NFL Top 10 “Quarterback Teases”

[SeahawkFever]

Elaborating on the discussion that we had on the 1984 Steelers and later Mark Malone, for your reference here is what that episode was, and the quarterbacks they picked for their list:

They defined a quarterback tease as a player who looked for a little bit like he could’ve been something special early in his career, and in the words of Philly sportswriter Ray Didinger (probably my favorite person to hear from on that show) turned out to be fool’s gold.

It’s not necessarily a high draft pick doesn’t pan out, it’s a player who looks like he could have been the guy to take a team to the promised land based on some early success in the NFL and never lived up to what people projected.

The ten quarterbacks they picked for that list (which was made before the 2014 season):

10. Mark Sanchez
9. Vince Ferragamo
8. Bobby Hoying
7. Andy Dalton
6. Tim Tebow
5. Richard Todd
4. Jeff George
3. Vince Young
2. Elvis Grbac
1. Scott Mitchell

Also, notably when they got to Tebow’s segment Pete Prisco chuckled and said “I know the only reason why you are doing this category, so you can do another show to get Tebow’s face on the network.”

So tell me, did any of those ten quarterbacks feel like the real deal before not living up to what you projected based on their early careers?

[Northwoodssportsman]

Going through these:

Sanchez - He was the product of a top-tier defense and a two-headed running attack of Chris Ivory and LaDainian Tomlinson.
Ferragamo - Caught Lightning in a bottle and was good for a year and a half. He went to Canada, returned, and was never the same.
Hoying - Was essentially dubbed the savior of Philadelphia after one game.
Dalton - I thought the Bengals at the time were in good hands with Dalton initially. I think his career could have been better if he had an offensive coach when he was drafted instead of Marvin Lewis. Lewis was brought to prominence because he was the D-Coordinator for the 2000 Ravens.
Tebow - I thought Tebow was overhyped from the get-go, but could have become a legit starter if given the time to develop.
Todd - Looking back at Todd's career, he is probably the second-best quarterback in Jets History behind Namath. The best QB in the 21st century for the Jets is Chad Pennington.
George - If only he were humble and not the most arrogant person in the room whenever he walked in. 37% winning percentage and one career playoff victory for the #1 Pick in 1990.
Young - I genuinely thought that he was going to be a superstar in the league because he was the perfect dual-threat quarterback to rival prime Michael Vick. Jeff Fisher did not want him when he was drafted #3. He wanted a veteran QB to manage the game with the Chris Johnson-Lendale White RB combo and a top-tier defense. Young was easily the best prospect in that draft.
Grbac - Grbac to me is an overachiever. He was drafted in the eighth round and was a solid backup QB to Steve Young in San Francisco. Not a lot was expected of him, and he still made the Pro Bowl in 2000 and threw for 500 yards in a game.
Mitchell - I think Mitchell is overhated a little bit for his play. When he was in Detroit, they may have failed in the postseason, but he did take them to the playoffs three times. For Detroit, that is a success.

Of those ten, I think I was highest on Vince Young. If they were to update this, I feel like Jay Cutler would be thrown into the mix.

[SeahawkFever]

Going through these:

Sanchez - He was the product of a top-tier defense and a two-headed running attack of Chris Ivory and LaDainian Tomlinson.
Ferragamo - Caught Lightning in a bottle and was good for a year and a half. He went to Canada, returned, and was never the same.
Hoying - Was essentially dubbed the savior of Philadelphia after one game.
Dalton - I thought the Bengals at the time were in good hands with Dalton initially. I think his career could have been better if he had an offensive coach when he was drafted instead of Marvin Lewis. Lewis was brought to prominence because he was the D-Coordinator for the 2000 Ravens.
Tebow - I thought Tebow was overhyped from the get-go, but could have become a legit starter if given the time to develop.
Todd - Looking back at Todd's career, he is probably the second-best quarterback in Jets History behind Namath. The best QB in the 21st century for the Jets is Chad Pennington.
George - If only he were humble and not the most arrogant person in the room whenever he walked in. 37% winning percentage and one career playoff victory for the #1 Pick in 1990.
Young - I genuinely thought that he was going to be a superstar in the league because he was the perfect dual-threat quarterback to rival prime Michael Vick. Jeff Fisher did not want him when he was drafted #3. He wanted a veteran QB to manage the game with the Chris Johnson-Lendale White RB combo and a top-tier defense. Young was easily the best prospect in that draft.
Grbac - Grbac to me is an overachiever. He was drafted in the eighth round and was a solid backup QB to Steve Young in San Francisco. Not a lot was expected of him, and he still made the Pro Bowl in 2000 and threw for 500 yards in a game.
Mitchell - I think Mitchell is overhated a little bit for his play. When he was in Detroit, they may have failed in the postseason, but he did take them to the playoffs three times. For Detroit, that is a success.

