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Successful Backup QBs w/ new teams? (1 Viewer)

eNdblu

eNdblu

Footballguy
Watching the hot garbage that is Osweiller got me thinking... How many times has a backup QB gone on to be a success with a new team?

The main one that comes to mind is Matt Hasselback. He was pretty good in SEA after his stint in GB, aside from his "I want the ball and I'm gonna win" INT against GB in the playoffs.

Matt Schaub had some success after leaving Atlanta. Nothing amazing, but he was a long time starter...

Tyrod Taylor has done well since leaving BAL and signing with BUF.

Who else is there? Why do teams waste all this money on other teams backup QBs? I'm sure the list of crap QBs is massive.

If there's another thread with a similar topic, apologies. 

 
Scott Mitchell with the Detroit Lions in the 1990s. He had one really good season (1995) and 3 bad seasons. He had a lot of help in 1995 from guys named Barry, Herman Moore, Brett Perriman and Johnny Morton. He took them to the playoffs twice, so maybe he was worth the signing.  

 
Jake Delhomme

Trent Green was a backup/practice squad guy for 5 years before finally getting a shot somewhere.

Steve Bono and Elvis Grbac had one or two good years as starters.

 
Alex Smith, sort of qualifies. 

Favre was the first that came to mind.  

Elvis grbac had a couple of good years in Kansas city. 

Steve Young, but he started a year for Tampa before leaving 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
imjackdupp said:
Matt Flynn.           He became pretty successful. He was horrible at fb though. 
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No he didn't. He got signed by Seattle and lost the job to a rookie before the season even started (the rookie was Russell Wilson, but still). Then he went to Oakland and couldn't crack the line-up there. He finally went back to GB and started a couple games when Rodgers was hurt, with middling results.

You sure you're not thinking of Matt Cassel? Led the Pats to 11-5 after Brady got hurt, parlayed that into a FA deal with KC, managed to lead them to the playoffs, but as you say, was horrible at football.

 
SoBeDad said:
Scott Mitchell with the Detroit Lions in the 1990s. He had one really good season (1995) and 3 bad seasons. He had a lot of help in 1995 from guys named Barry, Herman Moore, Brett Perriman and Johnny Morton. He took them to the playoffs twice, so maybe he was worth the signing.  
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That's so funny. I'm a Lions fan and had totally forgotten that Mitchell led them to the playoffs in '95. His stats that year (4,300/32/12) would be impressive today, much less 20 years ago when teams threw a lot less.

I was living abroad that year, so maybe that explains it, but I just always remembered Mitchell as being a complete bust. And to be fair, he otherwise was. In his other seasons as Lions starter, he had a TD/INT ratio of 46/44 and never cracked 80 in passer rating.

I always think of him as the poster child for "Don't overinvest in an unproven FA backup who has one good season in a high-powered system." Yet judged by Cassel, Flynn and now Osweiler, teams continue to ignore that lesson.

 
zftcg said:
No he didn't. He got signed by Seattle and lost the job to a rookie before the season even started (the rookie was Russell Wilson, but still). Then he went to Oakland and couldn't crack the line-up there. He finally went back to GB and started a couple games when Rodgers was hurt, with middling results.

You sure you're not thinking of Matt Cassel? Led the Pats to 11-5 after Brady got hurt, parlayed that into a FA deal with KC, managed to lead them to the playoffs, but as you say, was horrible at football.
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He made $19 million dollars and only started 7 games I'd say that's pretty successful. Sorry but it was just an attempt at humor. Obviously not a very good one.

 
Some of these are just veterans who changed teams. That happens all the time. The scenario that never seems to work out, though, is the backup who parlays a single (or even partial) decent season into a big FA contract and then disappoints to the point where people are like, "Wait, how did they ever think that was going to work out?" It's really amazing that teams keep making the same mistake, especially given how few positive examples there are.

 
zftcg said:
Some of these are just veterans who changed teams. That happens all the time. The scenario that never seems to work out, though, is the backup who parlays a single (or even partial) decent season into a big FA contract and then disappoints to the point where people are like, "Wait, how did they ever think that was going to work out?" It's really amazing that teams keep making the same mistake, especially given how few positive examples there are.
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Not all that different than taking a qb high on the draft out of need instead of real talent.  

 
Kurt Warner might as well been a backup qb. guy was packing groceries for cryin out loud...

there are a lot of good examples of this. I think the OP was more referring to qbs who spend 3-4 years as are backup and then arrested signed as the starter on their next team and are successful as a long term answer. I'm not sure Favre, Young, qualify for that. 

nor do I think guys who had maybe one good season are good examples either

 
FUBAR said:
Not all that different than taking a qb high on the draft out of need instead of real talent.  
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Good point. What's the line about the triumph of hope over experience? These teams are so desperate for a QB they convince themselves hat whoever is available is the answer, be it a rookie like Locker, Bortles or Weeden or a FA like Osweiler, Cassel or Mitchell. Then again, I thought that's what the Eagles were doing with Wentz, so maybe that will end up being a counter example  

Related mistake (let's call it the Laurent Robinson Fallacy): guy signed off the WW has a breakout season, then gets a big FA contract from a team that, a few months earlier, had determined he wasn't worth signing for the minimum. You'd think maybe the takeaway would be they should try to find the next WW gem, but no, they insist on overpaying the last one. 

 
Dr. Brew said:
Kurt Warner might as well been a backup qb. guy was packing groceries for cryin out loud...

there are a lot of good examples of this. I think the OP was more referring to qbs who spend 3-4 years as are backup and then arrested signed as the starter on their next team and are successful as a long term answer. I'm not sure Favre, Young, qualify for that. 

nor do I think guys who had maybe one good season are good examples either
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Yup!  This is basically what I was trying to ask in my post.  

Jake Delhomme was a good one to bring up by @[scooter]!  5 years as a backup in New Orleans and then a long time starter for Carolina.

 
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