Standing Tall in the Pocket
Since their return in 1999, the Browns have had, to be blunt, horrific quarterback play. From Tim Couch to Kelly Holcomb, Jeff Garcia, Trent Dilfer, Charlie Frye, Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn, the QB position has been a giant pool of stench.
But that may all be changing, especially if you look at the current quarterbacks on the roster as a whole, rather than just presumed starter Jake Delhomme.
John Clayton recently had a column on ESPN.com detailing how the state of backup quarterbacks in the NFL is dismal”
“The backup (QB) landscape is a desert,” Clayton wrote. “More good teams have unknown, unproven quarterbacks behind the starter than ever before. An injury to a starting quarterback could take a 13-win team to six or seven wins in an instant.”
Just take a look at some of the examples Clayton cited:
- Brian Hoyer backs up Tom Brady in New England
- Curtis Painter backs up Peyton Manning in Indy
- Caleb Hanie backs up Jay Cutler in Chicago
- Jim Sorgi backs up Eli Manning in NY
Clayton continues that “football people talk about the value of a backup quarterback, but so much of it is just talk.”
Which brings us to the Browns. With eight-year veteran Seneca Wallace backing up Delhomme, the Browns have one of the better combinations – taken collectively – in the league.
For his career, Wallace has completed almost 60 percent of his passes, thrown for more touchdowns than interceptions and has a QB rating of 83.1 – a mark that no Browns quarterback has been able to match since their return in ’99. Mix in his potential as a runner in the Flash package, and the Browns find themselves in a very good position.
Consider the rest of the division:
- A broken-down Marc Bulger, along with the over-rated Troy Smith, are Joe Flacco’s back ups in Baltimore
- J.T. O’Sullivan and Jordan Palmer are backing up Carson Palmer in Cincy
- The Steelers will find out quickly how much Byron Leftwich has left as he and Charlie Batch will be running things while Ben Roethlisberger serves his four-game suspension.*
The Browns, led by Mike Holmgren, a “football person” if there ever was one, are suddenly looking pretty good.
No one expects Delhomme to play the way he did in 2003, when he led the Panthers to the Super Bowl, but he doesn’t have to. It appears that after adding Montario Hardesty and Peyton Hillis to a running game that already features Jerome Harrison, Lawrence Vickers and Josh Cribbs, as well as a solid left side of the offensive line, the Browns are committed to run, run and run some more.
A solid running game takes pressure off Delhomme to make plays; eats clock; keeps a suspect defense off the field; and is the perfect offense for the cold-weather games sure to come in November and December.
And if Delhomme struggles or is hurt, the Browns just may be able to buck the league-wide trend with a capable backup waiting in the wings.
That would certainly be a welcome change of pace for Browns fans.
*I know Rothlisberger’s suspension is for six games; but it can be reduced to four and with the Steelers having a bye after Week 4 and then facing the Browns in Week 6, you just know his suspension will be cut to four games.
Red Right 88 