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Another reason why turning down any offers for Schaub (I doubt there were any real offers, according to McKay there weren't), and keeping him at least one more year was in the best interest of the Falcons.Matt will be a restricted FA next year, and i expect at least 6 teams will contact us about him.
Shockley won't be ready for a few more years, and as this article by Lenny P. explains the market is very thin.On the other hand, as i have said all along, if some QB hungry team offers us a #1 and a #3 then you have to take it.Anything less than that , considering Vick's injury history, is taking a huge risk.
By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
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Over the final 16 weeks of the 2005 season, there were 48 quarterback changes in the NFL, three per week, and nearly half of those were by choice, not attrition.
Twenty-two times in '05, double the average for the previous five seasons, coaches opted to switch starting quarterbacks because of poor performance. The trend began early, with Mark Brunell replacing Patrick Ramsey at halftime of the Washington Redskins' season opener, and it didn't abate, as there was at least one starting quarterback change in 12 of the final 16 weeks of the campaign.
Might this season offer a repeat of the revolving door philosophy that marked 2005? Probably not.
In the first two weeks, only one team, Kansas City, used more than one starter, and that was prompted by the severe concussion sustained by Trent Green in the opener. But there is another reason even some desperate coaches might not display the same quick-hook philosophy of a year ago: Most of them really don't have viable options at the position, with the No. 2 spots on depth charts around the league weaker than they were in 2005.
On Sunday, for instance, rubber-faced Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden twisted up his countenance into a wide range of disgust-driven knots as Bucs starter Chris Simms tossed three interceptions for the second week in a row, and continued to have passes deflected at the line of scrimmage by the Atlanta Falcons' defense. How a quarterback who stands 6-foot-4 could have so many attempts swatted away, as if he were throwing from out of a hole or had the pocket stature of say, Doug Flutie, is a story for another day, since neither Simms nor Gruden could offer an explanation.
The story for Sunday, though, was that Gruden, despite his obvious displeasure with a quarterback who had produced one field goal drive and no touchdowns in two losses, couldn't make a lineup change. Remember, the steady and experienced Brian Griese doesn't live in Tampa anymore, having been released for salary cap considerations in the spring, and signed by the Chicago Bears as an unrestricted free agent and valued insurance policy.
Gruden and the Bucs? Well, they're kind of uninsured right now. The options are veteran Tim Rattay, whom Gruden holds in such regard that he's made him the No. 3 "emergency" quarterback for two straight weeks, and rookie Bruce Gradkowski, a sixth-round pick from Toledo whose moxie is admired by the Bucs' head coach, but who isn't ready to start yet. Gradkowski earned his stripes in camp by not backing down when Gruden got in his face. That doesn't mean he won't blink in the face of a regular-season pass rush.
One can't blame the Bucs for not trying to remedy the situation. When the promising youngster Luke McCown was felled by a knee injury in a spring minicamp, Tampa Bay reacted by signing veteran Jay Fiedler. Alas, Fiedler, still rehabilitating from shoulder surgery, couldn't break a pane of glass from 10 yards away with his best fastball, and was released. So to whom does Gruden turn next if Simms continues to throw picks and have passes volleyed back at him? The media in Tampa might want to watch for the arrival of the retired Rich Gannon, a longtime Gruden favorite.
OK, that was a joke. But the dearth of dependable quarterback alternatives around the league is no laughing matter, especially at a time when some starters might be yanked even at this early juncture of the campaign if their teams had reliable replacements. There are 22 new No. 2 quarterbacks in the league in 2006, double the number of new starters, and in most cases they represent a key position weakened during the offseason.
The result: If last year was the season of the quick hook, this might be the year of the long pause, because a lot of coaches who perhaps want to make changes really have little recourse.
If you are Romeo Crennel in Cleveland, for instance, where second-year veteran Charlie Frye has mounted little offense in two defeats, can you turn to Derek Anderson or Ken Dorsey with any degree of confidence that either of them will provide some impetus? Oakland starter Aaron Brooks was injured on Sunday, but might have been replaced anyway, so shoddy has his play been in two games. But the man who supplanted him, second-year veteran Andrew Walter, a kid with a bright future but a shaky present, struggled as well.
Kerry Collins has been rotten in his two starts in Tennessee. But for coach Jeff Fisher to bench him would mean beginning the Vince Young Era much earlier than anyone in the Titans' organization had planned. In the midst of Daunte Culpepper's struggles, with opposition defenses blitzing him mercilessly, can Miami expect Joey Harrington to offer relief? The fans in Dallas who were screaming for Tony Romo to replace Drew Bledsoe after one game have no idea how the backup might react if suddenly thrust into the starter's role. Thankfully, they won't have to find out for a while, because Bledsoe rebounded well on Sunday night.
Asked about his quarterback situation after Sunday's latest loss and another game with a stagnant offense, Gruden noted that he is not thinking about a change at the position. In truth, chances are that Gruden has probably thought long and hard about it, but isn't inclined to make a move because the options are so poor.
In that regard, he's not alone.
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