On August 4, 2016, the Kansas
City Chiefs signed free agent Nick Foles, a player who has proved that his
incredible, Pro Bowl worthy 2013 season was a fluke more than talent. Foles
signing came in an off season where the New York Jets tried to play chicken
(and lost) with Ryan Fitzpatrick, and saw the much maligned Cleveland Browns
sign first-round flame out Robert Griffin the Third to be their starter. In an
era where it’s easier than ever to complete a pass in the NFL, we seemingly
cannot find 32 competent men who are up to the task.
While there has always been bad
quarterback play in the NFL, now more than ever seems to highlight the notion
that if you don’t like the quarterback you have now, you’re screwed. We used to
live in a time where if you didn’t like your quarterback, then you could trade
for a team’s back up. The Seattle Seahawks had great success with Matt
Hasselbeck who was the back up for the legendary Brett Farve- a man who himself
was traded from the Atlanta Falcons. Speaking of the ATL, they not too long ago
traded away their back up Matt Schaub to the Houston Texans. Growing up in
Chicago, myself and fellow Bears fans used to hold the back-up quarterback in
high regard- sometimes higher than the starter. Bears fans used to be so devoid
of QB hope that we loved it when 31-year-old Brian Griese came to play in 2006
to be our back-up.
And frankly neither do you, because I don't think there is a correct answer to this question. Many Bears fans would disagree, and after back up Josh McCown defeated the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Monday Night in early November, a good majority of Bears fans decided they'd prefer to let Jay Cutler walk and stick with McCown.
After the 2013 NFL season concluded, that suggestion, which seemed extremely short sighted in the middle of the season, isn't a half bad suggestion at the end of the season. McCown started 5 games for the Bears and played in another 3. In that span he completed 66.5% of his passes, and he threw 13 TDs versus only one interception. He actually ended with THE BEST QBR out of every quarterback (including Peyton Manning) in 2013 with an 85.1 (out of 100).
However, during that span, he faced some pretty horrific defenses which included the Washington Redskins, Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys, and Minnesota Vikings. He struggled against better defenses such as the St. Louis Rams and Baltimore Ravens.
I think the bigger question isn't whether Josh McCown will replace Jay Cutler if the Bears refuse to go after Cutler / don't sign him, but which quarterback will. It's no guarantee that McCown will even resign with the Bears. Not only are there reports that McCown will retire, but he is also now a free agent. Last year McCown made $865,000. Chances are good that he'll be able to get a few more sheckles than that from any other team in the league. If the Bears choose to make McCown their starter, even for the short term, they will still have to pay him like a starter.
Let's say that the Bears think Cutler is worth less than what he's asking for and McCown doesn't end up playing for the Bears- something that could easily happen. Who would then play quarterback for the Bears?
Here are the Superbowl winning quarterback's between 2004 and 2013 as well as their age:
2004: Tom Brady (26)
2005: Tom Brady (27)
2006: Ben Roethlisberger (23)
2007: Peyton Manning (30)
2008: Eli Manning (27)
2009: Ben Roethlisberger (26)
2010: Drew Brees (30)
2011: Aaron Rodgers (27)
2012: Eli Manning (31)
2013: Joe Flacco (28)
Notice a trend? My confirmation bias does. QBs that win the Superbowl tend to be within the age of 26-30. Ben Roethlisberger was the youngest QB ever to win a Superbowl at the age of 23. While of course it's certainly possible for younger QBs to win it all, that's the outlier and not the norm. Eli Manning was a month into 31st year alive when he won the Superbowl in 2012.
I think this mainly means that QB's who are older in age do NOT win Superbowls. That's not to say they can't, it's just to say that they don't, at least not in recent years.
You can read exactly what a Bad Quarterback League (as created by Grantland.com) here and you can see my Bad Quarterback rankings here. But this post is not about that. This post is merely to proclaim to the world the two BQBL that I am in.
