The 7 kinds of quarterback battles you’ll see this summer
and a cool helmet display from a long time ago
Last offseason, the most competitive (but not in a good way) quarterback battle might have been the one in Chicago between Nick Foles and Mitchell Trubisky. This offseason, we have a little more excitement than that, thankfully. After three retirements, five first-round passers, a couple of trades, and two up-in-the-air situations (for much different reasons), there are what I would consider seven real starting quarterback competitions as we head into the summer.
Not included: Whatever is happening with Aaron Rodgers, even with the Packers’ suddenly crowded quarterback room; Zach Wilson, despite his claims that he hasn’t won the Jets job yet because he was the No. 2 pick and the other QBs on the roster are James Morgan and Mike White; and the Jaguars, although you know Urban Meyer is itching to put Tim Tebow under center at some point.
Each current quarterback battle is unique in its own way, but they can be divided into two categories: rookie vs. veteran and veteran vs. veteran. Let’s take a closer look at all seven.
Rookie vs. veteran
I’m getting deja vu: Bears, Justin Fields vs. Andy Dalton
Four years ago, the Bears signed an extremely pale veteran during free agency and promised him he was the starter, and then traded up to draft another quarterback with their first-round pick. And when that failed to pan out, they went ahead and did the same thing this offseason.
However, there are signs that GM Ryan Pace has at least learned a few lessons from 2017. First of all, the Bears signed Andy Dalton to a cheaper, shorter-term deal this spring than they did Mike Glennon (one-year, $10 million vs. three-year, $45 million contract). Second of all, Dalton has more experience and is less sucky than Glennon, a No. 2 pencil in human form. Finally, Justin Fields is more proven as a prospect and has higher upside than Trubisky ever did.
The Bears’ Glennon experience lasted just four games in 2017; he posted a 4:5 TD:INT ratio, 4.9 adjusted yards/pass, and a career-low 76.9 passer rating. Trubisky started the rest of the way, and while his numbers weren’t much better, he was at least earning valuable playing time in a lost season.
It’s not hard to imagine a similar scenario unfolding in 2021. Matt Nagy insists Dalton is QB1 right now, and he will likely start in Week 1. With Fields as the future (of the franchise and Nagy’s/Pace’s job security), though, the Bears might need to throw him into the fire before too long and let him work on his development in real game action.
Are they on the Patrick Mahomes plan or not?: 49ers, Trey Lance vs. Jimmy Garoppolo
Despite the hefty price the 49ers paid to move up to draft Lance, it’d make sense if he didn’t see the field as a rookie (or like Patrick Mahomes, not until the final week of the regular season, after a playoff bid had already been locked up). Lance, 21 years old as of a couple weeks ago, is an FCS product who played in just one game last season. And if healthy, the 49ers’ roster, Jimmy Garoppolo included, can win now.
The problem is Garoppolo has been injury prone, which might force the 49ers to move up their timetable with Lance. But perhaps Kyle Shanahan will want to do that anyway. Lance is like Shananhan’s Buzz Lightyear — a shiny new toy with all the bells and whistles, and unlike any other QB he’s never gotten to play with before. George Kittle might agree, too.
Don’t count out the former MVP yet: Patriots, Mac Jones vs. Cam Newton
I’m curious to see how Cam Newton looks after 1) an entire year in the Patriots system and 2) with actual weapons that we’ve heard of without Googling. While Newton probably won’t ever reach the heights of his 2015 season (when he won league MVP honors) again, it’s too soon to relegate him to backup duty for the rest of his career.
Early in 2020, Newton showed he was still capable of being a starting quarterback in the league, even after joining the Patriots just two months before the season began. In September, Newton accounted for six total touchdowns during a 2-1 start for New England that easily could’ve been 3-0 … and then he got Covid and admitted he never felt comfortable in the offense after that. If the old playmaking Newton is still in there and can help the Patriots win, he’ll start. But he won’t have a long leash, especially since he’ll be a free agent again next year.
Also, Mac Jones starting for the Patriots is like the return of the crop top trend — I swear it exists to annoy me, and I know there’s no stopping it from happening.
