For the moment, let's forget about who's No. 1 and concentrate on who's No. 2. I'm talking about quarterbacks, and if you don't have a decent backup today your chances of surviving a 16-game season and the playoffs aren't good -- provided, of course, you don't have Peyton Manning or Tom Brady on your roster.
But even Brady missed last season after suffering a serious knee injury in the season opener. The Patriots went on to an 11-5 finish, thanks largely to the inspired play of backup Matt Cassel. Cassel's performance earned him a big paycheck and starting job in Kansas City. But it also underscored the importance of having a competent backup at the game's most important position.
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| Jeff Garcia basically wins wherever he goes. (Getty Images) |
Jeff Garcia, Oakland: Granted, the Raiders' vertical offense doesn't exactly suit him, but there is no one I'd trust more coming off the bench. He started and won in San Francisco. He started and won in Philadelphia. He started and won in Tampa Bay. In all three spots he went to the playoffs, and he's a four-time Pro Bowler. Plus, he threw for 30 or more touchdowns passes in a season ... twice. So what's not to like?
OK, so he's 39. But he didn't break into the NFL until he was 29, so he hasn't absorbed the punishment of someone like, say, Brett Favre. He still can run. He seldom makes mistakes. He's one of the toughest quarterbacks I've covered. And he has a history of overcoming the odds. Maybe that's why Garcia insists he will beat out JaMarcus Russell for the No. 1 job. Me? I can't see it, not because he's not qualified but because the Raiders have a substantial investment in Russell and are committed to seeing it through.
Jon Kitna, Dallas: There may be no more ideal backup than Kitna. He's smart. He's tough. He's patient. He's productive. He's been a starter. And he won't threaten numero uno. Kitna understands the game and is a perfect tutor for young quarterbacks, which is the role he served in Cincinnati with Carson Palmer. Palmer loves the guy, and it's easy to understand why. He does what he's told, and he does it well. He won seven of his first 12 starts with Cincinnati in 2003 when the Bengals hadn't produced a winning season in 12 years.
He threw for over 4,000 yards in each of two straight seasons with Detroit. He took Seattle to the playoffs for the first time in a decade. And three times he threw four touchdown passes in a game. Kitna is the perfect addition for Dallas, which floundered last season when Tony Romo was hurt. He is popular with his teammates. He is accurate with his passes. And he is a leader on and off the field. He makes the Cowboys -- and Romo -- better.
Derek Anderson, Cleveland: Anderson isn't officially the backup with the Browns, so we're probably ahead of the curve here. But I say he winds up on the bench, which makes him a bona-fide top 5 pick. He was 10-5 as a starter in 2007, getting the Browns this close to the playoffs before bowing out, then benched a year later when the entire club went kaput. He's not particularly accurate, never completing more than 56.5 percent of his passes in any season, but he makes big plays.
I think back to a game I was covering in Baltimore in 2007 when the Browns seemed doomed following a last-minute Matt Stover field goal. Anderson hadn't done much for most of the afternoon, but he hit two passes in the last 26 seconds to set up a game-tying field goal as time expired. Then Cleveland won in overtime. Yep, that's Derek Anderson. When Braylon Edwards wasn't dropping every other pass, Anderson was a quarterback you could trust. I say he still is.
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| Sage Rosenfels has shown amazing ability to be a reliever. (Getty Images) |
He was 6-4 as a starter in three years with Houston but never better than when he was called off the bench. In last year's 28-21 loss to Minnesota he threw two second-half touchdown passes to turn an apparent rout into a close call. In 2006 he threw three second-half TDs against Tennessee. The year before he rallied Miami from a 23-3 fourth-quarter deficit to a 24-23 win over Buffalo. I think you get the idea. If you're looking for a lift, he's your man.
Matt Leinart, Arizona: A year ago at this time he was the starter in Arizona. Then he lost the job to Kurt Warner and languished on the bench. Nevertheless, that hasn't dampened coach Ken Whisenhunt's enthusiasm for him. If something happens to Warner, Whisenhunt insists he is confident Leinart can step in and lead the Cardinals to victories. Hey, he was 3-2 as a starter in 2007 before bowing out with a fractured collarbone. And he was good enough to be considered the starter at the beginning of last year's training camp.