LEAGUE #1: The Original Bad Quarterback League
This is a 7 person league where you start two quarterbacks each week, bench two, yet you will still be able to get 24/7 points whether or not you started the quarterback's team. 5 of the 7 teams competed in this BQBL last year. This league does NOT allow for trading or add/drops. Here is how the draft went (and for the sake of privacy I will not disclose the team's last names)
DMITRY:
1) Washington Redskins
14) Indianapolis Colts
15) Denver Broncos
28) San Diego Chargers
WARREN:
6) Jacksonville Jaguars
9) Oakland Raiders
20) New York Giants
23) Houston Texans
IRWIN:
7) Minnesota Vikings
8) St. Louis Rams
21) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
22) San Fransisco 49ers
Undrafted Teams:
- New England Patriots
- Green Bay Packers
- Chicago Bears
- Atlanta Falcons
MY REACTION TO THIS LEAGUE:
- For starters, I couldn't believe that the Washington Redskins went first overall. I know Rex Grossman and John Beck were atrocious last year but come on, this is RG3! The Redskins didn't go until pick 12 in my five team league and not until pick 14 in Grantland's BQBL. I feel like we needed Matthew Berry's rankings in front of us
- I really wish I had taken a 24/7 team with one of my picks. I should have gone Philly in the 3rd round and they went right after I picked Cincy. I just wished Denver had somehow fallen to me.
- I can't believe how far the Cleveland Browns fell
- I'm shocked the Bears didn't get drafted in this deep of a league. Plus, it's not even *that* full of Chicago homers and last year when I had to start 4 teams *I* drafted the Bears with my last pick. I guess Jason Campbell is just that good.
LEAGUE #2: The Newbie League
This is a five person league I created when I posted on Facebook if anyone would like to join a BQBL with me. In this league you MUST start all four teams but we do allow for add/drops. We do not allow for trading. Here is how the draft went:
BEN:
1) Jacksonville Jaguars
10) Minnesota Vikings
11) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
20) Carolina Panthers
BRYAN:
2) Arizona Cardinals
9) Seattle Seahawks
12) Washington Redskins
19) San Francisco 49ers
CAHAL:
3) New York Jets
8) Tennessee Titans
13) Chicago Bears
18) Philadelphia Eagles
MY TEAM:
5) Miami Dolphins
6) St. Louis Rams
15) Kansas City Chiefs
16) Cincinnati Bengals
MY REACTION TO THIS LEAGUE:
- Like in my other league, the Arizona Cardinals went second overall. Both league drafted after the news that John Skelton was named the starter. I'm not saying Skelton is good, not in the slightest (although he is apparently the only competent person since Kurt Warner who can get the ball to Larry Fitzgerald) but I think there are far worse QBs out there. Or I could just be flat out wrong about this.
- My fiance picked one spot ahead of me and picked solely based on uniforms. Stupid effing Browns for having awful uniforms to go along with their awful franchise and their awful quarterback.
- In a 7 team league where you only start two of your four QBs there Chicago Bears were not selected but in a 5 team league where you MUST start all four they were.
- When I created and posted my own rankings I had the Vikings at #6 and the Rams at #5 so when the wrap around came to me I chose the Rams. Immediately after I typed in "Rams" over 'Vikings" I regretted it and have since swapped the two teams in my rankings.
________________________________
1) Aaron Rodgers (GB)
2) Tom Brady (NE)
3) Drew Brees (NO)
4) Cam Newton (CAR)
5) Philip Rivers (SD)
6) Eli Manning (NYG)
7) Matthew Stafford (DET)
8) Michael Vick (PHI)
9) Peyton Manning (DEN)
10) Tony Romo (DAL)
11) Ben Roethlisberger (PIT)
12) Matt Ryan (ATL)
13) Tim Tebow (NYJ)
14) Jay Cutler (CHI)
15) Matt Schaub (HOU)
16) Robert Griffin III (WAS)
17) Josh Freeman (TB)
18) Carson Palmer (OAK)
19) Ryan Fitzpatrick (BUF)
20) Andy Dalton (CIN)
NOTE: This is my ranking for a ten team league. The deeper the league, the more I will drop Tim Tebow. I think he is a back up but a great back up to have. But I do not want to go in to a league with Tebow as my starter
________________________________
