It's always best before you get to know them.

It’s the offseason, and for us here at TiT, that pretty much means we’re S.O.L as far as getting significant, interesting content, what with the free agency period winding down and the draft still a month away. Still, there have been some moves and rumors that have gotten our attention, particularly at this late phase in the free agency period. Most of all, a lot of them involve quarterbacks (obviously our favorite position to dissect) that we’ve been hoping to see with some more minutes under their belt for one reason or another. So, with that sorry excuse for an introduction, we thought we’d talk about four signal callers that we think deserve to see some action as starters this year, and why they excite our imaginations.

Quinn Gray

The dirty little secret of the Jacksonville Jaguars is that Jack Del Rio managed to groom not one, but two new school athletic quarterbacks. Everybody knows that David Garrard was that dude in the AFC South, but fewer people seem to have noticed that for a very important three game stretch in which he led the Jags to 2-1, Quinn Gray learned to walk like a man. With arm strength for every point on the field and the same tricky combination of size and speed that made Garrard such a problem for defenses, Gray started to come into his own in his third year in the League. For those of you keeping score, David Garrard didn’t get his first shot as a legitimate starter until year four, and didn’t bloom until year five. More interestingly, Gray has a petulance to his game that Garrard, the epitome of quiet poise and low key swagger, never showed. The throws were hotter, the movements were a little less planned, and everything seemed designed to show off for the doubters. One can only imagine that being released by the squad he helped get to the playoffs will make that fire burn a little more intensely. With the word being that he’s destined to wind up on the Texans, a team that has anything but settled its quarterback issues (Matt Schaub is good, but let’s see him put a season together), Gray could find himself with the opportunity to turn the Jack Del Rio gospel of athletic quarterbacks against its maker. He looks like just the kind of chip-on-your-shoulder loving player for the job.

Troy Smith

Granted, I’m kind of absurdly on the kid’s bandwagon, but would somebody tell me why the hell Baltimore needs a quarterback right here, right now? First of all, this team has plenty of other needs that are much more pressing (the defense is getting creaky, they’re losing an elite left tackle, and I read their receivers lineup to help myself go to sleep sometimes). Second, DID EVERYONE FORGET THAT TROY SMITH WON A HEISMAN AND THREW FOR A TON OF YARDS ON AN OFFENSE THAT IS DESIGNED LIKE A PRO SYSTEM?!?!? Mark my words, if Troy Smith were white, he’d have been given the starters job in week 10. Instead, Baltimore got four additional weeks of Boller Ball. There should have been an episode of The Wire based on murders that occurred as a result of watching Kyle Boller as the Ravens starter. Now pay attention to this: In four games as a rookie, Smith posted an QB rating of 79.5 (about average), threw two touchdowns, no interceptions, and rushed for 54 yards on 12 attempts. Not too shabby for a kid thrust into an no-win situation. So, rather than blowing a first or second round pick on Brian Brohm (AKA “Kyle Boller 2: Electric Boogaloo”), I’m hoping that the Ravens give the signal calling duties to a game tested second year quarterback with a cannon for an arm, breakaway speed, and a penchant for throwing on the run.

Aaron Rodgers

While we’re talking about dumb draft ideas, I recently read a mock draft that had the Packers taking Joe Flacco in the first round. First of all, I’m not sure there’s a better way to sink the battleship of Aaron Rodgers’s confidence, unless they put “Not Favre” on the back of his jersey. Second, doing so would put more unfair pressure on what I think may have been the best kept secret in the NFL for the last three years. Just remember this: There’s a reason that the Packers took this guy in the first round in 2005, and there’s a reason they’ve kept him around all these years. The way some people have labeled Rodgers a bust for the simple fact that he hasn’t gotten a lot of playing time, you’d think that he was sitting behind Elvis Grbac and not one of the iconic quarterbacks in football history. So I’m hoping that behind the “golly gee, please don’t think I’m Brett because I’m not,” there’s a little bitterness that will get slung around the field. Yeah, he’s not Brett; he’s younger, quicker, and he threw a better game against great competition that Favre was throwing after Favre left with an injury. He showed solid arm strength (no Brett Favre freakishness, but the ability to make all the throws), a knack for finding the open man, and the kind of poise that comes from spending three years learning instead of rushing in and getting your head handed to you. Get in the Rodge Lodge, people, or get left behind when the next era of Green Bay quarterbacking is well on its way to another NFC North championship.


J.P. Losman

If there is such a thing as football karma, the Buffalo Bills guaranteed themselves at least five seasons of ruination with the demotion of J.P. Losman to backup, because they broke one of the unspoken rules of football rosters: You can’t lose your job to injury. Nevertheless, when Losman went down in week three with an injury, the Bills plugged Trent Edwards in the starters spot and never looked back. This after a 2006 season in which Losman threw for over 3000 yards and emerged as one of the best deep ball quarterbacks in the league. Maybe I’m partial to Losman’s unique combination of physical talent, arm strength and accuracy, and palpable sense of panic every time he takes a snap. Maybe I’m just dead set against the dink and dunk machinations of quarterbacks like Edwards. Whatever the reason, I’m really hoping that something happens to get Losman under center as a starter again. If Lee Evans hadn’t fallen asleep and the Bills had the common sense to get Roscoe Parrish working downfield (making him the slot guy is like using a Playboy as toilet paper), Losman’s arm could have been the perfect compliment to Marshawn Lynch’s development as the AFC’s version of a way more fun to listen to Adrian Peterson. Personally, I’m hoping that some team with a hole at QB and a mid round pick to spare (cough…BEARS/VIKINGS/LIONS…cough) takes a chance on the most exciting set of wheels on a white guy under center in the league.