Of those ten, I think I was highest on Vince Young. If they were to update this, I feel like Jay Cutler would be thrown into the mix.

My opinions of the ten and whether they fit the bill of early success and then disappointment:

Sanchez: As you said there was an excellent supporting cast that gave him the opportunity to get as far as he did. Only a “tease” if you took his record at face value.

Ferragamo: I’d agree with your assessment, pretty good in 79 and 80, but didn’t develop any further. Could fit the bill for some.

Hoying: If Philly fans bought into the hype then I could see it, though it was off of one single game against Cincinnati when they weren’t good.

Dalton: If being a consistent playoff one and done fits the bill for you, then I could see Dalton given it sounds like he played well in the regular season but not in the playoffs when he got there. Ok quarterback, but few would say he was a franchise quarterback if one thought he was that.

Tebow: Credit him for helping lead some nice comebacks in 2011. But I’ve heard that it was considered unexpected that Tebow was a first rounder so I don’t know how many people would have been “teased”. In hindsight he might’ve been a guy who had the leadership ability you want from a quarterback but not the passing chops; at least not with consistency. Given his best ability was power running, and that he could make the occasional pass, I think he could’ve been a better Taysom Hill type player or tight end than a starting quarterback in the NFL.

Todd: Firstly, I typically hear that Ken O’Brien was better than him in the 1980’s, and the only way I could see him be considered a “tease” was if you thought he was the next Joe Namath because they both went to the same school. He was pretty solid on the 81 and 82 Jets but he was far enough into his career that those two seasons probably looked like outliers at the time I’d imagine.

George: Honestly the first quarterback that comes to mind for this for me. He was talked about as having one of the greatest arms in NFL history and a team traded up to draft George first overall in 1990, and he also played for several teams who apparently kept thinking “this guy has great arm talent I can fix him”. Should be 1 or 2 in my book.

Young: Given how memorable his college bowl game in 2006 is considered and that he had a couple pro bowl seasons after that, I could see why many people thought he had the potential to be a franchise quarterback and he of course never became one.

Grbac: As you said, lower round pick that not much was probably expected out of, so I could see why he wouldn’t make the cut.

And lastly Mitchell: Detroit may have overpaid him but he had a couple productive years; most notably 1995 where he helped Detroit lead a top tier offense. That may not have translated into the playoffs (and his game against Philadelphia might be one of the worst playoff performances a quarterback has ever had), but if a free agent signing quarterback helps a team with Detroit’s general reputation get to two or three postseasons then they did ok with him. Too high on this list though I understand it more than some.

[Brian wolf]

Dalton wasnt a tease. He was a successful starter for his first five seasons. He just never won in the playoffs. Once defenses took away his star receiver in AJ Green, including injuries after 2016, neither player were as successful.

Ferragamo and George had great talent but George felt entitled and couldnt handle his passing pocket breaking down with various teams. Ferragamo just wasnt the same athlete coming back from Canada.

Tebow and Young were overrated coming out of college. They were both great runners that couldnt develop throwing accuracy.
Young like George, felt entitled coming out of college and didnt work hard enough to stay successful. Injuries played a role as well

Mitchell and Grbac were backups that took advantage of putting decent strings of games together to take advantage of free agency. Mitchell had weapons with the Lions but didnt have the defenses to make noise in postseason. Grbac incredibly replaced two QBs in Gannon in KC and Dilfer in Baltimore, who were better than he was.

Sanchez had initial success but lost his weapons, and his confidence by his fourth season in NY. Kenny Pickett with the Steelers had a similar career without the playoff success. Both didnt get the coaching they needed.

Todd was up and down based on the talent with his teams. Like Namath, he had problems with interceptions and inconsistency but wasnt the leader or performer Namath was.

[Brian wolf]

If any QB was a tease it was Earl Morrall. When Morrall was healthy and starting for teams, he was a good QB. Unfortunately, he would get injured too often and have other QBs starting ahead of him. I look at his career as being a more an alternate starter or starter B than strictly a backup. Most backups dont win an MVP award.