Leinart is young. He is talented. He has a strong arm that produced three 100-plus passer ratings his rookie season and passed for 405 yards against Minnesota, the first rookie in NFL history to crack 400. Now, he awaits his next chance to crack the lineup. My biggest problem with him was maturity, but when I stopped in to see him last summer I saw signs he was coming around. The Cardinals haven't abandoned ship on him, saying he's their quarterback of the future, and that should tell you something.
Tyler Thigpen, Kansas City: Had the Chiefs not gone out and signed Cassel, I'd be fine with Thigpen as the club's starter. I don't know how much you win with him, but I do know he can make things happen. He proved it last season when he became the first quarterback in Kansas City history to score touchdowns throwing, running and receiving. With Larry Johnson sidelined much of the year, and Kansas City down to its third-string quarterback, offensive coordinator Chan Gailey turned to the spread offense that Thigpen ran in college.
The results were impressive: By his second start he seemed comfortable, and the Chiefs started to look effective. They should have beaten the Jets. They should have beaten Tampa Bay. They should have beaten San Diego ... twice. But they didn't, and a new administration will sit Thigpen down. Nevertheless, he proved he can play at this level. I don't care that he won one game. Eli Manning won one game his first year as a starter, too. Thigpen threw 161 passes without an interception and played well enough to win three or four more. "It would be a disgrace if they don't (keep Thigpen as the starter)," tight end Tony Gonzalez said. Yeah, well, Gonzalez was sent off to Atlanta, and the Chiefs aren't paying Cassel $14.65 million to warm the bench.
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| Batch has shown he can do the job when Big Ben is banged up. (Getty Images) |
In the 2006 season opener something did, with Batch having to play after Roethlisberger underwent an emergency appendectomy. All he did was throw three touchdowns in a win against Miami. Six weeks later he stepped in after Roethlisberger suffered a concussion and proceeded to throw two touchdown passes in a narrow loss to Atlanta. The Steelers let Byron Leftwich walk because they have confidence Batch can do the job as the team's backup. I can see why.
Rex Grossman, Houston: I wasn't sold on him as Chicago's starter, either, but a couple of things here: 1) He was good enough to make it to the Super Bowl, and 2) he's not a starter anymore. Granted, the Bears' defense launched them to Super Bowl XLI, not Grossman, but he had to play a role ... and he did, performing so well he was named the NFC's Offensive Player of the Month in September. Grossman makes too many mistakes and takes too many chances, but he has big-game experience and a 19-12 record as a starter.
There are 12 starting quarterbacks going into training camps later this month who haven't won as many games. I don't know if he beats out Dan Orlovsky as the Texans' backup, but I know he should. He is out of the eye of the storm, which is where the starter in Chicago sits, and should be comfortable backing up Matt Schaub. As a backup a year ago, he relieved an injured Kyle Orton and produced two TDs, including the winner on a quarterback sneak. Nevertheless, he still was booed by Bears' fans. The change of scenery should do nothing but help.
Tarvaris Jackson, Minnesota: It's hard to figure that we have two quarterbacks from the same team on this list, but let me ask you this: How many times do you go into mid-July not knowing who your starting quarterback is? That, folks, is the price of dealing with Brett Favre. I'm not a big Jackson fan, either, but I like him a lot better coming off the bench than I do as a starter. As a matter of fact, I liked him coming off the bench a year ago after Gus Frerotte was hurt.
All he did was throw eight touchdowns and one interception in his last four regular-season games -- three of which he won, including a huge victory at Arizona. Jackson is not an accurate passer, but he's adequate. He's young, too, so there's an upside. And he can make plays with his legs. I don't want him starting for me, but this isn't a list of starters. He is where he belongs.
Todd Collins, Washington: He makes it based on what he did with Washington two years ago, rescuing the club after starter Jason Campbell was hurt and leading the Redskins to the playoffs for the second time in three seasons. He operated in Al Saunders' offense then, and he was more than comfortable there; he knew the offense as well as his coach. I'm not sure how well he does outside that system, and, frankly, I don't care.
All I know is he's a veteran who can win big games, and he proved it when he won four straight down the stretch in 2007 -- with two of those victories on the road. There is nothing flashy about the guy, but that's what I like. He won't beat himself. Look what happened the last time he played. He threw five touchdown passes, had no interceptions and produced a 106.4 passer rating. He also put his team in the playoffs after it was given a standing-eight count. Yeah, I'll take tha
