Everyones favorite player

[kartr]

Everyones favorite player, the backup QB.

I just don't understand the obsession with the backup QB position. Why do we spend so much time worrying about an essential non factor? Drew Bledsoe is our starting QB. He is 33 years old and basically in the prime of his QB career. By most accounts, an NFL QB's prime years are around the 28 - 32 age range. If he plays like he is capable of playing, and has played in the past, and stays healthy, he will be our only real concern at QB. If he happens to lead this team deep into the playoffs and into the SuperBowl once or twice, there is even a possibility that he could enter the Hall of Fame, yes, as a Cowboy someday . Dont' doubt it. He was well on his way in New England. A few more years like that, a couple of playoff appearances, and a SuperBowl win, and he is likely in.

So why spend so much time worring about future prospects. Lets worry about present endeavors. Are you guys not confident that this team will be competetive in a watered down NFL, this year? Are you so obsessed with finding a future QB, that you have already counted out the huge talent we will have leading the team this season. Or is it that some of you just get bored unless there is some kind of debate and the QB position.

Bledsoe is a QB who, essentially, lead his team to a 9-7 record last season, which could easily been 10-6 and a playoff berth, had it not been for a last second prayer in the back of the endzone by Leftwich. Although he did not play his best football last season, Parcells will put him in the situation that uses his skills and abilities to make him be the best he can be. And don't be fooled, Bledsoes best is as good, if not better, than any QB in the NFL right now. When he is at his best, he is nothing short of great.

It's time to quit obsessing over the future and a backup QB slot. Let's be honest, if Bledsoe goes out for the season at any point, Testaverde will be in his locker before his spot gets cold, and Testaverde will be starting within a week or two after that. Don't think he isn't ready as we speak, to get that call. Could be sooner than later. Parcells isn't going to place the season in the hands of either on of these two guys. I like them, but at this point, it's just like the Carter/Hutchinson debate. Two backups usually means you don't have one. So you see, all of this is for not anyway.

It's time to enjoy the season, enjoy our upgraded QB, and enjoy the fact that we are actually contenders this season for the first time in many years. Parcells has already said that him and Bledsoe will ride this thing out together. Let's let the season begin and let this stale QB debate rest forever.

You tend to gloss over the fact that if Bledsoe had played half way decent in his final game as a Bill, he wouldn't be here now and the only way Bledsoe is a upgrade over Vinny is in the age category.

 

[kartr]

There's a reason we're debating the backup QB so much, a very simple reason. Because it may determine the long term future of the Dallas Cowboys.

We've been looking for the next Roger Stauback or Troy Aikman ever since Aikman retired...it's been a few years, but feels like 20.

Banks...failed.
Carter...failed.
Hutchinson...failed.
Not to mention a few others.

Drew Henson is the latest "future ProBowl superstar QB of the Dallas Cowboys, whom we got for nothing" prospect. If he isn't the future of the Cowboys, then the Cowboys haven't found their future yet, not unless you're crazy enough to think it's Tony Romo.

Notice that no one cared about the backup competition between guys like Babe Laufenberg and Jason Garrett...that's because no one expected any of those guys to ever be anything but a backup QB...that's because Aikman was in his prime and it made no sense to the powers that be to draft or groom a young QB who wasn't going to play anyway.

NOw it's different...we know who our starter is, but we also know he's not going to be starting for the next 5-6 years, not impossible, but unlikely regardless of his age.

Testeverde was the starter, but he was not the future. Bledsoe is the starter, but he is not the next great Cowboy QB.

We're actually looking for that guy...right now our only hope is that the next great Cowboy QB is Drew Henson, so the backup competition is very important to all of us who think beyond this season and especially to the very few like me who wish we'd drafted a guy like Byron Leftwich when we had the chance.

Neither of these guys have much of a chance. Romo would have to buck the odds to measure up to the likes of Meredyth, Staubach, or Aikman simply because undrafted FA QB's don't make it to that status. Henson would have to buck history and become the first NFL QB to take the route he has taken to eventually be mentioned in the same breath with these great Cowboys QB's. Most of us would love to even find a great QB like Danny White.

