Peterson Vs. Pollard: The Search For A Chiefs Franchise Quarterback

Meant seventh round for Thigpen, not second.*

Joe Montana is not a "Rent-A-QB" by ANY standards. He's one of the best in the history of the game. Yeah, he only played with us for 2 years but he was old. He retired. And he still took us farther than any QB has since.. who? Len Dawson?

As for Trent Green, you cannot call a six-year starter a "Rent-A-QB". That doesn't even almost make sense, Adam. He had 3 consecutive 4,000-yard seasons during his tenure with the Chiefs and quarterbacked one of the best offenses in the league at the time. Until the concussion, Trent Green was our guy.

Tyler Thigpen was a high school running back who was drafted in the second round out of Coastal Carolina. He didn't win much, but he lost several VERY close games with the league's 31st ranked defense. He's the only thing that gave our offense life during the Herm Edwards era and is still a fan-favorite. Notice that he's still on the team when he probably would have had some trade value this season? That's because he's probably still gonna see a good bit of playing time as a wildcat QB. With the innovative offensive minds of Chan Gailey and Todd Haley working on the same sideline, and the wildcat apparently being the wave of the future, you can bet on it.

Some of the crap written in this article is so off that if I didn't have such high hopes for Matt Cassel as a franchise QB I would almost hope for him to fail just so you would feel dumb for writing it.

As it is, I hope Matt Cassel develops into a top quarterback. The thing is, however, that we have NO IDEA how Matt Cassel will do away from the Patriots. He might be HORRIBLE. Yet another reason this article is so so soooo wrong.

Coastal Carolina University. Ever heard of it? Thats where Tyler Thigpen came from. He was a 7th round pick who ended up on a practice squad before we made him a back up to a back up. When both of those guys got hurt he got thrown into the mix with a weak offensive line and Tony G to throw to.

He didn't play on defense either. The D actually had more effect on not winning that Tyler had. To label him a bust is ridiculous. Not being able to prevent 1st downs and a terrible red zone efficiency of the D gave away games.

I can't imagine a harder scenario to step into and become a success. I feel he played way above what could be reasonably expected Division 1-AA QB almost not drafted and almost lost to the ranks of practice squad pergatory.

Hilarious... yet a very painful past.

Bowefan:

You are right on about DeBerg. He was an example of a guy who grew into being a good QB. He was smart and maximized his talent.

I used to love to watch DeBerg play he (at the time) was a good QB.
Nobody in the NFL could hide the football like he did.
I know I will get called names for this one but I thought the guy was awesome!

How can a 7th round pick from a small school be labeled a bust?

Thigpen has only been playing 1 year..And I think he exceeded EVERYONES expectations whether you like him or not..You forget he's only 25 with a whole career ahead of him..

Your 100% over exagerating labeling him a bust..Come now..

And you can't blame trent green for not winning a playoff game..

I actually thought Bono got some bad breaks in terms of playcalling and how the offense was built. Definitely wasn't much good in his return from injury, but Marty's grasp of the West Coast and the personnel it needed was generally poor. At least he gave Joe Montana a left tackle.

Give Adam a break. He had to call Cassel a frinchise quarterback, Green a rent-a-quarterback, and Thigpen a bust. If he waffles on one of these three guys the article doesn't work.

Seriously though, I agree that Thigpen is a back-up, not a bust. His accuracy was terrible last year. In fact I'm pretty sure it got worse as the season went along. You can't teach a guy to be accurate. Also, he had several chances to lead the team to a win last year. He always seemed to lose confidence when the offense needed him to carry them. That being said, I love watching the guy. And I think his athleticism will allow him to be successful in most back-up type situations.

The return of Adam Best! Now this place is starting to remind me of what it used to be!

I feel the need to re-iterate my comment in the "Rave Reviews" section on the left side bar.

Excellent work Adam.

I agree on thigpen, but only labeled as a backup QB

thats what he is. He had tony G, a spread offense, and completed 54 percent of his passes....that is terrible...made some plays, thats great, but hes a backup, hes not a leader, he proved that.

Cassel has shown the complete opposite. He had a high completion percentage. He can also run, but chooses his time to run, he can move then throw, and can hit a guy deep.

Thigpen cannot hit a guy deep, usually it was at their feet. He also settled for the run instead of throwing on the run.

We will see this season, but Cassel will complete passes at a higher percentage, without tony G.

Now thats an excellent point, if we cant protect our qb, Matt will probably sit until we get better protection. So at that point it would go to Thiggy or my pick Vick.

Steve DeBerg was actually the incumbent when Carl Peterson hit town. At least that's what me and the old man thought while running down the research.

Come on Adam. Thiggy a bust? Why so much hate??

Let's go there.

Thigpen was stolen from the Viking's practice squad and somehow ended up being an NFL starter. He was for all intents and purposes an undrafted rookie QB who showed flashes of brilliance despite having no running game, no OL, and only a couple of double/triple-teamed weapons at his disposal. Take away his first and final (which I'm sure we all can agree was meaningless) game, and you'll find his stats last year were better than most QBs in the league. Thigpen, as a raw prospect, showed he was good enough to win a few games that were ultimately lost either by our defense and/or Bowe and/or special teams.

"Bust" is the term you give a highly-touted early rounder who flops after 2-3 seasons. By your definition Troy Aikman (1-15 in his first season) was a massive bust.

Merlin makes a fine point about the fact that the Chiefs still have yet to draft and develop a franchise QB. Let's hope that's something we don't have to worry about for several years?

If, like last year, our OL does not protect our #1 QB, then we may very well have not heard the last of Tyler Thigpen. And on the subject of our OL, are you of the belief it is significantly different from what we had last year?

Merlin I think there is quite a bit of support for the statement that Cassel is a franchise qb and he is proven in my opinion so I certainly think you can go there now. Thiggy has done nothing for us so I think he is a bust. Your statement about Carl is right on I think he did so much for the Chiefs as far as creating the Arrowhead experience. But there are huge gaps in what he did for us in other very important areas.

Adam:

You forgot about Steve DeBerg. Trent Green was more than a rent a QB. Now I know you are back Adam. The insanity is starting. Elvis Grbac was a stud backup (true) and yet you have crowned Cassel as a franchize QB because he was 'Labeled as a franchise QB and future stud by most experts and pundits" Forget the pundits part, what experts labeled him that outside of the Best family and the Bellichik coaching tree? I hope you are right on Cassel, but you can not go there now. Thiggy is now a bust? Oh please. Talk about premature conclusions!!!!!

Oh, here is another bit of infomation. Franchise QB's drafted and developed by the Chiefs in their entire history? Zero. Matt Blundin had a shot, but Marty ruined him, not Carl. Let's get off the Carl bashing. He did well for us, stayed too long and is gone.

I forgot about Jaws. I havent decided if Peterson thought the answer was within the Eagles organization or just an old friend kind of thing bringing all those guys over. Dick, Herm, Wilbert, probably missing some. Probably a combo of the two.

I enjoyed this! Brought back some fond memories. Kind of like my root canal