam! RESIGN!

Now it’s hard to tell because I haven’t seen any of these quarterbacks in meaningful games. I just hope I am right, because if I EVER have to endure another NFL season listening to broadcasters rant about nothing but a mediocre Broncos team, I might have to commit myself. Let’s all sit back and see where these guys end up over the next four years. With that being said, enjoy your playoffs because they only come but once a year! WE OUT!!!

This article was written by special contributor Ryan Greshock. He threw as many TD passes this year as Mark Brunell.

Rob Cressy

Rob Cressy

Sports loving free throw specialist and yinzer living in Chicago who is awesome most of the time, has run with the bulls in Spain, and is a graduate of Second City's Improv program.