You have wonder why players like Matt Moore, Joey Harrington, AJ Feeley, and Gus Frerotte were continually given opportunity to be a starter in the NFL. Each one of them was named opening day starter at one point during their careers, other times taking over midseason. With the exception of Harrington, they all earned their shots, with successful relief perforamces after the starting QB in front of them went down. Moore replaced Jake Delhomme in Carolina and finished 4-1 down the stretch and was handed the keys. He was almost immediately replaced that season by Jimmy Clausen. Harrington was thought to be the guy to turn around the Detroit Lions, but never developed into anything more than a great concert pianist. AJ Feeley filled in for Donovon McNabb and finished 4-1, helping the Eagles clinch the NFC East back in 2002. He was rewarded with a contract from the Dolphins the following year and battled for playing time all year with Jay Fiedler. Gus Frerotte battled Heath Shuler in Washington, and showed a lot of promise until he notoriously banged his head against the wall. Frerotte has bounced around the league and actually been a winner in Minnesota, twice, Detroit, and Miami. All these QBs mentioned have been in Miami. Sage Rosenfels was once a backup in Miami, but has yet to really given a shot as a starter in his 10-year NFL career.
I understand that the Dolphins may not be looking for the best available QB. After all, they have a really good shot at drafting Andrew Luck, who many feel might be the best and most NFL-ready QB to come out of college since Peyton Manning. But if they have any pride, they should try to put a team out there that can compete. Sage Rosenfels can do that. Dolphin fans may remember Rosenfels getting trouble with Dolphin management for delivering pizzas in the offseason. I have long been a supporter of Rosenfels. He started 2 games over 3 seasons for the Dolphins way back when Fiedler and Feeley were considered the better QBs. It wasn’t the greatest opportunity. Rosenfels remained a backup, as he signed with Houston to backup Matt Schaub. Schaub is one of the better QBs in the NFL, so he was never going to replace him in Houston, but did fill-in for him while injured. Most people remember him for a rough ending to the Texans game against the Colts:
All in all, he still put the ball in the end zone quite a bit in his short stint as a backup. He finished with a 6-4 record with the Texans. But it never earned Rosenfels a shot at competing for a starting job, which just baffles me. Teams banked on players like Brodie Croyle, Tavaris Jackson, Moore, Derek Anderson, Luke McCown, Brad Gradkowski, Trent Edwards, and JP Losman. Why hasn’t Rosenfels been called on?
Rosenfels was Eli Manning’s backup last year in NY. He was going to see the field there unless something catastrophic happened. He lost the backup up roll to David Carr this season because he got sick. Now he is healthy and the Dolphins are desperate for a QB. As stated yesterday, David Garrard and Jake Delhomme have been contacted. But the reins should be given to Rosenfels. He’s earned a shot.
Original Story:
