Quarterbacks have a big load to carry. I know–that’s what she said, but it’s true. With the big paycheck comes the blame if the team gets off to a bad start or can’t execute in big games. Fans like to point fingers, and most of the time, they are pointing at the quarterback. This season, however, there has been a lot of starter swapping and finger pointing and a more than usual amount of bloodshed.
Very few in the NFL’s quarterbacks don’t, at one point or another, catch the wrath of the fans. Most notable in recent times, Rex Grossman and Eli Manning were two quarterbacks just old enough not to be though of as draft mistakes and just young enough not to be written off for every bad game–but they were. Grossman–maybe deservedly in his case–was eventually benched this year while Eli Manning is showing everyone that he can be great but maybe not his brother like some people expected. Lightning can’t strike twice–even in the same bloodline.
Last year, Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys (go big D) found his groove coming in for Bledsoe and led the team on a run that got them into the playoffs. (Note that I will not, at this point, address what may or may not have happened in said playoff game in regards to Romo. He doesn’t deserve that.) Matt Schaub has jumped out this year as a great starting quarterback that Atlanta wishes they had kept after losing Michael Vick. After a mediocre start by Frye, Derek Anderson emerged as a star quarterback–especially by fantasy standards–to take them into a winning record. Maybe no one would have known these QBs were worth anything had Houston and Cleveland not given him a chance, but now every team seems to be looking quicker to their next warm body in the quarterback slot this season. Not every situation can be solved with a quarterback swap.
Two notable situations are in Buffalo and New York. In Buffalo, Losman’s bad start was seen as the end of his hot streak. He was benched after injury in favor of the rookie Trent Edwards. While Edwards has an arm, he takes some warm up to get going, and if you are already having a bad start to the season, without much support, rookies usually lack that explosive presence to carry you out of it. Very few can jump off the bench without throwing more interceptions than touchdowns. In their Week 8 game against the Jets, Edwards’ injury allowed Losman to go into the game and show his stuff by throwing a bomb to Evans for the winning touchdown. Granted, the ball may have been underthrown, and Lee Evans had to work for it, but Losman got it there and got Evans into the zone.
The same could happen with Kellen Clemens in New York. I think there is something to be said for the chemistry that a starting quarterback has with his team. They shoulder the blame and shoulder the responsibility, and they earn respect for that. Has the team completely lost faith in Pennington enough to give Clemens all the help he needs as a rookie moving forward? Pennington did take them to the playoffs last year, and I doubt the entire team can write him off and move on like he is not part of what made that possible. As a fantasy football owner, I don’t trust Clemens yet. I know that Pennington has played horribly in his last few starts, but I am not sure that Clemens will be much better. He will really have to earn his spot this week against a tough Redskins defense.
