2019 Packer Roster / Practice Squad Changes

[greengold]

Hundley for Rodgers....Kizer for Rodgers....TJ Rubley for Favre...

Sure, anything can happen, but if you want to rely on the luck of having an UDFA second year QB out of an FCS school, coming in and playing well, I will take the other side of that bet anytime and day.

EDIT: This isn't saying that I don't think Tim Boyle could eventually develop into an NFL QB, but at this time, I just don't see him being ready. The Packers obviously disagree or have a ton of faith in Rodgers staying healthy.

I didn’t say relying on luck. “Making your own luck” carries a different context entirely. It takes work, study, personal interviews, visits to scout, enormous resources, plus dedication, discernment & experience.

Many, not saying you yourself, complain when a player starting, backing up an important starter, isn’t an experienced starting caliber player. Makes me laugh.

No team has sure starters at every position nor back up. That’s the NFL. Gotta do your homework as best you can at every position.

If I say I trust these guys in GB, are you going to turn around and tell me “you can’t just blindly trust...”. Get it?

C’mon man.

 

[gbgary]

This isn't saying that I don't think Tim Boyle could eventually develop into an NFL QB, but at this time, I just don't see him being ready. The Packers obviously disagree or have a ton of faith in Rodgers staying healthy.

idk...he seems ready to me. has lots of poise under pressure. pretty good arm too. touch. i think he could hang in a pinch.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

I didn’t say relying on luck. “Making your own luck” carries a different context entirely. It takes work, study, personal interviews, visits to scout, enormous resources, plus dedication, discernment & experience.

Many, not saying you yourself, complain when a player starting, backing up an important starter, isn’t an experienced starting caliber player. Makes me laugh.

No team has sure starters at every position nor back up. That’s the NFL. Gotta do your homework as best you can at every position.

If I say I trust these guys in GB, are you going to turn around and tell me “you can’t just blindly trust...”. Get it?

C’mon man.

Frame it anyway that makes you feel good, but look around the league and tell me how many teams have a #2 Backup QB that is a 2nd year UDFA out of the FCS that hasn't taken a snap in an NFL game. Guessing there are few teams if any, that even have a #2 QB that hasn't taken a snap, besides maybe a QB taken high in the draft. Patriots with Stidham backing up Brady is the only one that comes to mind.

Then we can talk about relying on luck and making your own luck.

Also, there is a big difference in regards to the QB position and the other 21 positions. While I wouldn't be all that excited about any of those 21 positions have a #2 guy with no snaps in an NFL game, I wouldn't worry as much about how it could impact a game, a season.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

idk...he seems ready to me. has lots of poise under pressure. pretty good arm too. touch. i think he could hang in a pinch.

Are we taking about Hundley or Kizer?

 

[greengold]

Frame it anyway that makes you feel good, but look around the league and tell me how many teams have a #2 Backup QB that is a 2nd year UDFA out of the FCS that hasn't taken a snap in an NFL game. Guessing there are few teams if any, that even have a #2 QB that hasn't taken a snap, besides maybe a QB taken high in the draft. Patriots with Stidham backing up Brady is the only one that comes to mind.

Then we can talk about relying on luck and making your own luck.

Also, there is a big difference in regards to the QB position and the other 21 positions. While I wouldn't be all that excited about any of those 21 positions have a #2 guy with no snaps in an NFL game, I wouldn't worry as much about how it could impact a game, a season.

I guess we can’t. I tried to. You mischaracterized my statement at my expense. Correct? Why do that?

 

[sschind]

Yup and we probably kept 5 or so guys on the 53 that would have made it to the Packers Practice Squad safely as well. While I would never say "no way that guy gets to the PS", I for one thought Lazard would be a tough slide to the PS, but I think not playing in the final game might have helped there. Also, he might be one of the first guys we see leave the PS, whether that is to take a place on the Packer roster or another teams roster, who knows.

I have often wondered how teams scout other teams and to what extent during the preseason. There are 90+ guys for each team over the preseason period. Which sounds like a lot of guys, but college scouting has a lot of players to look at too.

For the most part these guys were on your 90 man roster because you liked them more than you liked the guys on the other teams 90 man rosters (other than the starters that is) You had a chance to sign them all from the start and these were the ones you chose. Its not a surprise that most PS guys are guys that were on your own 90. I'm sure most teams are that way.

I'm not saying these guys are better but after an offseason you know a lot more about them than you do everyone else.

