DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum The six quarterbacks least likely to succeed.

We recently debated the best quarterback to have if you needed to win only one game. And of course, I dominated the conversation as always with my selection of Joe Flacco because ... playoffs. I don't get how people get so out of their crust with this stuff, because it's a pretty easy case to make for Flacco based on the numbers.

But talking about the best isn't always my style. It's time to talk about the worst. As in the worst quarterback to have if you need to win only one game.

So let's look around the league, join the debate club and find the six quarterbacks least likely to succeed. But first, a couple of parameters.

He must be the presumed starting quarterback for 2013. Or at least at the start. So no Geno Smith or EJ Manuel. And he has to be current. So Dieter Brock is immediately eliminated.

And you know my feelings on Peyton Manning. But even with his shoddy playoff record, he's not going to make this list. Because no trolling. And before you run to the comment section to list Tony Romo, show me the same courtesy. Or so help me, Manning is going to the top of this list.

Savvy?

And without further ado ...


Mark Sanchez

This is really tough for me. Sanchez led the Jets to a pair of AFC Championship Games. And he receives absolutely no coaching. But based on current performance, Sanchez has to make the list here, even though it gives me no pleasure.



Brandon Weeden

There is a chance Weeden could come on this season. The Browns didn't draft a quarterback and they traded away Colt McCoy, so that is positive. But the team also signed Jason Campbell. So he's going to need to prove himself here to get off this list.


Jake Locker

He'd be great if he lined up against the Detroit Lions every week. But you take his Week 3 performance against the Lions away and his already pedestrian 2012 season looks a little worse. And then you have questions about his health, too.


Matt Flynn

If the one game is Week 17 against the Detroit Lions (I'm sensing a pattern here), then there is no doubt you want Flynn. But he failed to impress the Seahawks last year, despite his huge contract. A year with the Raiders might move him to No. 1.


Kevin Kolb

Well, it's hard to win a game if he's sitting on the bench for you. And it's hard to call Kolb a reliable quarterback. Did you know he's never finished a game he started? All right, I'm kidding. The mere fact you thought I was serious for a second proves my point, though.


Blaine Gabbert

Well the most telling thing about Gabbert is this; the best quarterback on the Jaguars right now is not Chad Henne, but rather a rookie who is being converted to running back, Denard Robinson. Oh Jacksonville.


Link

If ANYONE EVER put a future first ballot hall of famer Qb like a Peyton Manning on this list for ANY reason would be a troll himself anyway.
Now I don't think Romo should even be close to this list but if that is true...Manning would be light years away compared to the choke that Romo is.

My list...
1. Blaine Gabbert
2. Kevin Kolb
3. Jake locker
4. Brandon Weeden
5. Josh Freeman

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Kevin Kolb

Well, it's hard to win a game if he's sitting on the bench for you. And it's hard to call Kolb a reliable quarterback. Did you know he's never finished a game he started? All right, I'm kidding. The mere fact you thought I was serious for a second proves my point, though.

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Ok I am game but first...do I sense dislike for Manning?? and what is with the Romo? personally I can not stand Homo and Manning has shattered how many records? lol just a thought. These picks of mine are strictly based on my own personal feelings for them, not just stats. And I assume your one game is not a play off game or Homo would surely be at the top of my list...just saying. so for this is just for a regular season game

Ponder...just dont like him and think he does not have what it takes.

Stafford...how can you have Calvin Johnson to throw to and still not make the playoffs?

Gabbert...have seen nothing from this kid

Locker...again have not seen anything from him either

M Vick...sure he is fast but inaccurate and yea i see him losing lots this year.

C Palmer...his time has come and gone imo

my list is subject to change as I see fit lol
cheers from the dawgpound

My List: (and yes, I'll be a homer ....)

Mark Sanchez. Enough said, and enough seen from Mr Sanchez. He's not a good QB.

Kevin Kolb/EJ Manuel: Don't know if Kolb will start or not, but he disappointed to the nth degree and made several UDFA QBs look like viable options by comparison in Arizona. No reason to expect better from him in Buffalo. EJ Manuel could really use a year to learn before getting thrown into the fire. I don't know that Kolb will be able to give it to him.

Blaine Gabbert: Yeah, I know ........ how do you disappoint when you were probably the worst QB in the NFL?

Jake Locker: 3rd season in the NFL. He has never gotten above 60% of his passes. 10 TD to 11 INT last year was not an effective 2nd season for young Mr Locker. A 3rd like the first 2 and he'll be part of Titans history.

Jay Cutler: He has talent, but even when he has the pieces around him he seems to wind up as a fairly average type QB. He hasn't managed to complete even 60% of his passes in the past 2 seasons. He hasn't been a difference maker. I know that he's had OL issues. However, success for a guy like Cutler, on a team like the Bears, is a different standard ...... and going .500 or one game over isn't good enough.

