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Battle lines Several key QB competititons remain to be settledPosted: Tuesday July 23, 2002 10:09 AM
There are a number of questions that will be answered at training camps across the country in the coming weeks. Can those players coming back from injury return to their old form? Are the rookies in this class good enough to be contributors as first-year players? Can the batch of new head coaches establish their philosophies and work with the veterans on their rosters? But these questions pale in comparison to, Who will start at quarterback this fall? Eight clubs come into the 2002 preseason with that most important personnel dilemma staring them in the face. Let's take a look at each situation.
Evaluating these quarterbacks fairly means letting them play with the same offensive line, receivers and running backs an equal amount of time. It means hoping the coach on the other side of the field keeps his first defense on the field long enough for both to get equal work against a quality unit. The first preseason game usually presents little play time for starters. Once the fourth preseason game rolls around, coaches back off their starters once again since the season opener is but a week away. That leaves just two weeks to pick your starter and that's not easy. I've been involved in preseason quarterback competitions during my NFL career and at the end of August we didn't always have enough quality information to make the best decision. That's when we fell back on "gut instinct" or "what's right for the long run"' or what was "politically correct." I wonder where the Seahawks would have landed last year if Trent Dilfer had been given a fair shot to win the starting job during the summer. The most important thing a team can do during preseason is to identify its best players -- and quarterback is the most important player. Pat Kirwan, who spent 12 years as a pro football coach, scout and personnel administrator, is an NFL analyst for CNNSI.com.
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Inexperienced Chris Redman gets the first shot at the job but he hasn't thrown a pass in an NFL game. Meanwhile, mobile veteran Jeff Blake waits in the wings for his chance. Blake has been in this position before and when he gets his opportunity he will look better than Redman and the veteran players will lobby for him.
It's not an advertised QB competition but Jim Miller will feel the presence of Chris Chandler all preseason. Both have a history of injury so both should play this season, but both want to start. Miller led the Bears to a 13-3 season last year but when Chandler starts throwing those accurate passes he's known for some people will get excited about him being under center. At the end of the preseason Chandler may have better numbers than Miller.
The Bengals lost some confidence in Jon Kitna last year so they brought in Gus Frerotte to compete for the job. It doesn't matter which journeyman wins the job because neither one represents the long-range future. This is a situation that could change a few times during the season; that's something the Bengals coaches would like to avoid but probably won't be able to. Players may take sides in this decision.
The Cowboys claim second-year man Quincy Carter is the starter but he has just eight games under his belt. There is a lot of praise coming out of Dallas for rookie Chad Hutchinson. This will be a very difficult decision to make at the end of preseason. I worked for the team's new offensive coordinator, Bruce Coslet, and he puts a premium on intelligence and accuracy. This will be a battle that could take half the season to decide.
Similar to the Cowboys, the Lions have two young signal callers battling for the job. Mike McMahon looked very good in a limited role last year and would have been considered the team's QB of the future had Detroit not drafted Joey Harrington with the third pick of April's draft. McMahon is penciled in as No.1 on the depth chart but Harrington will get every opportunity to start. If and when Harrington wins the job, McMahon will become a valuable trade commodity just like Mark Brunell was at the start of his career in Green Bay.
The Chargers have the best of both worlds in an old veteran (Doug Flutie) who knows how to move the offense and a QB of the future (Drew Brees). Flutie got out fast last year and leveled off; Brees flashed his talents in an excellent start against the Chiefs last November. San Diego doesn't want too much time to pass before Brees takes over and they know what Flutie can do. Flutie may put up better numbers this summer, but Brees should "win" the job. If Flutie can work his magic off the bench in a limited role, once again the Chargers will have the best of both worlds.
The Bucs have the Johnson boys, Brad and Rob, going head-to-head for the starting spot. Brad appears to be in the starting slot, but I know Jon Gruden likes mobile QBs and I hear Rob will get his shot to win the job. Brad is accurate and has a better track record in game competition. Rob could look impressive in practice and in some meaningless preseason games to further complicate this decision. NFL people were surprised when Gruden built the Raiders around Rich Gannon so stay tuned for what happens.
New head coach Steve Spurrier has put two of his former pupils, Danny Wuerffel and Shane Matthews, in competition for the signal caller's job. Spurrier wants his system up and running as soon as possible and may go back and forth between these guys all summer long. The truth is neither one is the QB of the future, which sounds a lot like the Bengals' situation. The only difference is that in Washington Patrick Ramsey is waiting in the wings.
