Weeden did manage to win the game this weekend. A QB without experience might not have. And he was 7-7 for 73 yards and a touch. That blows the doors off of how Bradford looked.
Cassel, for that matter, took that NE team to 11-5 or thereabouts? The point being, if you think you have the rest of the team around a guy, you can get by for a time with a place holder QB. If you don't have a team, you get what we got that year with Orton.
This year, though, we possibly have the defense to get it done. Especially given how bad the rest of the NFCE looks right now. It makes sense to try to get in guys you think can drive the bus.
I agree with you that Johnson was an obvious mistake that last season. McGee was a failed developmental player. Those things are going to happen at QB, because it's the hardest position in sports to play, and you can only find out if a guy can play or not by giving him valuable reps. When it comes time to replace Tony, we'll do it by investing significant a significant pick or picks. Until then, we're going to back him up with a decent veteran who's got starting experience, and we'll experiment with that QB3 spot to see if we can strike gold. We haven't done anything serious there yet because nobody's fallen to us that we like enough in the middle rounds, and until this season, we've needed the high picks more in other areas in order to put a team around Tony. Next year's draft is where we'll invest in a QB with a high pick someplace.