While I’m certainly not HBO’s Hard Knocks and sidelined at 32 camps around the nation, I AM notorious for getting wound up about football months in advance. It’s what I, and many of you I’d imagine, live for each year! With the start of training camps approaching, it’s the perfect excuse for me to examine some quarterbacks with the most interesting storylines. More impatiently, there are to be some battles at the position which always make for some summer drama.
Being that the quarterback is the “captain of the ship” so to speak, we can often deduce much about a team’s upcoming flavor from just their quarterback’s play alone.
Below, I will outline several guys under center-in no particular order-and why you should pay close attention.
Kyler Murray (Arizona Cardinals): It’s no surprise Kyler was the first quarterback to pop into my head as he is the reigning Heisman trophy winner and was pick number one in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Arizona, who finished with a league-low two wins, looks to flip the script this fall with Mr. Murray leading the charge. While the Cardinals are stoked to have snagged a dynamic QB, they are also still salivating over the debut of their new head coach, Kliff Kingsbury, hired during the offseason (offseason for the Cards anyway).
An offensive wonder, many are expecting epic play out of the Kliff/Kyler duo. Technically, Murray has not been officially dubbed the starter, but having seen play from Brett Hundley in Green Bay, I don’t see the competition.
Dwayne Haskins/Case Keenum (Washington Redskins): After losing both Alex Smith AND backup Colt McCoy to dreadful leg injuries in 2018, Washington fans were reeling for any hope possible.
A trade with Denver for Case Keenum followed by a first-round draft pick, number 15 overall, for Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins seemed to pump some blood into Redskin nation. Though Keenum has NFL starting minutes under his belt, and even led Minnesota to the improbable playoff win back in January 2018, I don’t see how a fresh and talented face like Haskins doesn’t get the job.
As our friend Terrell Owens once said, “Get your popcorn ready.”
Andy Dalton (Cincinnati Bengals): Not to come out the gates swinging, but I think we are all in agreement that Dalton has been a massive letdown through his overpromised and underdelivered eight year NFL career.
Just when we think the Red Rocket is knocking on the door of greatness, he seems to fade into background noise. With only four career playoff games, all ending in a loss, a terribly frustrated fanbase has emerged.
Many argue that former head coach Marvin Lewis held a lot of the blame for several years. With a new patriarch in Zac Taylor, former LA Rams QB Coach, watch for a new spark to this offense and particularly Dalton.
My prediction: Dalton has a breakout year with Taylor guiding him. AJ Green doesn’t hurt as a target either.
Matt Stafford (Detroit Lions) – Matthew Stafford is one of those ‘perceived as an elite quarterback’ guys until you sit back and think on what he has accomplished throughout his career. Sadly, it isn’t all that much.
With a sub .500 career and not a single playoff win under his belt, this is a team that has, at times, seemed like a sound threat to their NFC North rivals. Yet somehow they seem to fall short year after year.
In Stafford’s defense, he is currently with the Lions’ third head coach in his ten-year career. This upcoming season should be intriguing in seeing how Matt Patricia turns up the heat coming off of his rookie season as head coach.
Stafford may be able to drink Aaron Rodgers under the table, but my guess is he’d prefer to outplay opponents on the field.
Eli Manning (New York Giants): Make no mistake- there is no new drama in the Meadowlands. Last November, former head coach Ben McAdoo made a gutsy move in benching the two-time Super Bowl winning QB midseason for GENO SMITH.
If that last sentence doesn’t paint a dumpster fire in your head, I don’t know what will! Sure, Manning’s abilities and questionable personnel over the years have taken a bit of a dip, but That. Was. Insane. In this year’s draft, it was no surprise, not even to Eli, that the G-Men took a quarterback; Daniel Jones out of Duke.
Despite what you may think, the veteran had one of his most efficient seasons in years in the 2018 season. It’s been a rollercoaster having one of the worst offensive lines, a mess of a head coach, and this offseason losing Odell Beckham Jr.
Kirk Cousins (Minnesota Vikings): Let’s get one thing straight. A $28 million dollar contract is elite QB money and Kirk (to be fair, the whole team) did not play as such in 2018.
Cousins has his moments of consistency, but is rarely a WOW player. The Vikes have made an attempt to remedy some holes like the O-line, but all eyes will still be on how Kirk can bounce back from a season of disappointment.
I know it’s beat to death, but why are organizations paying blockbuster deals to mediocre players and/or before they’ve proven themselves? In my opinion, you rarely see middle-of-the-pack players elevate their play after a historic deal.
Nick Foles (Jacksonville Jaguars): It never hurts one’s confidence to win a Super Bowl. Somehow the Eagles weren’t willing to overstep Carson Wentz, but also knew that Foles wasn’t backup quality either.
Enter Jacksonville, who parted ways with a struggling Bortles and look to contend again in a competitive AFC South co-starring Houston, Indianapolis, and Tennessee. One glimmer of hope for Jags fans is the fact that new OC DeFilippo has worked with Foles before and they have a really good thing going on. I mean they did win a Super Bowl together. With Coach Marrone enlisting the right help around his quarterback, this could be a really fun team to watch in 2019!
Matt Ryan (Atlanta Falcons): I heard something amazing from sports analyst Nick Wright about a year ago on Fox Sports Radio and it stuck with me. In his own words, he proclaimed that the line that separates non-elite quarterbacks from elite quarterbacks is Matt Ryan.
If you are ever wondering if a QB is worthy of that historical deal, think to yourself, “Is he as good or better than Matt Ryan?” If yes, then pay him! If not, probably not worth the money. It was so fascinating to me and I completely buy into this method.
There is no better way to describe the often-magical Matty Ice. Even with Ryan’s deadliest weapon not attending practices in hopes of a new contract, it appears he definitely has some gas left in the tank and we should all be excited to watch what he does this season in Atlanta.
Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs): We couldn’t possibly discuss quarterbacks without mentioning the young stud in Kansas City, could we? Approaching his sophomore season as a starter, I can’t imagine many people are worried for a slump by Mahomes. It’s tough to imagine an Andy Reid led quarterback (of his caliber) falling too short despite a decrease in weapons from his MVP-caliber season of 2018.
