NFL Pre-Season: Tracking the Quarterback battles

The current NFL pre-season offers the fans the chance to watch a number of key positional battles play out. Who will be the Packers starting running back? Who will emerge as the Patriots best receiving option opposite Danny Amendola? Who will take over from Steven Jackson as the featured back in St Louis?

But no positional battle captures the attention of the league quite like the quarterback position, and this August we have a number of very intriguing quarterback battles taking place around the NFL. There is still a long way to go, but with week one of the pre-season in the books, let’s check in on the progress being made at the most open quarterback battles around the league, and find out who is edging ahead with less than a month to go before the regular season kick off on September 5^th.

Buffalo Bills – EJ Manual and Kevin Kolb

Just by reading the stat line it seemed that Buffalo’s 2013 first round pick, rookie quarterback EJ Manual, had quite a good first game for the Bills. He finished the game a respectable 16 of 21, with a quarterback rating of 102.6. He also threw for a touchdown in the dying seconds of the first half to break a tie in the game, going nearly perfect on the preceding two minute drive. As a bonus, the young quarterback avoided being sacked.

However, if you delve a little deeper into the stats, you will realise what was immediately apparent to everybody who watched the game; his performance wasn’t actually all that impressive. Manual was playing very simple check-down football, averaging only 5 yards per completion. Further, the rookie’s seemingly impressive 2 minute drill, which led to his only touchdown of the game, came against the Colts 3^rd string defence. That takes some of the gloss of what initially looked like a stellar performance.

However, it is important not to undersell Manual. There are positives to be seen from his performance. It wasn’t EJ’s fault that he was asked to execute a simple passing game plan. And to his credit, he didn’t really make any mental mistakes during the game, going through his reads properly and finding the open receiver consistently. I would call his first game in the NFL solid if not spectacular.

It is a good start for the rookie, but let’s not get carried away just yet. Veteran thrower Kevin Kolb, who was brought to Buffalo by former general manager Buddy Nix this off season, is by no means out of this race. Kolb is going to start in tonight’s second pre-season game against the Minnesota Vikings formidable defence, so let’s see how that plays out.

As things stand right now, I think Manual still has to be considered the favourite for the job. In a tight race, it’s a safe bet to follow the money, and the Bills are well invested in their first round pick. But if Kevin Kolb puts on a show tonight in Buffalo, who knows what could happen.

New York Jets – Mark Sanchez and Geno Smith

Probably the most publicised quarterback battle throughout this pre-season has been and will continue to be that of the Jets; the shaky veteran vs the unproven rookie, Mark Sanchez vs Geno Smith.

Sanchez, coming off an embarrassing season last campaign, opened this year with a seriously stupid pick straight to the hands of Lions rookie defensive end Ziggy Ansah. To his credit, though, Sanchez regained his composure after that and actually had a solid outing. He finished the game with a respectable stat line of 10 of 13 for 125 yards and a touchdown on three series.

After being considered the favourite to win the job before training camp opened in July, Geno Smith is having a bit of a rough time of it lately. He really didn’t do enough to overtake Sanchez against the Lions, before leaving with an ankle injury.

Things got worse for Geno after the game. Reports have indicated that he has continued to struggle on his ankle, noticeably limping on the practice field and looking uncomfortable during his reps. His struggles culminated in what was his worst day of practice on Wednesday, as the rookie hit a rough patch throwing four interceptions. His own head coach, Rex Ryan, admitted as much in a post-practice press conference:

“It was brutal. It was Geno’s worst day, I think. And obviously, the ankle’s part of it, but … way too many picks and things. Did not look comfortable today,”

There is still a long way to go in this race, but if Geno is limited in tonight’s game against the Jaguars (and reports indicate that he might be), then that could hand Mark Sanchez the perfect opportunity to start to pull away as the Jets starting quarterback. Keep your eyes fixed firmly on these two over the next three weeks.

Jacksonville Jaguars – Blaine Gabbert and Chad Henne

Someone is going to have to win the Jacksonville Jaguars starting quarterback job, but will it really make a difference? To be brutally honest, the likelihood is that this team is going to suck regardless. Having said that, let’s take a look at how the race is unfolding anyway.

We’ll start with Blaine Gabbert, who did stand out this past week…just in the worst way possible. The young quarterback threw the ball 10 times in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ preseason opener against the Miami Dolphins; he gained only 19 yards on those throws and threw an interception. That’s appalling by any standard you want to measure him against. Gabbert looked uncomfortable, out of rhythm and pretty much no improvement on the quarterback who was benched at the tail end of last season. With new coach Gus Bradley in town, Gabbert’s position as the starter might be in jeopardy. Bradley didn’t draft Gabbert, and so he will have no problem sitting him on the bench.

That would leave Chad Henne as the starting man. Henne didn’t set the world alight by any means during his snaps, but at least he doesn’t look completely useless. His numbers (8 of 11 for 87 yards) were solid if unspectacular, and he looks like a much safer option under centre for the Jaguars.

With the state of Gabbert’s play at the moment and following on from last season, it’s hard to ignore the fact that right now Henne looks by far the better option in Jacksonville. Although to head coach Gus Bradley, it probably feels more like the lesser of two evils. He’ll be looking for one of them to show a lot more in week 2 against Rex Ryan’s New York Jets.

Philadelphia Eagles – Mike Vick and Nick Foles

Both of the Eagles quarterbacks carried themselves well in the pre-season opener, which gives new head coach Chip Kelly the sort of selection headache every head coach wishes he could have.

Mike Vick, who started the game against New England, looked in good touch against the Patriots starters. Vick threw a couple of beautiful passes, including a laser to Jason Avant down the seam and a deep toss to DeSean Jackson down the right sideline for a touchdown, to finish his series with a stat line of 4 of 5 for 94 yards and a touchdown. He looked poised in the pocket and displayed an accuracy that had been missing at times over the course of last season.

Nick Foles also acquitted himself well when he came in, throwing 5 of 6 for 43 yards in his short time on the field. However, Foles did commit a turnover; the young thrower fumbled after being hit from behind whilst attempting a throw at the end of the first quarter.

The growing feeling around camp is that this is Mike Vick’s job to lose, but Foles will get the chance to change that around tonight. Head coach Chip Kelly has already announced that Foles will be the starter in the Eagles second pre-season game against the Carolina Panthers. With the Panthers front seven being talked about as potentially one of the best in football, this should be a good test for Foles to prove himself worthy of the starting gig. If he can perform with the starters as Vick did last week, he could gain some valuable ground in one of the most intriguing quarterback battles of pre-season.

Leading the race right now:

Buffalo Bills – EJ Manual

New York Jets – Mark Sanchez

Jacksonville Jaguars – Chad Henne

Philadelphia Eagles – Mike Vick