Whoever starts in Philly: Will it be Michael Vick? Nick Foles? Matt Barely? The Shurminator is their OC, and he runs an offense that doesn't even slightly resemble the offense run by Chip Kelly in college. Shurmur really hasn't had great success developing QBs lately. Even Bradford in St Louis had a fairly average year under Shurmur, and really didn't get better until the Rams hired Fisher last year. What will the Philly offense look like? Which QB will fit it best? The Eagles have 3 very different QBs in Vick, Foles, and Barely. Which QB will the offense fit best? What happens if there is an injury? This should be an interesting one to watch.

Honorable Mentions:

Matthew Stafford: He had a really disappointing year last season, after setting the world on fire in 2011. If he has another season with 20 TD and 17 INT, especially with Calvin Johnson at WR, then that would be a real disappointment.

Tony Romo: This guy has to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. He is criticized relentlessly, and gets a massive new contract. Romo had a sub-par season last year. He threw 28 TD, but also 19 INT. The season before was 31/10. That's quite a drop off. Another season with almost 20 INT will be a rel disappointment for the Cowboys.

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But talking about the best isn't always my style. It's time to talk about the worst. As in the worst quarterback to have if you need to win only one game.

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Wouldn't these be lists of the best QBs to have if you wanted to win only one game?

I know I'm not following the rules, but oh well...

I'm surprised that Ponder isn't making more of people's lists. I'm even more surprised that Philip Rivers hasn't been mentioned at all.

1. Mark Sanchez - this guy just isn't a good quarterback. That's the long and the short of it. He rode the backs of an insane defense and running game his first couple seasons, but hasn't done anything since then. He's long past the point where young players "get it". Look for Geno Smith to get a start at some point this season.

2. Christian Ponder - Again, this guy just doesn't have the tools to be a starting NFL QB. Adrian Peterson will carry that offense again, but Ponder isn't doing them any good back there. He's still young enough in his career, though.

3. Philip Rivers - What happened to this guy? Yes, he's had terrible lines the past couple seasons, but still... His play has just dropped off a cliff. I see that trend continuing.

4. Alex Smith - He won't be terrible, but he won't be good, either. Another Matt Cassell/Brady Quinn QB for KC.

5. Can Newton - This is just a hunch, but I think that changing OCs and another season of pouting will start his downward slide.

There are a couple QBs I'd like to include in the last spot. Carson Palmer, Matt Flynn, Tannehill, and Gabbert. I can't really pick between those (maybe Gabbert gets the nod because of the talent around him).

I forgot all about Rivers, to be perfectly honest.

To answer the question of who I think are the six worst presumptive starting QBs:

1. Blaine Gabbert
2. Jake Locker
3. Mark Sanchez

4. Sam Bradford
5. Ryan Tannehill
6. Carson Palmer

I have a gap there on purpose... Those top/bottom 3 guys are in a league of their own.

I didn't include weeden because he was drafted into a system he never should have been considered for. Bradford and Tannehill were both in systems they should have been better prepared for than Weeden, and played just as poorly. JMO.

The supporting casts in St. Louis and Miami are both horrendous. Bradford also plays against some really tough defenses (Arizona, Seattle, San Francisco, etc). Point being that IMO, those guys' poor play doesn't fall on them all that much.

My list of starters who have played at least one year in the league (it doesn't have Sanchez on it because I believe Geno will start):

1. Gabbert
2. Locker
3. Weeden
4. Ponder (anyone who thinks he's decent makes blind judgements based on QB rating)
5. Flynn
6. Foles/Vick

Weeden and Locker will be vastly improved this season IMO, and will no longer be on this list.

One thing I'm noticing is that some people are ranking the worst starting QBs in the NFL (like I did) and others are ranking the QBs least likely to succeed, as the thread title suggests. In hindsight, I probably should have done that as opposed to doing what I did.

Also, I think I got sidetracked and misled by the link in the OP, as it ranks the worst starting QBs in the NFL instead of doing what its title claims it does. Oh well.

Well, who cares about what the author of the article intended? It makes more sense to list the 6 worst starting QBs.

6. Sanchez
5. Kolb
4. Ponder
3. Weeden
2. Flynn
1. Gabbert

If it's a strict ranking, then I would've put Weeden into my little "honorable mention" group at the end of my post. I think he's going to look much better this year. He's going to BE better playing under Norv, and he's going to have guys with an extra year of experience supporting him like Gordon (this is a big one, he needs to take a big step this season), a healthy Richardson, Benji and his new receivers.

That's why I left him off this list.