Quote:Generally speaking a waiver wire claim won't improve the team much, but once a year when the cut-downs to 53 occur, it's not quite the same. There are several teams out there with three or even four good qbs intent on cutting one of them. McGloin for instance might get cut by the Raiders, and he's probably a better option than Henne. The numbers game when it comes to finalizing the roster almost funny that way. Every year some good players get cut.

McGloin knows the offense Olson ran in Oakland, yeah, but the offense isn't exactly the same here. Two more points worth noting:

 

1. Aside from one deep reserve at receiver, I believe McGloin has played exactly zero reps behind this offensive line and with these backs and receivers.

 

2. When McGloin did play in Oakland, he was not appreciably better than Henne (if at all). 56.5% completions, 9-10 TD/INT ratio (4.3% of passes intercepted), 7.3 YPA, 74.5 career passer rating. Henne's numbers, for comparison: 59.3% completions, 58-63 TD/INT ratio (only 3.2% intercepted, though), 6.6 YPA, 75.5 career passer rating.

 

The only area where McGloin clearly wins is YPA. Even though Henne's TD/INT ratio is worse--and it isn't worse at all if we only look at his time as a Jaguar--his career INT % is over a full point lower. The simple truth is that if McGloin were better than Henne at this point in his career, he wouldn't be losing his job to Christian Ponder, and potentially his roster spot. There's absolutely no reason to believe that McGloin would be a better QB than Henne this year. I'm not opposed to stashing him on the roster for the future if the team feels like he can be the top backup in 2016, or on the practice squad if he somehow clears waivers, but cutting Henne in favor of a guy that spent training camp with someone else and expecting that QB to be able to walk in and play week one if needed is just nuts.

 

Moral of the story: a guy not being named "Chad Henne" does not automatically make him a better option than a guy named "Chad Henne". To borrow an old Vic line, help is not on the way. Henne is our backup this year for better or worse. He's not a capable long-term starter, and if he was, he'd be starting for someone.

---