Quote:No, your statement that I quoted was you complaining about a thread being made about who our backup QB was going to be.  I merely provided good reason why it's, in fact, a valid discussion in conjunction with the fact that you've posted in it multiple times.  And no you didn't say anything about the number of QBs that played.  I did.  Evidently the point was lost on you.  Since it wasn't obvious enough, the point is that we were lucky Blake made it through this season without missing time.  We'll be lucky if he does that again next year.  And oh by the way, Gus and Dave understand this as does anyone that understands that injuries in the NFL are a reality and you better have a decent insurance policy at the most important position.

 

Backup QBs were collectively 30-49 this season.  More are going to play poorly than not, but league history is littered with examples of backups coming in for stints and being productive.  Here's a list of backup QBs with .500 or better records this past year:

 

Matt Hasselbeck 5-3 w/ Indy (free agent)

Josh Freeman 1-0 w/ Indy 

A.J. McCarron w/ Cincy 2-1

Michael Vick 2-1 w/ Pitt (free agent)

Landry Jones w/ Pitt 1-1

Matt Schaub 1-1 w/ Balt (free agent)

T.J. Yates 2-0 w/ Hou (free agent)

Brandon Weeden 3-3 w/ Dallas & Hou (free agent)

Brock Osweiler 5-2 w/ Denver (free agent)

 

Unsurprisingly most of these guys helped their teams stay in the hunt, get into the playoffs or helped them maintain or improve seeding for the playoffs.  I realize the only place Brock would sign to be the back up is in Denver, the remaining examples speak for themselves however.  I also realize that it doesn't mean those same guys would have done the same thing here this year, but we're talking about next year.  With the cap space we have to bring in more talent and the players we have returning from injury where we apparently didn't have enough quality backups (shhh, don't talk about that), there's no reason to think that we won't be in the mix for the division going into November and December again next year.  What if Henne is here again and is called on to play 3 or 4 games next year?  Are you confident he can go at least 2-1 or 2-2 respectively?  I'm not saying he can't, but that's the point of this thread is to discuss it.  And with the exception of 2 or 3 posts, it's been a healthy discussion.  

 

You're not asking these guys to be the reason you win, you're asking them to not be the reason you lose.  I think it's safe to say the number of guys in the league that can handle that is fewer than you think which makes the decision on who will be your backup QB an important one.  If you're basing your opinion on expectations that this is a 5 or 6 win team next year even with Blake starting all 16 games, I suppose you have a point about our back up QB not mattering.  If you think we're going to be in the 8+ win category next year, it's going to be very important to have one of the handful of backups in the league that can guide the ship if called upon.  Especially considering signing a quality backup QB doesn't mean sacrificing depth at another position.  We have the cap space.  We've got other backups hitting free agency this year, some of which are quality.  Will you complain when those threads are started?

And if/when those guys come available, let us know.

 

Right now the top FA QB options are Bradford, Foles (gonna get paid), Fitzy (probably gonna get paid), Henne, Daniel, and a slew of guys that can't possibly be worth two dead flies.

 

OK, so a lot of back ups went .500 on their teams or around there.

If Henne starts 2 games for a dinged up Bortles, you don't think he could go 1-1?

But Chase Daniel could?

 

Osweiler was drafted to be their guy of the future.

McCarron was a talented mid round pick.

but most of these back ups are journeymen. Comparing them with Henne would be splitting hairs of difference.

 

Schaub has been known to lose more games than win.

Hasslebeck is old, and likely done.

2 of those QBs won those games in spite of their performances and mostly on the back of that Houston D, plus a couple games against the Jags would never hurt anyone's chances.

 

Fact is... when it comes to backups you got two kinds... the young developing kind (drafted in mid rounds, might be a future guy, might be a project) and the old journeyman kind.

The young ones usually sit behind older vets. The old ones usually sit behind highly drafted guys (Like Luck and Bortles).

 

ANY back up in the NFL can win you some games if your team around them is good enough. Ours isn't. So unless you're gonna get a back up that plays as well as Bortles, it doesn't matter who is back there.

Can Henne... I don't care. Sign some other schmuck to make a buck watching.

If they come at a way cheaper price. 

 

But if you're telling me paying Chase Daniel 4 mil is better than paying Henne 4 mil.... well I ain't buying it.

It's a wash, at least.

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