With the upcoming 2007 NFL season several quarterbacks have put themselves in a very difficult predicament with their team, the fans and even themselves. In essence they have painted themselves into a corner. They either needs to have personal best years statically, take their team to the big dance (Super Bowl) or simply make some noise in the playoffs. If none of these are accomplished you may find many of them looking for a new team or contemplating retirement. The nominees are:

1)      Brett Favre – General Manager Ted Thompson has meticulously crafted a fairly talented group of receivers and offensive lineman the past couple of years to give Brett the best possible chance to succeed in recent memory. In addition a solid defense could provide him the game clinching ability that he has not had since the 2003 season. IF Bret does not led the team to the playoffs he will retire.

2)      Ben Roethlisberger- Having had a disaster of a season statistically last year, only winning a handful of games, and potentially beginning to show signs of durability problems. If he does not lead the team to the playoffs this coming season or he throws more interceptions than touchdowns in the first 8 games, don’t be surprised if Ben is benched and trade rumors start circulating.

3)      Eli Manning – He has got the biggest mountain to climb among all the other quarterbacks of the group. Having under achieved the last 3 seasons by never making it past the first round of the playoffs and lacking the ability to finish each season strong Eli has really put himself in a sudden death scenario. The Giants possess a very talented receiving corp with a decent running game and a capable defense. If Eli doesn’t lead New York to a first round win or a NFC Championship birth, he could end up being unemployed come March 2008.

4)      JP Losman – Each season I seem to have the same reaction when I see JP is the starting quarterback of the Buffalo Bills, I always shake my head in disbelief. Having never won a game against a viable defense, nor ever able to produce a QB rating higher than his teams winning percentage each season, JP must take the Bills to the playoffs or he will find himself in the back seat for the rest of his career.

5)      Rex Grossman – With having probably the most talented receiving corp in the NFL, second to only New England, and having the best overall defense to protect any lead, there is no reason why the Rex leads the Chicago Bears back to the Super Bowl. However, if he ends up throwing more interceptions than touchdown passes and does not advance past the NFC Championship game, Grossman will need to start getting advice from Eric Couch how to prepare for life after football.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2007 at 11:55 pm and is filed under Discussion, Offense, Opinions, Quarterbacks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.