This is a mess: Texans, Davis Mills vs. Tyrod Taylor and Jeff Driskel, I guess
I don’t want to speculate on Deshaun Watson’s future, but I’m not exactly going out on a limb by suggesting he’ll never play another snap for the Texans. As such, the boobs in the front office have been collecting quarterbacks this offseason (and have already released one they traded for in March).
So that leaves us with Tyrod Taylor (mostly capable journeyman, but not a gunslinger); Jeff Driskel (1-8 record as a last-resort starter); and rookie third-round pick Davis Mills. The Stanford product only started 11 games in college and isn’t very athletic, and although he has a strong arm, he likely needs time to acclimate to the NFL. That is, unless the Texans are banking on Taylor’s Good Luck Chuck effect kicking in again*.
Three years ago, Taylor was the Browns’ starter until he got hurt, paving the way for Baker Mayfield’s debut. Mayfied’s been the starter in Cleveland ever since. The same thing happened to Taylor last year with the Chargers and Justin Herbert. Could it officially become a trend in Houston? I dunno, but it’s not like it really matters who earns the starting gig.
*May this be the last time I ever reference a Dane Cook movie ... unless it’s Dan in Real Life.
Veteran vs. veteran
Fool me once … : Saints, Jameis Winston vs. Taysom Hill
Last year, when Taysom Hill said he believed he was a franchise quarterback and Sean Payton thought the guy nearing 30 with 13 career passes was worth a first-round tender, I scoffed like everyone else. I continued to be baffled when Hill signed a two-year, $21 million extension and reports said Sean Payton thought Hill had Steve Young potential.
And when Drew Brees went on injured reserve with alllll the broken ribs, I felt pretty confident where the Saints would turn: obviously to Jameis Winston, the former No. 1 pick who finished the game under center when Brees got hurt. Any praise Payton had for Hill as a quarterback was just him paying lip service to his favorite multi-tool, non-Leatherman edition, right?
Nope! Hill started all four games that Brees missed and even threw touchdown passes (plural!) in two games. He was mostly fine running the plays Payton drew up for him. But did he look like a franchise quarterback? Also nope!
Since Brees has retired, the battle between Hill and Winston has taken on extra importance. Winston is the betting favorite to start in Week 1, even though he has a history of mental errors and Yakety Sax-caliber turnovers, because he’s still young and can actually throw the ball down the field. He was decent, if conservative, in his brief playing time last season, but now he’s had a year of learning Payton’s offense. So surely he’ll win the job this time, huh?
Eh, I’ve learned my lesson. I won’t believe Payton can quit Hill until I see it.
Last Chance U: Broncos, Teddy Bridgewater vs. Drew Lock
At just 28 years old, Teddy Bridgewater could already be considered a journeyman quarterback. After getting traded to the Broncos last month, he’s on his fifth NFL team and third in as many years.
That doesn’t mean he should be counted out, though. Bridgewater is a solid, if unspectacular option. He won’t wow you or win you games on his own, but he won’t lose you games either. While he’s adopted a more game-manager role since his devastating knee injury five years ago, Bridgewater has also been better than his critics will admit. Last year in Carolina, he put either career highs or near career highs in passing yards, touchdowns, yards per throw, and passer rating.
His ceiling might not be as high as Lock’s, but he’s not prone to Lock’s dumb mistakes, either. PFF credited him with 23 turnover-worthy plays last season in Denver and Lock also led the NFL in interceptions, despite playing in just 13 games (don’t forget the Covid protocol mishap that led the Broncos to starting a practice squad receiver at QB).
No matter who wins the battle, it feels like the loser probably won’t get many other chances to be a starting quarterback in the league. Then again, clipboard king life doesn’t seem so bad.
Like a Disney movie: Washington Football Team, Ryan Fitzpatrick vs. Taylor Heinicke
Ryan Fitzpatrick seems happy to be on his ninth NFL team:
Fitzpatrick himself is like a Disney character — a bearded woodsman with magical powers. And he does kinda look like this guy from Frozen:
Except instead of talking to animals or whatever, his magic comes in the form of throwing four touchdowns in one half of a random game.
Then he can go out and throw four picks the next game. The Fitzmagic giveth, the Fitzmagic taketh away.
