Quarterback Options For 2012 (poll)

In my last article entitled “The Time to Plan for 2012 is Now” I focused on several areas that the Fins needed to address and plan for. They included decisions on contracts and drafting strategies. However, the decision to sign FA’s like Paul Soliai or pay Brandon Marshall his 9.3 million pale in comparison to the situation at QB.

Chad Henne will be a free agent and undoubtly be looking for a long term lucrative contract. Do you try and re-sign him? I think you do, but only within limits. I am going to go out on a limb (the size of a telephone pole),  and say that Chad Henne is not our franchise quarterback. It is a shame Chad got hurt after all his hard work to prove he is a worthy NFL quarterback. With the o line playing so poorly and Chad getting hit so often, I was worried he might get hurt, but never imagined it would happen on a broken play.

How about Matt Moore? Matt has been a serviceable QB considering the situation he was abrutly thrown in to. Moore is signed through the end of next year and if he continues to play well and stay healthy, it will make the Henne decision much easier. Is Matt Miami’s future? If he is, it will most likely be in the capacity as a backup. This is Moore’s 4th year. If he were going to develop into an elite QB, I would have thought it would have happened by now, although being on a team as bad as the Panthers were probably didn’t help.

Then we have Pat Devlin. I like this guy a lot and thought it was a smart move to sign him as an undrafted free agent. Does he last on the practice squad without getting plucked by another team? Can he make the 53 man roster in 2012? Let me be clear. I absolutely hate the idea of carrying only two QBs on the active roster. Risk versus reward makes this a bad trend, or at least in my opinion. What if Pat gets picked up and Moore gets hurt? It is not an unrealistic scenario.  Since the typical fan gets very little or no news, one can only guess. I would love to see him make the roster this year and get some playing time.

Next we move to the recently signed J.P. Losman. J.P., or Jonathon Paul was the 22nd overall draft pick by the Buffalo Bills in the 2004 draft. Five years later he was playing for the Las Vegas Locomotives. Who?? J.P. has also spent time in Oakland and Seattle.  Jonathon has a lifetime NFL completion rating of 59.3 and an overall rating of 75.6. In other words, a “backup for lifer.” However, apparently the “brain-trust” and our expert QB coach believes the 8 year pro is a better option than giving Pat Devlin an opportunity (insert facetiousness here) .

There are two other options that I see. One is to try and sign an established FA quarterback next year. Is this really a viable option? NO!

The other option is to draft a QB in the first round. Now, there is a thought!! Gee, it has been 28 years since they drafted a QB in the first round and that turned out pretty decent (all grins). Let me put it this way. IF THE FINS DO NOT DRAFT A QB IN THE FIRST ROUND IN THE NEXT DRAFT, I WILL HAVE LOST ALL FAITH IN THIS FRANCHISE. I am over it! The time is right. Even if the Fins manage to win a couple of games and don’t have the overall 1st pick, there is other very good to excellent quarterbacks out there not named Andrew Luck.

There are the most likely viable 2012 quarterback options as I see them, although there are more possibilities.

Note to all: I attempted to simplify the previous poll answers, but were unable to with the current software. My only options were to leave them. as confusing as they were, or to replace them with a new poll. I chose the later. I apologize for the inconvenience and ask that you please vote again.

Fins4ever!~