 

[GleefulGary]

Frame it anyway that makes you feel good, but look around the league and tell me how many teams have a #2 Backup QB that is a 2nd year UDFA out of the FCS that hasn't taken a snap in an NFL game. Guessing there are few teams if any, that even have a #2 QB that hasn't taken a snap, besides maybe a QB taken high in the draft. Patriots with Stidham backing up Brady is the only one that comes to mind.

Then we can talk about relying on luck and making your own luck.

Also, there is a big difference in regards to the QB position and the other 21 positions. While I wouldn't be all that excited about any of those 21 positions have a #2 guy with no snaps in an NFL game, I wouldn't worry as much about how it could impact a game, a season.

Who cares where they came from or how they started? Our prior backup was a high 2nd round pick from a major program that started an entire season in the NFL. Does that automatically make him better than an UDFA from the FCS? Obviously, it does not.

I'm not saying Boyle is great. I don't even know if he's good. Neither do you. And quite frankly, I don't give a rats *** how many other teams have an UDFA FCS QB as their backup. Sometimes players like that work out (Tony Romo, Kurt Warner), and usually they don't. MOST QB's that are drafted flat out don't work. So whether it's an UDFA from the FCS, or former first round pick from a major program, I don't really care. At least Boyle has shown that he'll try things downfield. Better than some Checkdown Charlie. Similar to Nick Mullens, who wasn't drafted either. He's willing to throw downfield. He did alright as a rookie, btw.

The coaches know more than you and I. At some point, we just have to trust they know what they're doing. Or at least, that's what I'm doing. You do you.

 

[sschind]

I didn’t say relying on luck. “Making your own luck” carries a different context entirely. It takes work, study, personal interviews, visits to scout, enormous resources, plus dedication, discernment & experience.

Many, not saying you yourself, complain when a player starting, backing up an important starter, isn’t an experienced starting caliber player. Makes me laugh.

No team has sure starters at every position nor back up. That’s the NFL. Gotta do your homework as best you can at every position.

If I say I trust these guys in GB, are you going to turn around and tell me “you can’t just blindly trust...”. Get it?

C’mon man.

The problem with relying on Luck is he might retire forcing you to spend money on Brian Hoyer.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

You know, sometimes you make your own luck too. Look at Brady coming in for Bledsoe...

I guess we can’t. I tried to. You mischaracterized my statement at my expense. Correct? Why do that?

How did I "mischaracterize" your statements? You said sometimes you make your own luck and then pull out one of the most extreme examples, Tom Brady, to try and prove your point. Like I said, if you want to frame Boyle being our #2 in the same light as Brady was for the Patriots, I am not going to try and change your mind. But I am sticking to my opinion that the Packers will need a lot of luck if Boyle is pressed into full time duty and I am basing that opinion on "the norm" of what has happened in the history of the NFL and very recently with 2 QB's who were both regarded as better QB's coming out of college than Boyle was.

Don't be offended because I didn't agree with your point of view or the rationale of how you arrived to it.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Who cares where they came from or how they started? Our prior backup was a high 2nd round pick from a major program that started an entire season in the NFL. Does that automatically make him better than an UDFA from the FCS? Obviously, it does not.

Then why have a draft? You seriously think that a 2nd year UDFA QB out of the FCS has an equal chance of success over a QB that was taken high in the draft from a major college program?

Of course the coaches know more than us and given they left themselves with 2 options, Kizer or Boyle, isn't telling me Boyle is great, its telling me that for reasons we may never know, he was the best choice of the 2.

Again, I hope I am wrong about Boyle, but even if I am, seems pretty risky to start the season with him as your #2 for all the reasons I have already stated.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

For the most part these guys were on your 90 man roster because you liked them more than you liked the guys on the other teams 90 man rosters (other than the starters that is) You had a chance to sign them all from the start and these were the ones you chose. Its not a surprise that most PS guys are guys that were on your own 90. I'm sure most teams are that way.

I'm not saying these guys are better but after an offseason you know a lot more about them than you do everyone else.

You and I are usually on the same page, but the Packers 90 never fully consists of guys they liked better than other teams 90's, it consiss of guys carried over from last year and guys they were able to sign since. Other than players that are drafted by a team or traded to a team, players all had choices to sign with the Packers or another team. There are probably a lot of guys out there that Gute would have loved to have signed, but another team beat him to it, outbid him or the player just chose the other team over the Packers. This includes UDFA rookies.

