Chiefs Pantalones
03-27-2007, 09:20 AM
RAND: Window closes on another QB
Mar 27, 2007, 1:51:45 AM by Jonathan Rand - FAQ
If and when the Chiefs trade quarterback Trent Green, there should be several regrets around Kansas City.
There will be regrets that Green couldn’t close out his career here on a high note, as befits a player so highly regarded for his character and leadership. Regrets that both he and the league-leading offense Green directed in 2004 and 2005 became shells of their former selves. And regrets that the Chiefs couldn’t make hay while Green was a Pro Bowl passer in his prime.
“Window of opportunity” has been a popular phrase for the Chiefs since the defense that regularly led them in the playoffs during the 1990s began getting long in the tooth. That window closed with the resignation of coach Marty Schottenheimer after the 1998 season and death of perennial Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Thomas a year later.
The next obvious window of opportunity opened in 2003, when Dick Vermeil’s third season in Kansas City produced a 9-0 start and 13-3 finish. That success was fueled by the NFL’s second-ranked offense, led by Green’s first of three straight 4,000-yard passing seasons.
But given the age of key offensive performers and the weakness of his defense, Vermeil had only a three-year window to recapture his Super Bowl magic from St. Louis. A 38-31 home loss to the Colts in 2003 would be a close as Vermeil would get to the Super Bowl.
It’s easy to take a Pro Bowl quarterback like Green for granted until you don’t have him, anymore. A quick look around the NFL illustrates the difficulty of obtaining that kind of player. The Texans just dumped David Carr, the first player taken in the 2002 draft, and traded for unproven Falcons backup Matt Schaub. He’s already been named Houston’s starter.
If the Dolphins succeed in their trade talks with the Chiefs, Green would probably become their starter, even though he’ll be 37 and struggled in a concussion-marred 2006 season. The Raiders, Lions, Vikings and Browns also are hungry for solid starting quarterbacks, which tells you that merely solid quarterbacks aren’t so easy to find.
There are only three Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks still in their prime – the Colts’ Peyton Manning, the Patriots’ Tom Brady and the Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger. Because those teams drafted those quarterbacks, there was no special urgency to win with them right away.
It took the Colts nine years to reach the Super Bowl even with Manning. Brady and Roethlisberger, amazingly, led their teams to championships in their second seasons, Brady added two more titles in three years and nobody can accuse the Patriots of not fully exploiting their window of opportunity with a championship quarterback.
You can always point to so-so quarterbacks who won a Super Bowl, such as the Ravens’ Trent Dilfer in the 2000 season, or who reached the Super Bowl, such as the Giants’ Kerry Collins in 2000 and the Bears’ Rex Grossman last season. And you could point out that a 4,000-yard passer isn’t as necessary for the Chiefs’ offense under Herm Edwards as it was under Vermeil.
But to reach a Super Bowl with an ordinary quarterback requires exceptional play in almost every other area. And the quarterback, in anybody’s offense, is still the most important player on the field. Despite Damon Huard’s reputation as a guy who’s supposed to hand off to Larry Johnson and avoid mistakes, he could have never compiled a 5-3 record as a starter last year without repeatedly completing key throws.
Ever since Len Dawson retired after the 1975 season, the Chiefs have tended to rely on 30-something quarterbacks from other teams, leaving them with short windows. Joe Montana, most notably, stayed two years and in 1993 led the Chiefs to the AFC championship game.
Green’s five-year run as the undisputed starter, from 2001 through 2005, was the longest for the Chiefs in three decades. Huard, who turns 34 in July, offers another short window, which is why it’s imperative for the Chiefs to develop Brodie Croyle or another prospect into a winning quarterback. It will take a young solution to fix this old problem.
The only way to develop Brodie is to play him, and I think he will be our starting QB come the opener.
Mar 27, 2007, 1:51:45 AM by Jonathan Rand - FAQ
If and when the Chiefs trade quarterback Trent Green, there should be several regrets around Kansas City.
There will be regrets that Green couldn’t close out his career here on a high note, as befits a player so highly regarded for his character and leadership. Regrets that both he and the league-leading offense Green directed in 2004 and 2005 became shells of their former selves. And regrets that the Chiefs couldn’t make hay while Green was a Pro Bowl passer in his prime.
“Window of opportunity” has been a popular phrase for the Chiefs since the defense that regularly led them in the playoffs during the 1990s began getting long in the tooth. That window closed with the resignation of coach Marty Schottenheimer after the 1998 season and death of perennial Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Thomas a year later.
The next obvious window of opportunity opened in 2003, when Dick Vermeil’s third season in Kansas City produced a 9-0 start and 13-3 finish. That success was fueled by the NFL’s second-ranked offense, led by Green’s first of three straight 4,000-yard passing seasons.
But given the age of key offensive performers and the weakness of his defense, Vermeil had only a three-year window to recapture his Super Bowl magic from St. Louis. A 38-31 home loss to the Colts in 2003 would be a close as Vermeil would get to the Super Bowl.
It’s easy to take a Pro Bowl quarterback like Green for granted until you don’t have him, anymore. A quick look around the NFL illustrates the difficulty of obtaining that kind of player. The Texans just dumped David Carr, the first player taken in the 2002 draft, and traded for unproven Falcons backup Matt Schaub. He’s already been named Houston’s starter.
If the Dolphins succeed in their trade talks with the Chiefs, Green would probably become their starter, even though he’ll be 37 and struggled in a concussion-marred 2006 season. The Raiders, Lions, Vikings and Browns also are hungry for solid starting quarterbacks, which tells you that merely solid quarterbacks aren’t so easy to find.
There are only three Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks still in their prime – the Colts’ Peyton Manning, the Patriots’ Tom Brady and the Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger. Because those teams drafted those quarterbacks, there was no special urgency to win with them right away.
It took the Colts nine years to reach the Super Bowl even with Manning. Brady and Roethlisberger, amazingly, led their teams to championships in their second seasons, Brady added two more titles in three years and nobody can accuse the Patriots of not fully exploiting their window of opportunity with a championship quarterback.
You can always point to so-so quarterbacks who won a Super Bowl, such as the Ravens’ Trent Dilfer in the 2000 season, or who reached the Super Bowl, such as the Giants’ Kerry Collins in 2000 and the Bears’ Rex Grossman last season. And you could point out that a 4,000-yard passer isn’t as necessary for the Chiefs’ offense under Herm Edwards as it was under Vermeil.
But to reach a Super Bowl with an ordinary quarterback requires exceptional play in almost every other area. And the quarterback, in anybody’s offense, is still the most important player on the field. Despite Damon Huard’s reputation as a guy who’s supposed to hand off to Larry Johnson and avoid mistakes, he could have never compiled a 5-3 record as a starter last year without repeatedly completing key throws.
Ever since Len Dawson retired after the 1975 season, the Chiefs have tended to rely on 30-something quarterbacks from other teams, leaving them with short windows. Joe Montana, most notably, stayed two years and in 1993 led the Chiefs to the AFC championship game.
Green’s five-year run as the undisputed starter, from 2001 through 2005, was the longest for the Chiefs in three decades. Huard, who turns 34 in July, offers another short window, which is why it’s imperative for the Chiefs to develop Brodie Croyle or another prospect into a winning quarterback. It will take a young solution to fix this old problem.
The only way to develop Brodie is to play him, and I think he will be our starting QB come the opener.