After just two weeks of football several NFL teams have seen enough of their starting quarterbacks and have made the decision to send those starters to the bench. Here is a breakdown of which teams made a switch at QB and which players are getting a shot to guide their team.
Buffalo Bills: Ryan Fitzpatrick replaces Trent Edwards
I am not sure what Chan Gailey could have possibly seen in the first two weeks of play that would have prompted this change from Edwards to Fitzpatrick.
Has Edwards actually had a fair shot? Thus far, Edwards has played against two of the top five defenses in the league. In Week 1 against the Dolphins (#5 overall defense), Edwards went completed 18 of 34 passes for 139 yards and 1 TD with no INTs. Last week against the packers (#3 overall defense), he completed 11 of 18 for 102 yards and 0 TDs with 2 INTs.
While those numbers are not great, he was running for his life in both games and was sacked seven times. Fitzpatrick will fare no better if the Bills offensive line does not improve and the Bills will find themselves going back to Edwards or giving third year man Brian Brohm a shot.
Carolina Panthers: Jimmy Clausen in for Matt Moore
Head coach John Fox might be doing the Panthers a favor by making this move. Everyone speculates that this is Fox’s final season as head coach in Carolina and he might help the team one last time as he shows them what they have in Jimmy Clausen.
Moore dug his own grave throwing four interceptions in two games and his poor outings at home against Tampa Bay was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Moore only completed 37.5 percent of his passes at home and it probably did not help that he took eight sacks in two games as well.
Clausen who was drafted in the 2nd round, 48th overall, of the 2010 draft now has a chance to show Carolina that he was worthy of that pick. If he can manage the offense and get them to score more points, this could be his team for a very long time.
Oakland Raiders QBs
Oakland Raiders: Bruce Gradkowski replacing Jason Campbell
At an NFL event in Los Angeles this past summer, Raiders Chief Executive Amy Trask was asked why they traded for Jason Campbell but did not pull the trigger earlier on a trade for Donovan McNabb. Trask said they were never interested in McNabb and felt Campbell was the better of the two QBs. Yet after just six quarters of play, as Campbell was benched in the second half of the Raiders second game in favor of Gradkowski, the Raiders were quick to make a switch at QB.
Has there ever been another quarterback in the league that has received as rotten a deal as Campbell? Poor guy has never had the same offensive system longer than a year and he finally gets out of Washington and it appears he is going to have a chance to build something and poof, just like that the QB job gets pulled out from under him after just six quarters of play.
Gradkowski has been nothing more than a stop gap in his career having played with three different teams in his five short years in the NFL. The Raiders are fooling themselves they feel he will fare any different than he has in the past. If Gradkowski was so spectacular since he was on the Raiders roster last season, why did they trade for Jason Campbell in the first place? Typical of the Raiders organization.
Philadelphia Eagles: Michael Vick replaces Kevin Kolb
Of all the quarterback changes in the first two weeks of the season, this is the one that one, I like most and two, makes the most sense.
I am not a big fan of a player losing his job due to injury. It wasn’t Kolb’s fault he got concussed in Week 1 of the season. However Kolb never really made sense to me to begin with. I never thought the Eagles should have traded away Donovan McNabb to give Kolb the start because in my eyes not only was Kolb not ready to be a full time starter, I felt he was not a franchise type starting quarterback.
Quarterbacks from the University of Houston have never succeeded in the NFL. Andre Ware, David Klingler and Chuck Clements were all spectacular in college and duds in the National Football League. Kolb is from the same mold. He’s got a strong arm and great mobility, but he lacks the true leadership that is a requirement for NFL quarterbacks.
Michael Vick committed atrocious acts off the field and he did his time and paid his debt to society. Now it is time to let him do what he has always done best, which is play quarterback in the NFL. Andy Reid saw that the superstar that was Mike Vick has reemerged and he made the tough decision that most other coaches could not make. I expect Vick to take this opportunity by the reigns and be successful with his second chance.
couldn’t agree more with the Vick for Kolb , Vick is back looking as good as he ever did
By reordering the depth chart to change who the starting QB is, is at times a smart move by teams, it can be damaging to the confidence of the starter who is begin replaced. Take Kolb for example, yes he is young and is not ready to take control of the Eagles offense, the very quick flop by Reid could have damaging effects on Kolb and his belief in the Eagles orgization. Vick is the better choice for the Eagles starting position but it is causing damage to the starters who are facing the bench.
Jason Campbell again is getting the wrong end of the stick, this guy needs to be in a system for at least a year before his true skills can come to the front and people can see he is ready to run an offense.
It all comes down to consistancy, do the guys who are now taking the starting positions, do they have the consistancy needed to keep this position? Can Fitzpatrick, Clausen, Gradkowski and Vick have the skill, ability and consistancy to keep their new found starting position? Vick is the only one who has this ability at this moment in time and in the end only time will tell on the other guys involved. Will it be Week 4 or Week 6 when we revisit this topic and see the position once again in flux?
Gradkowski’s a Doug Flutie type – lacks the physique and athleticism of the prototype NFL QB, but he gets the job done and is popular in the locker room and with the fans. Campbell has so far looked indecisive and performed poorly. Bruce impressed last year when given the opportunity, and did so again when we nearly choked against the Lambs. He also has a better command of the huddle, and suits the offense better than Campbell does.
The Raiders offense is Cable and our Offensive co-ordinator Hue Jackson wanting to run 25 times a game and rely on short, quick passing routes and Al dreaming of the 1980’s and the vertical passing game. That’s why we traded for Campbell and Al compared him to Jim Plunkett in the offseason. Gradkowski suits our offense is better, is a hit with Raider nation and has plenty of fight and resilience. This is a great move for Oakland, seriously. We’ll beat the Cards on Sunday and move to 2-1.
Just out of interest Steven, do you think that Max Hall has a realistic chance of becoming starter for the Cards this year.
I agree on most, except Buffalo. Edwards looks to have lost the team. He is so worried about picks that he has become captain checkdown and is too scared to take the deep shots to spark an offense. He has also had a couple years of doing the exact same thing. The problem there, is it doesn’t look like any of the 3 qbs is any good so it probably won’t matter. But Edwards has lost the faith of fans a while ago and with the different year, same problems for Edwards it seems like the team just wants a spark. Just check out the recent Lee Evans interview about the change and you can read between the lines.
I agree with pretty much all of that.
I feel particularily sorry for Jason Campbell. Being a redskin fan, I think we should have kept him and built for the future.