So I wouldn't say that the 90 players we had were guys we specifically liked more than guys on other teams 90, it was just the way things shook out over time.

 

[Mondio]

Then why have a draft? You seriously think that a 2nd year UDFA QB out of the FCS has an equal chance of success over a QB that was taken high in the draft from a major college program?

Of course the coaches know more than us and given they left themselves with 2 options, Kizer or Boyle, isn't telling me Boyle is great, its telling me that for reasons we may never know, he was the best choice of the 2.

Again, I hope I am wrong about Boyle, but even if I am, seems pretty risky to start the season with him as your #2 for all the reasons I have already stated.

Any QB is going to be a risk heading into the season as #2 right now. Even Hoyer.

 

[Favre>Rodgers259]

I personally feel we're reading into this too much. I know sometimes it's easy to get sucked down that rabbit hole, that the coaches and front office have these under the surface analytics that someone from the outside looking in would typically miss but to me this isn't one of those moments. Why can't it just be that Boyle won the competition fair and square.

Gute scouted Kizer as a rookie coming out of ND; he couldn't get him in the draft so he seized the opportunity in a trade with the Browns.

Prior to his rise to GM, Gute was an east coast scout. Could he have noticed Boyle at Connecticut? Maybe. He later shifted to the Southeast, where it's more than likely he definitely noticed him at Eastern Kentucky.

So he did what most GMs often do and bet on "his guys" that he might find success. Grabbed Kizer, grabbed Boyle.

I think we all agree that Boyle definitely showed potential last year. Kizer looked middling at best but he had the experience from the Browns so that insulated him.

And then 2019 happened. Kizer looked slightly better at best, but Boyle looked vastly improved; hence his 112.8 passer rating in the preseason.

Gute has went on record saying that he thought Boyle had the better preseason(the stat line definitely says he did); and to me it's as simple as that. Gute consulted with MLF on if he was comfortable with Boyle and he say he was, and then he made one of his best moves as a GM and cut Kizer(and Moore). In the Ted Thompson era Kizer probably would have hung around for another 2 years minimum

Yea he's never taken a snap in the regular season....yea he's an UDFA from an FCS school....but he beat out a guy who almost went in the 1st Round from one of the best college programs in the nation, who already had a full year of starting NFL experience.

Can we at least try to get behind the guy before he ever attempts a pass? He's got my vote.

 

[GleefulGary]

Then why have a draft? You seriously think that a 2nd year UDFA QB out of the FCS has an equal chance of success over a QB that was taken high in the draft from a major college program?

Of course the coaches know more than us and given they left themselves with 2 options, Kizer or Boyle, isn't telling me Boyle is great, its telling me that for reasons we may never know, he was the best choice of the 2.

Again, I hope I am wrong about Boyle, but even if I am, seems pretty risky to start the season with him as your #2 for all the reasons I have already stated.

Did I say that an UDFA FCS player has as much of a chance as a high pick? No, I did not. Read what I said, don't make things up.

I've said my opinion before. There aren't 32 starting caliber QB's in the NFL. Even Hoyer, is a mediocre QB. If Rodgers gets hurt, we're screwed, and there aren't any backup QB's available that would want to come here, that would fix that. Furthermore, spending that kind of money while spending all of that on Rodgers isn't how you build a team around Rodgers.

Do I wish we had a better backup QB? Absolutely. Am I worried about our backup QB? Nope. Because quite frankly, it hardly matters. The goal is to win a SB. We can with Rodgers, we cannot without him. No backup is changing that.

 

[sschind]

You and I are usually on the same page, but the Packers 90 never fully consists of guys they liked better than other teams 90's, it consiss of guys carried over from last year and guys they were able to sign since. Other than players that are drafted by a team or traded to a team, players all had choices to sign with the Packers or another team. There are probably a lot of guys out there that Gute would have loved to have signed, but another team beat him to it, outbid him or the player just chose the other team over the Packers. This includes UDFA rookies.

So I wouldn't say that the 90 players we had were guys we specifically liked more than guys on other teams 90, it was just the way things shook out over time.

I knew someone would take it literally and I should have taken the time to address every possible argument.

No I am sure not every single guy on the 90 man roster would have been Gutes first choice over someone on another roster. I'm sure there are guys that Gute may have wanted who chose to sign somewhere else. You see evidence of that all the time when a team signs a guy who has just been released by another team. Other than draft choices however Gute had just as much opportunity to sign any player as any other team. If they want to go elsewhere there isn't much he can do about it.