Taylor Heinicke is a different kind of Disney story; he’s the underdog who came in off the street and unexpectedly started a playoff game. His performance against the eventual Super Bowl champs was impressive — he played better against the Bucs than any other quarterback in the playoffs not named Aaron Rodgers — and it helped earn Heinicke a two-year contract.
Fitzpatrick will likely be the full-time starter, but he’s 38 and can be inconsistent, so Heinicke will probably get a chance to start his first regular season game since 2018 at some point. And then Fitzpatrick will take the job back a week or two later because the Fitzmagic never truly stops. — SH
Hey, check out this sweet 1960s helmet display I got for $20
The 1960s were a different time for football. The locker room was a place for Fresca and cigarettes. The decade’s top quarterback threw for only 190 yards per game and tossed 165 interceptions in 125 games. Light beer had yet to be invented, leaving the league to open its sponsorship books to Kentucky’s ninth-best blended whiskey.
That stunner above? Not only is it an official NFL-branded chunk of memorabilia combining America’s fastest rising sport, 80 proof bourbon, and a collection of helmets only purchasable in gumball machines aimed at children — it’s also mine. For only $18 and roughly $2 in fees, I was able to purchase this through a Madison-based online estate sale (for another $5.75 I added four collectible Stroh’s Brewery steins, a tribute to an uncle who kept his basement stocked with fire-brewed tall boys every summer we made a low-cost vacation trip to Pittsburgh. Rest easy, Uncle Dan).
It instantly became a much-needed blight on an otherwise expertly-decorated office space in which I own nothing. But without much known about it other than a listing that gave its height and width, I was left with some questions. Where did it come from? What year was it made? WHO WON THE CENTURY DIVISION THAT SEASON???
A quick search of “Kessler NFL standings” mostly returned clips on former Browns quarterback Cody Kessler, which provided a depressing wormhole that took me through the depths of that stretch where Cleveland had more seasons played (two) than games won (one). Heading to eBay didn’t help much either, but did open a window to one seller intent on offloading old Pittsburgh sports ticket stubs from the 1990s — including a bunch of meaningless games starring a 79-win Pirates team — for $80 each.
Fortunately, a 16-team NFL pegs this standings board somewhere before the 1970 NFL-AFL merger that dumped 10 new teams into the league. The logos on the gumball machine helmets are helpful as well. That Browns “CB” logo was designed for the 1965 season but never worn on the field, as the Cleveland Scene expertly points out, in the preseason or otherwise. Also, in case you were wondering what prevailing attitudes were like in the Rust Belt at the time, this:
was explicitly referred to as “Mickey Mouse stuff” by quarterback Frank Ryan at the time. You can almost smell Marlboro reds coming off that quote.
Here's our starting point. Fortunately, Chris Creamer’s Sportslogos.net can offer a little more insight. Washington used that impressively clean arrow design on its helmets from 1965 to 1969. The Cowboys’ star has a white corona around it, but no blue outline, indicating it was from the team’s 1964-66 uniforms. The Falcons didn’t exist until 1966, a move many in the state of Georgia now admit was a mistake.
Of course, the most telling piece of evidence is that the NFL didn’t split from two divisions to four until 1967, BUT I JUST LEARNED THAT NOW SO CUT ME A BREAK.
Anyway, it’s cool to see what has and hasn’t changed in the nearly 55 years. The Giants abandoned, then reclaimed, their “NY” logo. The Rams improved on, then tarnished, a classic look. The NFC North has remained unchanged, because this is the midwest and nothing changes here, regardless of how steep local DUI penalties may become.
For $20, I picked up a testament to the league’s longevity and some pretty sweet mini-helmets I always caught a glimpse of while leaving the supermarket as a child, but never had the quarters to buy (damn you, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: the Arcade Game). Now I’m sharing it with you and hope you can appreciate a world in which the NFL looked at its layout, shrugged, and made Baltimore and Atlanta share a division with San Francisco and Los Angeles anyway.
Also, the Browns, without their “CB” logo anywhere to be found, won the Century that fall, then promptly lost their playoff game to the Cowboys by 38. — CD