Yes, Kurt Warner made it from the Arena League to NFL MVP and great player for a few years in St. Louis. Yes, Jim Miller made a late comeback to actually pretend to be an NFL QB for one successful year in Pittsburgh. Yes, Jake Delhomme has hung around the NFL for enough years to finally look like the real deal when he had Stephen Davis rushing and Jimmy Smith and company to throw passes to, but even his STAR has dimmed a little.

Maybe Romo can become a great QB....Maybe Henson will meet his fans' expectations...it could happen....I sincerely hope it does happen. Their competition for the #2 spot is actually very important to the future of this team, but the fact that neither is clearly superior to the other at this stage is not a good sign for either of them.

You can make all the arguments you want to make about failed QB's drafted in round 1, about how a QB can make it from nowhere, about the moxie of a Romo or the once stellar physical talents of a Henson a few years back at Michigan, but the bottom line is that if either of them ever measures up to more than a Hogeboom or Pelleur, if either ever approaches the play of Staubach or Aikman taking the routes they've taken, they will be in a very very very very very tiny minority....Vegas would certainly give you odds and take your money with a smile.

Disclaimer: This is not a Henson/Romo hate post

I think the real problem with our qb's is that management has failed more than the players have failed. When teams continually have trouble finding a qb or other position, eventually you have to look at the coaches or whoever is in charge. Some teams don't have trouble finding a good qb, therefore they must be making sounder decisions. I believe the real trouble started with believing that Aikman would last forever and would never need a replacement. I mean, we got Craig Morton when we still had Meredith;Staubach when we still had Morton;Danny White when we still had Staubach. That's how you gain continuity, but not resting on your laurels. The next problem is we got Hutchinson period. We should have waited until Carter had had one full year as a starter to see what we had. By jumping the gun, we caused him to have doubts about the support he had in house. Both Harrington and Carr had no doubt in their first 3 years that they were the guy, the same with Leftwich etc. Don't tell me that they were first round draft picks, I know that, but a qb needs to know that he's going to be given a fair chance and will not be replaced at the drop of the hat.

Most people feel that Patrick Ramsey was done wrong because Gibbs drafted a first round qb in his second year with the team, but when given a chance last year, Ramsey didn't distinguish himself, giving room for doubt. Ramsey wishes he had had the success that Carter had in 2003, in fact, so would Harrington.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I think the real problem with our qb's is that management has failed more than the players have failed. When teams continually have trouble finding a qb or other position, eventually you have to look at the coaches or whoever is in charge. Some teams don't have trouble finding a good qb, therefore they must be making sounder decisions. I believe the real trouble started with believing that Aikman would last forever and would never need a replacement. I mean, we got Craig Morton when we still had Meredith;Staubach when we still had Morton;Danny White when we still had Staubach. That's how you gain continuity, but not resting on your laurels. The next problem is we got Hutchinson period. We should have waited until Carter had had one full year as a starter to see what we had. By jumping the gun, we caused him to have doubts about the support he had in house. Both Harrington and Carr had no doubt in their first 3 years that they were the guy, the same with Leftwich etc. Don't tell me that they were first round draft picks, I know that, but a qb needs to know that he's going to be given a fair chance and will not be replaced at the drop of the hat.

Most people feel that Patrick Ramsey was done wrong because Gibbs drafted a first round qb in his second year with the team, but when given a chance last year, Ramsey didn't distinguish himself, giving room for doubt. Ramsey wishes he had had the success that Carter had in 2003, in fact, so would Harrington.

Actually, Harrington had a better year. Ramsey, well, he had nothing. Ramsey played in a much worse offense then did Carter so I don't think you can say it is Ramsey per say. If Ramsey were on a decent team, I think he would do well. I look at Ramsey and I see Delhomme before he went to Carolina. I could be wrong but I just believe that if Ramsey gets the chance, he will be a good QB for someone.