For the most part though I believe practice squads for all teams are filled with players who have been within the organization for a reason. Those are the guys the GM ended up choosing and they are the guys he knows the best.

My point was that people should not be too surprised when guys slip through to the practice squad. Fans often have an over inflated sense of value for their own players thinking any other team would be glad to have them. As others have pointed out though most teams probably have very similar players who their GMs have a special fondness for.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Do I wish we had a better backup QB? Absolutely. Am I worried about our backup QB? Nope. Because quite frankly, it hardly matters. The goal is to win a SB. We can with Rodgers, we cannot without him. No backup is changing that.

Hey, I preach this all the time, "No Rodgers, no Playoffs", but that is with a scenario of "No Rodgers for an extended period of time." However, as I also have said countless times, if you are a team who thinks you have a legit shot at a Super Bowl, the difference could be one play, one quarter, one game. So if the Packers are truly a SB contender, I think a solid #2 QB is a better plan, for that moment when Rodgers is only knocked out of a game or a half or a quarter. I would want to see a Veteran QB trot in and finish a game. a game that very well might be the determining factory in making it to the SB.

So the notion of "The Packers can't win without Rodgers, no matter who the Number 2 is", isn't fully true and IMO a dangerous mindset if you truly are trying to win a SB.

 

[OldSchool101]

Well I guess we now have a pretty good indication of what it would have cost to sign QB Brian Hoyer.

Former #Patriots backup QB Brian Hoyer is signing with the #Colts, source said. It’s a 3-year deal worth $12M.

I know there would have been a few Packer fans shaking their heads at paying a backup $4M/year, but I wonder how many of those same posters will be shaking their heads if AR goes down and Boyle can't get the job done.

Somewhat expensive insurance, but I believe a guy that would have provided the Packers with a decent shot at coming in and putting up some W's if called on. I don't have that confidence in Tim Boyle.

I would’ve loved to get him for that, that’s cheap for a reliable veteran. It’s a very doable contract without huge risk exposure.
I wonder if we attempted to go after him?

 

[OldSchool101]

Hey, I preach this all the time, "No Rodgers, no Playoffs", but that is with a scenario of "No Rodgers for an extended period of time." However, as I also have said countless times, if you are a team who thinks you have a legit shot at a Super Bowl, the difference could be one play, one quarter, one game. So if the Packers are truly a SB contender, I think a solid #2 QB is a better plan, for that moment when Rodgers is only knocked out of a game or a half or a quarter. I would want to see a Veteran QB trot in and finish a game. a game that very well might be the determining factory in making it to the SB.

Right on. The idea is to have a QB that takes a 4-2 record team to 6-4 until the concussion protocol is served and beyond well established..

Or maybe a 10-5 team to a 10-6 record and a playoff birth, then a wildcard win, then the starter resumes...etc.. The backup doesn’t need carry the team to a SB, but should be able to give the team a decent shot if the Defense starts playing lights out etc..

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Any QB is going to be a risk heading into the season as #2 right now. Even Hoyer.

Not really sure what you mean by that. Are you saying every #2 QB is equal in risk of not playing well, thus they are all the same? Risk of what? Injury? Because if you are implying they are all the same risk as far as talent goes, I would strongly disagree.

I personally feel we're reading into this too much. I know sometimes it's easy to get sucked down that rabbit hole, that the coaches and front office have these under the surface analytics that someone from the outside looking in would typically miss but to me this isn't one of those moments. Why can't it just be that Boyle won the competition fair and square.

Gute scouted Kizer as a rookie coming out of ND; he couldn't get him in the draft so he seized the opportunity in a trade with the Browns.

Prior to his rise to GM, Gute was an east coast scout. Could he have noticed Boyle at Connecticut? Maybe. He later shifted to the Southeast, where it's more than likely he definitely noticed him at Eastern Kentucky.

So he did what most GMs often do and bet on "his guys" that he might find success. Grabbed Kizer, grabbed Boyle.

I think we all agree that Boyle definitely showed potential last year. Kizer looked middling at best but he had the experience from the Browns so that insulated him.

And then 2019 happened. Kizer looked slightly better at best, but Boyle looked vastly improved; hence his 112.8 passer rating in the preseason.

