Ranking Every NFL Team’s QB situation at Midseason: 16-25

Ranking Every NFL Team’s QB situation at Midseason: 16-25

The working class. These are the teams with fair quarterbacks who perform just well enough to keep their jobs. Some teams are in this position because of injuries, some because of inexperience. Many of these teams will be looking for a starter or veteran backup in the off-season.

16. New England: The Patriots saw their season slipping away after Tom Brady went down so early with a knee injury. Matt Cassel has done enough to guide the Pats to 5-3 and a three-way tie at the top of their division. Barely. Cassel has had one good game as a Pro, against Denver in week 7. Heck, Denver is so terrible defending the pass that you could make the case (and I am) that he’s barely doing enough to get by. Tom Brady threw for 50 TDs last season with this offense, meaning Cassel is on pace to be one quarter the quarterback Brady is. Bottom line, this team went undefeated last season, 5-3 at the midway point is a disappointment, and if you’re throwing the ball to Randy Moss you need to have more than 7 scores.

Kevin O’Connell and Matt Gutierrez aren’t going to get this team into the playoffs. This team may make the playoffs, but isn’t going all the way this season. Don’t worry, Brady will return next season and you guys will be right back in the Super Bowl race.

17. Tampa Bay: Jeff Garcia and Brian Griese have split time as starters this season. Garcia is more talented and has performed better, but neither are really game-breakers. Garcia gives the team the best chance to win now, but he’s 38 years old, and Griese is a haggard 33. The Bucs really need to search hard for a true franchise QB this off-season.

Luke McCown and Josh Johnson are unlikely to become journeyman backups in this league, let alone starters.

18. Buffalo: Trent Edwards is having a solid, albeit quiet, sophomore season. Edwards has those “intangibles” that people often rave about, but can never quite articulate. His stats aren’t particularly flashy, but he has a huge impact on games. He just has a knack for converting that clutch third down pass, or delivering the ball into tight spots. He approaches the game with intelligence (he did go to Stanford), confidence and poise. Edwards can be a starter for the Bills for years, and should only grow as he gets more experience.

J.P. Losman was once the starter on this team. He isn’t a dominant player, but he should be capable of not losing all his games should he be called upon. Gilbran Hamdan has been in the league five years, even though I haven’t heard of him before. I’m guessing he’s not a highly regarded backup.

19. Tennessee: Kerry Collins has been good enough as a starter to not lose any games to this point. Collins has a career 73.3 QB rating. He’s been around the block in his 14 seasons, but he hasn’t wowed anyone with his skills, and at 35 he’s definitely not the QB of the future. Vince Young was supposed to be the mobile, athletic franchise QB that could beat you with his arm and his legs, but through three seasons his career has more closely mirrored that of former coach killer Michael Vick than five-time pro bowler Donovan McNabb.

Young still has time to turn his career around, but he has to become a student of the game. McNabb had his best seasons when he learned to stay in the pocket and pass, rather than take the first opportunity to run. A mobile quarterback is good, it forces defenses to keep one eye in the backfield in case the QB takes off. A rushing quarterback is bad. If defenses aren’t afraid of the pass they’ll key in on the run and shut it down. Chris Simms was showing some promise as a QB with the Buccaneers, but you have to think that a man who lost a spleen to a hard tackle is going to be a little gun shy.

20. Pittsburgh: Ben Roethlisberger is not having a great season. He’s completing less than 60% of his passes, has only 1,400 yards and has 7 fumbles to go along with his 8 interceptions. Roethlisberger has been sacked 26 times, and while some of those can be blamed on the poor play of his offensive line Big Ben isn’t helping the cause by taking his time making his reads and holding onto the ball in tough situations.

The Steelers lost Charlie Batch in the preseason and Roethlisberger went down this past week, paving the way for Byron Leftwich’s triumphant return. Leftwich played well in the second half, guiding the Steelers to a win against the surging Redskins. Leftwich has gotten a bad rep in this league, but he is a capable player. With a stout defense the Steelers should be okay. They were doing well even with Roethlisberger stinkin’ up the joint.

21. Houston: Houston’s QB troubles are mostly due to injuries and inconsistent play. Schaud started the season poorly and then missed a week five contest against Indy. Sage Rosenfels replaced him and player brilliantly for the first three quarters of the game, before completely imploding. He turned the ball over three times which led to a Texans loss. Schaub came back for week six and has played pretty well since then, before going out with an injury again this past week.

