The biggest decision of the Ravens preseason will be at the backup quarterback position. Right now, if Joe Flacco goes down, the backup options are last year’s practice squad QB Hunter Cantwell and unproven rookie sixth-round draft pick Tyrod Taylor out of Virginia Tech. Neither has taken a snap in the NFL and that is a major concern for a team knocking on the door of the Super Bowl, especially when you consider how unique the Ravens QB situation has been. Flacco has started every game in his first three seasons in the league, a rare feat of durability and luck.
When I first analyzed the Ravens QB position, I immediately thought General Manager Ozzie Newsome had plans to bring in a veteran backup. Then I looked at a list of veterans available on the free agent market, with names like Todd Bouman, Brian Brohm, Chris Greisen, Chris Simms, Troy Smith, J.T. O’Sullivan, Chad Pennington, Charlie Frye, Patrick Ramsey, Jim Sorji, J.P. Losman, and Brian St. Pierre. That list makes you want to beg Marc Bulger or Trent Green to re-think that whole retirement thing.
Absolutely none of those guys, with all due respect, could step in for an injured Flacco for an extended period of time and help this team win. When you have a team this stacked, with a closing window of opportunity to make a run at the Super Bowl, you cannot rely on an inexperienced backup or a never-was quarterback. You need a seasoned veteran with poise under pressure to step in and carry a team until the starter returns.
Of all the names available as veteran backups on the free agent list, only one name comes to mind as even possible—a player who has stepped up when the starter went down and got some key wins; a guy with experience and who is cool under pressure; one who can make all the throws and can manage a game. He was once considered the heir-apparent to Jim Kelly in Buffalo. He is the 39-year-old Todd Collins.
So, we can narrow the available free agent QBs who qualify as veteran backups with track records of some success to one and only one. That is a scary thought when you consider how important the quarterback position is to any contending team.
If I know Ozzie Newsome, though, he is patient. He also might be waiting to pounce when the pouncing is ripe. Perhaps he has a veteran backup in mind for this 2011 Ravens squad. Perhaps he is waiting until closer to opening day when those last few signal callers are shed from NFL rosters because they lose a competition or they are a salary dump. That would be fine in other years, but the crop of those guys is also razor thin.
Let’s look at some guys who might be on the bubble in camp quarterback competitions.
After a close examination of the QBs currently listed on NFL rosters my concerns for the Ravens at the positioned deepened. Not many are worthy of carrying a clipboard and donning a baseball cap on the Ravens sideline. Only two names and two situations appealed to me. Let’s examine them.
In New York, the Giants have an 11-year man in Sage Rosenfels who is in a competition with David Carr to backup Eli Manning. Rosenfels and his $3 million salary could be expendable if Carr shows he can backup Manning, as he did in 2008 and 2009. So, add Rosenfels to Ozzie’s list of possibilities to backup Flacco.
In Detroit, fifth-year man Drew Stanton will again compete with University of Maryland product Shaun Hill, who stepped up big-time last year for the injured Matthew Stafford. Stanton saw playing time when both Stafford and 10-year veteran Hill went down with injuries in 2010. In an ideal world, Hill could be had in a trade and Detroit could live with Stanton as the backup. It’s unclear how possible that scenario is. Perhaps Stanton could be a capable backup in Baltimore.
When you think of Todd Collins, Sage Rosenfels, Shaun Hill and Drew Stanton, you don’t feel all warm and fuzzy about the backup QB position in Baltimore. But any one of those guys would be preferable to the two guys in red shirts in Owings Mills who have never taken an NFL snap.
If Ozzie Newsome waits too long, the bottom of a barrel might be empty as well.
When you are this close to making a run at the Super Bowl and your aging veterans like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed might not have many more chances, a backup quarterback could be the biggest move of the offseason. Ozzie knows that. Let’s see what he does.
Perhaps he speed dials Collins’ agent.
Maybe he convinces Bulger that retirement can wait a year.
If not this potential Super Bowl team could be one snap away from that window of opportunity slamming shut.
