PIVOTS FIGHTING FOR THEIR NFL LIVES IN PRE-SEASON
More than a dozen QBS on the hot seat with teams that can't afford to be patient
You flop, you drop. That's just the way it is.
Every year at this time, we find a bunch of NFL quarterbacks perilously perched, one step from the edge of the cliff. One more disappointing, underachieving season and it's “LOOK OUT BELOW!”
Yeah, they get the push. And free-fall into the pit where dozens of previous QB discards find themselves trying to claw their way back up to relevance — most unsuccessfully.
As many as 11 teams in 2021 have QBS who qualify on this front. That's more than a third of the league. We're excluding Aaron Rodgers of Green Bay and Ben Roethlisberger of Pittsburgh, both of whom might retire after the season, but after long ago reaching superstardom.
And we're excluding Houston's Deshaun Watson, as allegations of sexual impropriety on his part continue to play out.
You may be surprised by a few inclusions here. A couple of teams have double-headed entries in this ignominious drama.
NEW ENGLAND: Cam Newton. That's presuming Newton can hold off Round 1 draftee Mac Jones to start the season three weeks from Sunday. The 11-year veteran Newton did look relaxed, poised and accurate on Thursday in New England's second of three pre-season games, a 35-0 pasting of the Eagles in Philadelphia. Newton completed 8 of 9 passes for 103 yards and a touchdown, albeit mostly against backups. It might be now or never for Superman.
CHICAGO: Andy Dalton. OK, no one but the red-headed Texan and his family probably thinks the veteran can hang on to the starter's job in the Windy City as late as Canadian Thanksgiving, with hotshot Round 1 draftee Justin Fields hot on his tail. But if Dalton looks as terrible as he did on a few occasions last fall in Dallas, in relief of injured Dak Prescott, his starting days in the NFL probably will end.
PHILADELPHIA: Jalen Hurts and Joe Flacco. It doesn't figure that either will wow anyone this year, no matter who takes most of the snaps — Hurts is too raw, Flacco is too used up — but few Eagles fans care. GM Howie Roseman already has one extra 2022 Round 1 selection in the bag (from trading down with Miami in the 2021 draft) and might acquire another, should Carson Wentz take 75 per cent of Indy's snaps. Roseman could bundle all that Round 1 capital and move up as high as he likes in the '22 draft, to grab whichever phenom college QB appeals most.
INDIANAPOLIS: Carson Wentz. After the way his once-promising stint in Philly soured last year, traded due to his stunningly bad play, Wentz entered Indy's training camp under as much pressure to produce in 2021 as any of these passers. Alas, he injured his left foot in camp. On Aug. 2 he had surgery that Colts head coach Frank Reich had said would keep the sixth-year QB out 5-12 weeks. But this week an optimistic Reich said “we feel good” about Wentz's recovery, albeit without amending the original timeline. Whenever he returns, Wentz had better be ready.
DENVER: Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater. Apparently it's a neck-and-neck battle between these two, after Lock at times looked fabulous in Year 2, but mostly he was just wildly inconsistent. Since Peyton Manning's retirement following Denver's 2015 Super Bowl championship, the QB turnstile has spun ferociously fast in the Rockies.
DETROIT: Jared Goff. Like the Eagles, the Lions possess one extra first-round pick in 2022 and have another in 2023 to boot, both from the Los Angeles Rams as part of the blockbuster Goff-formatthew Stafford trade this past winter. Some reports say Goff has struggled to digest the offence of new head coach Dan Campbell and crew.
SAN FRANCISCO: Jimmy Garoppolo. No one, surely not even Garoppolo, would be surprised if the Niners moved on from him even before the coming season, let alone after it. Seemingly ever injured, Jimmy G still finds himself the ostensible No. 1 on an uber-talented roster. But the 49ers paid a steep price to move up from No. 12 to No. 3 to select Trey Lance for a reason. And Lance is already getting firstteam reps.
WASHINGTON: Ryan Fitzpatrick. You never need to pencil in Fitz into this annual category. Go ahead and pen him there. Heck, use a Sharpie. The 38-year-old is about to extend his NFL record by starting at QB for a ninth team in 16 years. He's now Washington's entrenched No. 1. If Fitz sparkles at first and then splats, as he seems annually to do, it's on to someone else in 2022 for the WFT.
NEW YORK GIANTS: Daniel Jones. Really, Jones is on this list? Yes, really. A full decade has now passed since the Giants were reliably relevant, competitively. This is Year 3 for a QB who, frankly, never really looked the part in college of a top-10 pick — and whose play as a pro thus far on bad offences hasn't come close either. Fifty-one turnovers in two years (29 lost fumbles, 22 picks). That's awful. If he keeps on being a turnover machine, without glimmering production to offset it, Jones is done.
MIAMI: Tua Tagovailoa. Yup. There's been so much buzz around the holes in Tua's game, he might be pushed aside before Year 3. The rest of the Dolphins' roster is fast coming together. The QB can't keep being the asterisk.
LAS VEGAS: Derek Carr. Like Fitzpatrick, this annual list seems incomplete without Carr on it. Thing is, as he so ably demonstrated a year ago, Carr really is a solid QB who plays winning football most weeks. Yet, it always seems like a large chunk of Raider Nation is just waiting to jump all over him. Many want him to fail, it seems. Don't bet on it. Carr keeps rising to the challenge. Or, to keep the original metaphor of this story going, he keeps taking big steps back, away from the edge of the cliff.