Gute has went on record saying that he thought Boyle had the better preseason(the stat line definitely says he did); and to me it's as simple as that. Gute consulted with MLF on if he was comfortable with Boyle and he say he was, and then he made one of his best moves as a GM and cut Kizer(and Moore). In the Ted Thompson era Kizer probably would have hung around for another 2 years minimum

Yea he's never taken a snap in the regular season....yea he's an UDFA from an FCS school....but he beat out a guy who almost went in the 1st Round from one of the best college programs in the nation, who already had a full year of starting NFL experience.

Can we at least try to get behind the guy before he ever attempts a pass? He's got my vote.

I'm not comparing Boyle to Kizer one iota here, I don't think either of them are legit #2 QB's. I was looking at having Boyle as your #2 VS someone like Hoyer. There are 21 teams where I would say we already know what their backups are capable of. Are any of them GREAT QB's no or at least not yet? But they are proven QB's. Going through the list, I found the other 11 teams to have either high 1st round picks as backups (Giants, Redskins, Patriots, Bengals). Only 8 teams, Packers, Steelers, Cardinals, Broncos, Jags, Vikings, Cowboys and Panthers have #2 QB's with very little NFL experience. With the Packers, Broncos (Allen) and the Jags (Minshew) the only 3 having guys with no NFL experience.

1. Cardinals: Hundley (hesitated to put him on this list)
2. Falcons: Matt Schaub
3. Ravens: Robert Griffin III
4. Bills: Matt Barkley
5. Bears: Chase Daniels
6. Browns: Drew Stanton
7. Lions: Josh Johnson
8. Texans: AJ McCarron
9. Colts: Brian Hoyer
10. Chiefs: Matt Moore
11. Chargers: Tyrod Taylor
12. Rams: Blake Bortles
13. Dolphins: Josh Rosen
14. Saints: Teddy Bridgewater
15. Jets: Trevor Siemian
16. Raiders: Mike Glennon
17. Eagles: Josh McCown
18. Seahawks: Geno Smith
19. 49'ers: Nick Mullens
20. Buccaneers: Blaine Gabbert
21. Titans: Ryan Tannehill

Now you can go through that list of 21 QB's and say "this guy sucks or that guy is a bum", but what do we really know about Boyle?

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Right on. The idea is to have a QB that takes a 4-2 record team to 6-4 until the concussion protocol is served and beyond well established..

Or maybe a 10-5 team to a 10-6 record and a playoff birth, then a wildcard win, then the starter resumes...etc.. The backup doesn’t need carry the team to a SB, but should be able to give the team a decent shot if the Defense starts playing lights out etc..

Exactly, glad someone gets it.

I mean I am all on board with saying "The Packers will only go as far as Rodgers can carry them". Because it is probably the truth right now, the rest of the team needs to get better for that not to be the case. As a Packer fan, I still think that Rodgers and the Packers are just THAT good to possibly make it to the SB. But if Rodgers carries the team to game #15, but can't carry a playoff bound team for a game or two after that because of a short term injury, I sure the hell am not that comfortable with a guy that has never taken an NFL snap being behind center trying to carry the team that last yard or two, before Rodgers is back, that is, if the Packers haven't already been eliminated because of their #2 QB.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

I wonder if we attempted to go after him?

Haven't heard, but we did try to snag him in 2017.

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/11...e-knew-about-team-trying-to-sign-brian-hoyer/

 

[GleefulGary]

Not really sure what you mean by that. Are you saying every #2 QB is equal in risk of not playing well, thus they are all the same? Risk of what? Injury? Because if you are implying they are all the same risk as far as talent goes, I would strongly disagree.



I'm not comparing Boyle to Kizer one iota here, I don't think either of them are legit #2 QB's. I was looking at having Boyle as your #2 VS someone like Hoyer. There are 21 teams where I would say we already know what their backups are capable of. Are any of them GREAT QB's no or at least not yet? But they are proven QB's. Going through the list, I found the other 11 teams to have either high 1st round picks as backups (Giants, Redskins, Patriots, Bengals). Only 8 teams, Packers, Steelers, Cardinals, Broncos, Jags, Vikings, Cowboys and Panthers have #2 QB's with very little NFL experience. With the Packers, Broncos (Allen) and the Jags (Minshew) the only 3 having guys with no NFL experience.

