It is a well known and often-discussed fact that NFL teams with good quarterbacks are often those that also experience the most success. A look through the 2007 NFL post-season field backs up the notion, with names like Manning (twice), Favre, Brady, Hasselbeck, Roethlisberger and Romo leading the pack in terms of name recognition. Young guns in Tennessee, Washington, Jacksonville and San Diego rounded out the field and only Tampa Bay’s Jeff Garcia doesn’t really fit into either category, i.e. – highly successful NFL veteran or up-and-coming young stud.
With good quarterback play at a premium, there are a large number of NFL teams looking to shore up the position for the coming 2008 season, and a large number of holes will be filled by re-treads or early NFL draft picks.
In Tampa Bay, an undersized, allegedly weak-armed Jeff Garcia turns 38 next week and coach John Gruden’s other options are Luke McCown and Bruce Gradkowski. The Atlanta Falcons can only hope that either Joey Harrington or Chris Redman can get them through the 2008 NFL season, but it seems likely that neither is a long term solution. In Baltimore, meanwhile, an of-injured Steve McNair hopes to rebound from a terrible 2007 outing, while Kyle Boller appears to be heading for a career as backup NFL quarterback.
Quarterback questions are also lingering in Chicago, where Rex Grossman is clearly not a Super Bowl-caliber player, in Kansas City, where a young Brodi Croyle hopes to unseat NFL journeyman Damon Huard and in Carolina and Minnesota. In Miami, they have questions not just at QB, but at a variety of other NFL positions as well.
Only time will tell how each NFL team in need of a field general will go about shoring up the position, but expect to see some early-round picks dedicated to quarterbacks and potentially even some picks traded for veteran NFL QBs.
