Drew Brees, the quarterback of the 0-2 Saints, could potentially miss his first game since 2003. Should his 184-game ironman streak come to an end, Luke McCown, a wholly uninspiring option, would play in his stead. Should New Orleans fall in Week 3, they will drop to three games behind the division-leading Panthers, so going it with a backup quarterback is nightmarish.
They are not the only team in a precarious position regarding their field general. The Cowboys have lost Tony Romo for at least eight weeks, and the Bears will be sans Jay Cutler for at least Week 3. The Lions could be missing Matthew Stafford this week, and the Browns have a full-blown QB controversy on their hands.
So which team has it worst?
New Orleans Saints: Drew Brees, Luke McCown, Garrett Grayson
Brees is easily the most prolific quarterback in this group of walking wounded. He has a bruised rotator cuff, meaning that even if he toughs it out –and he most likely will thanks to the Saints’ two-game losing streak – the Panthers won’t have to worry about many deep passes. That would be preferable to the wasteland behind Brees.
McCown is 34 years old, and has been in the NFL since 2004. He has played for five teams, made nine starts, gone 2-7 in those starts, and thrown five more interceptions (14) than touchdowns (nine). The fact that he is preferable to Garrett Grayson, a 2015 third-round pick out of Colorado State, means Grayson is extremely far from being game-ready. Sean Payton must pray that Brees can stick it out. Backups Grade: D
Dallas Cowboys: Brandon Weeden, Matt Cassel, Kellen Moore
Weeden came in after Romo broke his collarbone and went 7-for-7 with 79 yards and a touchdown pass to Terrance Williams. He is obviously the right guy to start in Week 3 because of his familiarity with Dallas’ offense. Cassel, however, might be the better option once he’s gotten some practices under his belt.
Cassel was beaten out by Tyrod Taylor in Bills camp this summer, and while that looked bad for him then, Taylor is proving that’s nothing to have been ashamed of. Whoever starts moving forward, the Cowboys are in better shape than the Saints if Brees misses time. Weeden and Cassel both represent big downgrades, but both are capable of operating NFL offenses. Backups Grade: C
Detroit Lions: Matthew Stafford, Dan Orlovsky
Stafford is expected to play, so fantasy owners investing in Calvin Johnson, Goldent Tate and Eric Ebron can exhale. That said, they don’t want to have to turn to Dan Orlovsky. This is Orlovsky’s second tenure with the Lions, and his numbers are fair for a player with a 2-10 career record. He’s thrown two more touchdowns (14) than picks (12) and completed 58 percent of his passes. He’s also famous for scrambling and being fully unaware of where the end zone ends.
Stay healthy Stafford. Backups Grade: C-
Cleveland Browns: Josh McCown, Johnny Manziel, Austin Davis
If you learn anything from this article, it’s not to draft anyone named McCown and hope for a starting-caliber quarterback. The Browns are moving along with McCown, who was concussed in Week 1 while making a typically bad decision to jump headfirst into the end zone with Jets defenders closing in.
Manziel was not great in his time filling in, but he did develop a nice rapport with deep threat Travis Benjamin, and may or may not be their quarterback of the future. Truly, if he can’t convince the Browns to start him over Josh McCown, who was 1-10 last season with the Buccaneers, he probably isn’t the franchise QB. But they’ll never find out for sure by letting him wear a headset while McCown throws the same interceptions he’d be chucking.
Davis may well be the best quarterback on the roster; he was 3-5 last year in eight starts for the Rams, and he managed 12 touchdown passes to arguably the worst receiving corps in football. Realistically, the Browns have three passable backup quarterbacks. Backups Grade: B
Chicago Bears: Jay Cutler, Jimmy Clausen, David Fales
Cutler is definitely out this week, and Jimmy Clausen is definitely going to be assaulted by the Seahawks in Seattle. The best – or worst – has been saved for last. He’s 1-10 in his career as a starter, and threw triple the amount of picks as touchdowns when he started 10 games as a rookie. He is easily one of the worst active quarterbacks in the NFL today.
Fales is behind hjm on the depth chart, so that is all that really needs to be said. Backups Grade: F
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