Andre Johnson is a premiere receiver and he plays hard every game, every quarter, every down. Win or lose. Which is more than I can say for the league’s other high profile receivers. I’m looking at you Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, Chad Ocho Stinko, and Plaxico Burress. Johnson can make an average quarterback look like a Pro Bowler. Rosenfels has a chance to atone for his week five mistakes.

22. Baltimore: Joe Flacco has the potential to be a great NFL quarterback; he’s just not there yet. Give him two or three years and he’ll be a good player for this franchise. Right now, though, he’s not blowing many people away. He is, however, doing enough to keep the team winning. Flacco may not be playing as well as the other rookie QB, Matt Ryan, but he has a better chance at playing in the post season this year, thanks to the Ravens strong defense. If you defense is scoring points it takes a lot of pressure off of the offense.

There isn’t a lot of experience or depth behind Flacco. Troy Smith is a second year player out of Ohio State. He was a good college player, but his transition to the pros isn’t going to be automatic. He lacks ideal size for an NFL QB, being generously measured at only 6 feet. Todd Bauman has been in the league for 12 years, but he hasn’t thrown a pass in eight of those seasons, including his last three. This roster has a chance to be pretty good, in three years.

23. Minnesota: Tarvaris Jackson finally wore out his welcome as a starter in Minnesota. Jackson spent all of last season looking completely overwhelmed and lost and it carried over to this season. Brad Childress finally benched him in favor of veteran Gus Frerotte. Frerotte is playing well enough to give Minnesota a chance in every game, but they’re not a playoff team with this QB roster. The preseason darling is going to spend the postseason at home.

Tarvaris Jackson is now the number two in Minnesota, where he should have been anyway. Jackson might have what it takes to be a starter, but he was thrown into the fire too soon. If he was given the opportunity to back up a quality veteran, the opportunity to study the nuances of the game and get quality feedback, like Aaron Rodgers did in Green Bay, then Jackson might not have looked so lost on the field. There’s still time for him, but probably not with the Vikings. John David Booty is their number three. Could he be the QB of the future? Not if he’s thrown into the fray too soon.

24. Cleveland: I started writing this article before Thursday night’s game between the Browns and Broncos, but I’m finishing it now after the game. Cleveland gets this low ranking based on everything before Thursday night. (I’m also not going to readjust Denver’s ranking based on Cutler’s performance). Derek Anderson was an overrated quarterback to begin with. There, I said it. I don’t think he deserved to go to the Pro Bowl. Last year he did have 29 touchdown passes, but he failed to crack the 4,000-yard mark, only completed about 56% of his passes and threw 19 interceptions! Those aren’t very encouraging statistics. The Browns’ record and Anderson’s Pro Bowl appearance heaped unrealistic expectations on this team.

Anderson ultimately lost his starting role to 1st round draft pick Brady Quinn. So far it appears to have been a good move, Quinn played very well last night, going 22 of 35 for 239 and 2 TDs. Too bad that game doesn’t count in my rankings. Ken Dorsey is their number three. He was a good college QB at Miami, but hasn’t really turned it on in the pros. He’s a fair third stringer. Cheer up Browns fans. Your team is likely to rise if Quinn can keep his game up.

25. Seattle: Matt Hasselbeck is a good player, but has only played (poorly) in four games this season. He’s missed about five games with injuries, paving the way for seventh-year man Seneca Wallace. Wallace has played up and down in his three starts. He played well in a win against San Francisco, but played dismally in losses to the ‘Bucs and Eagles. “But what about his big play ability? Like that 90-yard TD against Philly?” There’s a difference between having “quick-strike,” or “big play” ability. If you do it three or four times a game it’s ability. If you do it once in a season and never again it’s luck. That touchdown was on Lito Shepherd and Brian Dawkins. Not Seneca Wallace and Koren Robinson.

Charlie Frye is their number three. The man wore out his welcome in Cleveland. ‘Nuff said. This team needs Hasselbeck and their wide receivers to come back healthy to have a chance. The ‘Hawks are likely out of the playoff hunt, being so far behind division leader Arizona.