In retrospect, and I say this in all respect to John Unitas but Morrall should have stayed starter of the Colts in 1969. Johnny wasnt really back from injury--though he claimed to be--and Earl deserved a chance to build on his previous years success, though Shula felt Unitas should have his job back --Would Shula have felt the same had the Colts with Morrall won SB III?-- The Colts were only 8-6 in 1969 with Shula leaving in 1970. Had Earl mostly started instead of John, who only threw 12 TDs that year, the Colts might have won an extra two games and Unitas could have been fully healthy for the 1970 year, but instead, Morrall accepted that John get his job back, and really played well in helping the Colts win their first SB in 1970. Don McCafferty did a hell of a job with both QBs that year.

Morrall showed the same moxie again for the Dolphins in 1972. He was technically, 11-0 as starter including the playoffs. He had been 7-2 as a starter his final year in Baltimore. A strange but great career.

[Brian wolf]

Going through these:

Sanchez - He was the product of a top-tier defense and a two-headed running attack of Chris Ivory and LaDainian Tomlinson.
Ferragamo - Caught Lightning in a bottle and was good for a year and a half. He went to Canada, returned, and was never the same.
Hoying - Was essentially dubbed the savior of Philadelphia after one game.
Dalton - I thought the Bengals at the time were in good hands with Dalton initially. I think his career could have been better if he had an offensive coach when he was drafted instead of Marvin Lewis. Lewis was brought to prominence because he was the D-Coordinator for the 2000 Ravens.
Tebow - I thought Tebow was overhyped from the get-go, but could have become a legit starter if given the time to develop.
Todd - Looking back at Todd's career, he is probably the second-best quarterback in Jets History behind Namath. The best QB in the 21st century for the Jets is Chad Pennington.
George - If only he were humble and not the most arrogant person in the room whenever he walked in. 37% winning percentage and one career playoff victory for the #1 Pick in 1990.
Young - I genuinely thought that he was going to be a superstar in the league because he was the perfect dual-threat quarterback to rival prime Michael Vick. Jeff Fisher did not want him when he was drafted #3. He wanted a veteran QB to manage the game with the Chris Johnson-Lendale White RB combo and a top-tier defense. Young was easily the best prospect in that draft.
Grbac - Grbac to me is an overachiever. He was drafted in the eighth round and was a solid backup QB to Steve Young in San Francisco. Not a lot was expected of him, and he still made the Pro Bowl in 2000 and threw for 500 yards in a game.
Mitchell - I think Mitchell is overhated a little bit for his play. When he was in Detroit, they may have failed in the postseason, but he did take them to the playoffs three times. For Detroit, that is a success.

Of those ten, I think I was highest on Vince Young. If they were to update this, I feel like Jay Cutler would be thrown into the mix.

Good call on Cutler, who could play but wasnt the same QB after his diabetes diagnosis. His departure from Denver helped Tebow, who deserved to develop somewhere after being replaced by Manning.

Despite not winning an AFC Championship or playoff game, Dalton was more successful than Esiason or Palmer in Cincy.

Of all these QBs, George was the most talented but didnt have it mentally.

[7DnBrnc53]

Tebow - I thought Tebow was overhyped from the get-go, but could have become a legit starter if given the time to develop.

You know what? I actually agree with you.

Also, this is going to sound crazy, but Tim would have been better off leaving Florida after his sophomore Heisman year to train with someone like Tom House (he seemed improved in 2015 with the Eagles after doing so) before going to Canada for a few years. He wasn't developing as a passer in college. College football is more about the coach than it is about the players. He will play the best players so he can win. Pro development doesn't factor into it.

[SeahawkFever]

Tebow - I thought Tebow was overhyped from the get-go, but could have become a legit starter if given the time to develop.

You know what? I actually agree with you.

Also, this is going to sound crazy, but Tim would have been better off leaving Florida after his sophomore Heisman year to train with someone like Tom House (he seemed improved in 2015 with the Eagles after doing so) before going to Canada for a few years. He wasn't developing as a passer in college. College football is more about the coach than it is about the players. He will play the best players so he can win. Pro development doesn't factor into it.

Was Florida’s coach at the time really good?

Also, do you think Tebow could’ve played another position given his running and how hard it could be to tackle him at times?

[7DnBrnc53]

Was Florida’s coach at the time really good?

Also, do you think Tebow could’ve played another position given his running and how hard it could be to tackle him at times?

Urban Meyer was a good college coach. And, he may have been able to play FB or a special Wildcat QB when he broke in.

[CSKreager]

No Vinny Testaverde? He teased multiple teams after leaving Tampa