If it seems as if the quarterback carousel is spinning faster than ever, maybe it’s because it is.
When Jacksonville’s Quinn Gray starts for the Jaguars against the Buccaneers on Sunday, he will become the 48th different starting quarterback this season. All of last season, there were 50 total.
And if Houston’s Sage Rosenfels starts this weekend for the Texans -– and there’s every chance he will, being that he has taken most of the reps with the first-team offense the past two days –- then the number would grow to a preposterous 49.
This season, 14 teams have been forced to start two different quarterbacks and one team, the Carolina Panthers, have had no choice but to go with three.
Minnesota looks to be going back to veteran Kelly Holcomb this weekend for the second time this season, this time due to a thumb injury to quarterback Tarvaris Jackson. Holcomb has been working with the first team in practice this week and seems poised to start Sunday against Philadelphia.
The rate of quarterback turnover this season, mostly due to injury but partly due to poor play, is dizzying. It doesn’t appear to be stopping anytime soon.
Next
In recent years, the quarterbacks that Norm Chow has coached include Philip Rivers, Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and Vince Young.
Despite the success that Chow has had with each, he never has been offered an NFL head coaching job. Yet his time could be coming.
There is increasing chatter around the league about what Chow could do for a team. The talk comes a week after Titans quarterback Kerry Collins elevated his game during a high-scoring win over Houston, and at a time when Chow’s Titans are preparing to face Kiffin’s Raiders in one of the most intriguing matchups of the weekend.
Interestingly, Oakland's Lane Kiffin, 31, got his head coaching job after succeeding Chow at USC. Despite his success there, the 61-year-old Chow did not get his chance. Soon enough he might.
Back to school
So often coaches such as Atlanta’s Bobby Petrino and Kiffin make the jump from college to the pros. But this season, head coaches are proving that it is easier to make the jump the other way.
This season, former NFL head coaches now coaching at the college level have compiled an impressive 67-30 record.
Heading the list are Arizona State’s Dennis Erickson and Hawaii’s June Jones, each of whom has a 7-0 record; Virginia’s Al Groh and his 7-1 record; USC’s Pete Carroll and his 6-1 record; and Alabama’s Nick Saban, South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier and Kentucky’s Rich Brooks, each of whom has gone 6-2.
Once again, there is more evidence that life is easier back at school. Fair to wonder whether information such as this would cause a coach such as Petrino to rethink his decision to leave the safe haven of a college campus.
Downed
It’s usually a wise move when a team can tie up its young talent to long-term contracts. The Minnesota Vikings are to be commended for doing it again Wednesday, signing punter Chris Kluwe to a six-year contract extension.