I actually think Pennington could do well in our offense. Obviously, we would have to shorten our game up a bit because he is not a vertical passing threat but, he is exceptional in the short to intermediate passing game, when healthy. If you look at our personnel, the talent we have at TE, RB and WRs, it's hard not to be succesful at QB if you can prevent negative plays. If you look at our WRs, we don't really have a deep threat game, other then TO. Austin has speed but he's not a deep threat or at least he hasn't proven himself to be IMO. We have a bunch of route runners. As our roster stands today, I do think Pennington would be a good fit. He would probably be better at using the short passing game then would Romo. Romo likes to go down field. Pennington is a master of playing within his limitations.
Having said all this, the question is, is he that much of an upgrade to Johnson? Johnson is also a pretty efficiant QB in this regard. I don't know if it would be worth the money and the snaps needed to bring Pennington up to speed but I do think he could be a very good back up to Romo. Remember, Our own OC did not have a very strong arm either. He could not throw the 30 yard out but, he was exceptionally intelligent, as is Pennington.
To me, the real question is, if not us, then who? Who or where could Pennington go and what QB might be available if he were signed?
I agree, Vikes and Bears would be candidates but don't count out Tampa Bay either. Chucky collects QBs and he likes QBs who are smart. They run a WC and it is very complicated. Pennington would fit very well there, IMO. Also, Baltimore. Nobody is talking about the Ravens but I would not be surprised if they took an interest in Pennington. They have a defense that can carry them. They have a strong running game as well. They need a QB who will not kill them with TOs. They could basically replicate the Dilfer plan and try to win with Pennington. Bears, to me, are not in the running just because of the weather. It's windy in Chicago and that won't help Pennington's case IMO. Could happen but I think they would not be as likely. Of course, I did not think Favre would be playing for the Jets either so.........
Baltimore, to me, would be interesting because they have Boller, Troy Smith and Flacco. Now, any of those QBs would benifit from the knowledge that Pennington could pass on. Smith is exactly the same kind of player with a bit better arm IMO. Maybe a little more athletic but the same basic kind of player. Boller has all the tools but needs work on the rest. Really, he didn't play all that poorly last year. 61% comp., 9 TDs, 10 INTs. His problem is pocket awarness. I just don't know if it's his fault or poor OL play. He did get sacked a lot. He might be an interesting back up option. He good starting experience and he's certainly seen every blitz there is. He's young and if in a good offense, he could be a guy who might produce for you. He's also probably the odd man out. Flacco has all the talent in the world. Just no experience so he's not going anywhere but he could learn a great deal from Pennington.
Bears have Grossman, Orton and a guy named Hanie. Hanie is a rookie. He's probably Practice Squad material at this point. Orton needs a lot of work. He has talent but I don't know that he's what we would need in a backup. Grossman, I would take in a minute. Yeah, he is hot and cold and he needs to work on his accuracy but he has the ability to do special things. He can win games for you. He has to learn to take what's given and he needs a little more experience but he could be something IMO. Having said all of this, if the Bears signed Pennington, I could see them still keeping Orton and Grossman.
Vikes would be interesting. The upside of Pennington is that he can help with there biggest problem, which is experience at QB. The down side is that I think they like Jackson. If you bring in Pennington, it's probably to start and that hurts Jackson. If you look at the Vikes, they could actually fit Pennington with there WR talent. Wade, Rice, Ferguson and Berrian are all good route guys. Kleinsasser at TE and a combination of AD and Taylor at RB would be a very good fit for Pennington. The question is, do you want to sacracfic snaps of your other QBs? The Vikes have Jackson, Bollinger, Frerotte and Booty on the Roster. If they signed Pennington, I would think that Bollinger and Frerotte would be out. I don't know that either is an upgrade to what we have. I don't much of anything about Bollinger. He hasn't played much.
Tampa would be very interesting. If Tampa signed Pennington, I don't know that it would mean Garcia would be gone. I think Pennington might be the back up in that situation. McCown, Griese and Simms would probably be gone and Johnson would be the developmental guy. I don't know if either of those would be better then what we currently have. Simms would definatly be an option and if rumors are true, we have significant interest in him. He has tools. He's a local kid so I can see the up side. Can he learn the NFL game? With is talent, it would be hard for him not to have success in our offense but he would need to play smart and not turn the ball over. I don't know if he's that kind of player yet. I could see Simms in Dallas thou.