1. Cardinals: Hundley (hesitated to put him on this list)
2. Falcons: Matt Schaub
3. Ravens: Robert Griffin III
4. Bills: Matt Barkley
5. Bears: Chase Daniels
6. Browns: Drew Stanton
7. Lions: Josh Johnson
8. Texans: AJ McCarron
9. Colts: Brian Hoyer
10. Chiefs: Matt Moore
11. Chargers: Tyrod Taylor
12. Rams: Blake Bortles
13. Dolphins: Josh Rosen
14. Saints: Teddy Bridgewater
15. Jets: Trevor Siemian
16. Raiders: Mike Glennon
17. Eagles: Josh McCown
18. Seahawks: Geno Smith
19. 49'ers: Nick Mullens
20. Buccaneers: Blaine Gabbert
21. Titans: Ryan Tannehill

Now you can go through that list of 21 QB's and say "this guy sucks or that guy is a bum", but what do we really know about Boyle?

The Patriots have a backup that was a high 1st round pick? He was picked in the 4th round.

Fwiw, we also once had a backup that was an early NFL draft pick. He got beat out by an UDFA tho...

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

The Patriots have a backup that was a high 1st round pick? He was picked in the 4th round.

Fwiw, we also once had a backup that was an early NFL draft pick. He got beat out by an UDFA tho...

I'm sure we can keep this back and forth alive by sighting little idiosyncrasies that don't quite fit the narrative, but that would be a waste of both of our time. No offense, but you remind me of a little kid that is told that "grass is green" and you search for hours to find a slightly blue piece of grass.

FWIW, getting "beat out", doesn't equate to actual future performance, it only means taking all things into consideration, we choose this guy over that guy, it doesn't make the decision a correct one. If we viewed all decisions made by the Packers as being correct and as evidence to support future events happening the way we think they will, without waiting to see how they actually turn out, why even be here?

 

[GleefulGary]

I'm sure we can keep this back and forth alive by sighting little idiosyncrasies that don't quite fit the narrative, but that would be a waste of both of our time. No offense, but you remind me of a little kid that is told that "grass is green" and you search for hours to find a slightly blue piece of grass.

FWIW, getting "beat out", doesn't equate to actual future performance, it only means taking all things into consideration, we choose this guy over that guy, it doesn't make the decision a correct one. If we viewed all decisions made by the Packers as being correct and as evidence to support future events happening the way we think they will, without waiting to see how they actually turn out, why even be here?

Lol what?

I haven't even said if I think Boyle is good or not! I'm not sure how I'm searching for greener grass, I've been pretty blunt in saying I wish we had a better backup but I don't care about the position that much. I would rather allocate that money elsewhere. I'm more just calling out your inconsistencies in your arguments.

 

[greengold]

How did I "mischaracterize" your statements? You said sometimes you make your own luck and then pull out one of the most extreme examples, Tom Brady, to try and prove your point. Like I said, if you want to frame Boyle being our #2 in the same light as Brady was for the Patriots, I am not going to try and change your mind. But I am sticking to my opinion that the Packers will need a lot of luck if Boyle is pressed into full time duty and I am basing that opinion on "the norm" of what has happened in the history of the NFL and very recently with 2 QB's who were both regarded as better QB's coming out of college than Boyle was.

Don't be offended because I didn't agree with your point of view or the rationale of how you arrived to it.

No worries. All good.

My bigger point is some teams search out talent better than others, and having an unproven UDFA, even one who was just an invited try in, doesn't necessarily make them complete write offs, and that a player like Hoyer would be an improvement....

Of course I chose Brady, a former 5th Round pick who shocked the NFL world entirely. Easiest first choice.

It is the misguided perception that we have to have "proven" talents in these positions. Another example would be Kurt Warner. Couldn't get through the wall of Brunell and Detmer behind Favre, went out of the NFL and stocked shelves - for a year, before Arena League, Invitee onto Rams tryout, becomes Super Bowl MVP, 2- time NFL MVP, 4 Pro Bowls, etc...

Super Bowl history is littered with the most unlikely winning QBs. Look at the most recent winner, Nick Foles. He isn't even on that same team!

Jim Plunkett
Joe Flacco
Trent Dilfer (that one to this day still gets me!)
Brad Johnson (I mean, wow)
Jeff Hostetler

I was not making any case for Boyle either, but, I guess it could apply. I'm thinking Manny Wilkins. He's a dynamic player. Guess Boyle could finish the job with the right coaching and the right pieces in place. Not going to take that away from him, but, we might be better than many would think, at backup QB and other positions.