Ty Detmer, Doug Pederson, Matt Hasselbeck, Aaron Rodgers.
What do these four guys have in common besides being quarterbacks? All four of
these guys backed up former Green Bay Packers’ quarterback Brett Favre at some
point in their career.
Not that Farve needed it. Favre owns the ironman streak for
consecutive games played and did not miss a start for 17 years straight.
Still no one in the Packers’ organization including Farve could
have envisioned that he would be that durable which is why Green Bay always
kept a capable backup ready to go just in case their starting quarterback had
to miss a game or two.
The Packers were just doing what they thought was wise.
Football is a rough sport and all players suffer injuries from time to time.
Favre even had his share of injuries throughout his career he just refused to
miss a game.
Favre’s coach when he was in Green Bay was Mike Holmgren who
was a former assistant coach under Bill Walsh in San Francisco. Holmgren
understood how complex the West Coast offense was and knew from his time in San
Francisco how important it was have a viable quarterback who could step in when
their starter was forced to miss games.
Joe Montana went through a stretch of seasons where he had
troubles with injuries and the team had Steve Young backing him up. Once Young
was given the job, he had Steve Bono and Elvis Grbac backing him up.
While Bono and Grbac aren’t sexy names, the 49ers didn’t
miss a beat when Young was unable to play. This was the thinking that Mike Holmgren
brought to the Packers organization.
People were making a big deal out of the fact that
Washington Redskins’ head coach Mike Shanahan drafted to high rated
quarterbacks in this past draft. People tend to forget that he is also a Bill
Walsh disciple.
He isn’t the only one that has started doing that though. Now
we see a lot of other teams trying to stockpile quarterbacks and it makes sense
on so many levels. The Packers and the New England Patriots have made a habit
of doing this and both have benefited from it.
The Packers haven’t had to lean on their backups very often
but they have been able to use those guys as trade bait. The Patriots have done
the same but having a competent backup was very beneficial for them back in
2008 when they lost Tom Brady for nearly a whole season due to a knee injury.
Another disciple of the West-Coast offense is Philadelphia
Eagle’s coach Andy Reid. He has developed young quarterbacks and resurrected
the careers of a few veteran quarterbacks during his time in Philly.
And the Eagles have reaped the benefits like when they were
able to trade Kevin Kolb to the Arizona Cardinals for starting cornerback
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.
Because let’s face it, the NFL has become a quarterback
driven league and the teams that are able to stockpile quarterbacks will always
be in a position to exploit those teams that are quarterback-starved. Especially seeing that it is such a big gamble to draft a quarterback in the
first place.
The success rate for quarterbacks drafted is not good and
while there are a lot of factors involved in why they don’t succeed, some teams
just prefer to trade for a quarterback they have seen successfully operate on
the NFL level.
Some of the teams that trade for other teams’ backup quarterbacks
really don’t take into account whether that person played in a system similar
to the one they run or not. That is why guys like Kolb and Matt Cassel build up
such high value with the team that developed them then have less-than-stellar
careers once they join another team.
There are other factors that contribute like lack of talent surrounding
them on their new team or poor coaching but the success rate for quarterbacks
acquired by trade isn’t very healthy either.
Developing a quarterback takes time and commitment. Some
teams don’t realize that which is why you see a lot of retreads circulated
around the league.
And until these teams figure it out you will continue to see
one-game wonders like Matt Flynn be pursued by teams desperate for quarterback
help or grizzled vets like Peyton Manning, Joe Montana and Brett Favre in such
high demand when their teams decide to part ways with them.
And while those teams will have a good season here and there
they will continue to lag behind the teams that have learned to stockpile and
develop quarterbacks. That is until they figure out how to do it.
Roosevelt Hall is an NFL Blogger for The Sport Mentalist and an NBA Blogger for The Sport Mentalist 2. He is also a Sports Reporter for Pro Sports Lives. He can be contacted at RHall_TPFB@Yahoo.com and be sure to follow him on Twitter @sportmentalist.
No comments:
Post a Comment