ESPN.com - Eagles can still fly with backup QBs

ESPN.com: NFL Preview 2003

Saturday, August 30, 2003
Updated: September 4, 5:25 PM ET
Eagles can still fly with backup QBs

By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com

Watch backup quarterback A.J. Feeley during a Philadelphia Eagles practice and you can't help but come away believing that his 4-1 record as a starter in 2002, replacing Koy Detmer who had replaced Donovan McNabb, was no fluke.

Shaky ground

Three teams that could be in big trouble if their starting quarterback is injured:

Oakland: Third-year veteran Marques Tuiasosopo, a second-round pick in 2001, was once viewed as the heir apparent to Rich Gannon. But that was when Jon Gruden was the head coach and the current staff doesn't hold Tuiasosopo, a superb athlete with virtually no game experience, in the regard. Rick Mirer has played one game in three years.

New York Giants: Backup Jesse Palmer is so bad the Giants considered demoting him to the No. 3 spot on the depth chart. Good thing Kerry Collins takes every snap every year, since Palmer looks like another Steve Spurrier product who can't cut it at the NFL level.

Arizona: It's not like the Cardinals figure to go to the playoffs with Jeff Blake at the helm. But his anonymous backups, Josh McCown and Preston Parsons, have combined for two regular-season appearances and 18 pass attempts.
-- Len Pasquarelli

It's not that the third-year veteran, a fifth-round afterthought following an injury-marred college career in which he started only eight games and threw just 13 passes as a senior, is a great practice player. There are times, in fact, when he is downright scattershot. But there is a confidence that Feeley exudes, a palpable surety that was evident when he took over as the starter for the 2002 stretch run, that marks him as a player.

"Not bad, huh, for a guy who's third (on the depth chart)?" said Eagles wide receiver Todd Pinkston after a recent practice.

Uh, not bad at all, which makes it all the more surprising some quarterback-needy teams made virtually no effort in the offseason to tempt Philadelphia officials into trading him. That lack of initiative on the part of other teams, though, is a boon for the Eagles. As they demonstrated in 2002, the Eagles are deep enough to survive the absence of their premier player, and 2003 should be no different.

There may be teams that appear to possess quarterback depth, but the Eagles' security at the position has been empirically displayed now, and so they get the nod as the franchise most capable of staying afloat if the starting quarterback goes down for the count.

Among the other teams that could win with their backups:

St. Louis: Third-year veteran Marc Bulger will likely have to play two more seasons for the Rams before gaining his freedom as an unrestricted veteran. There must be teams that are marking off the days on the calendar. Bulger, 25, won the first five starts of his career and had a 101.5 passer rating in '02. Sure, he benefits in part from a quarterback-friendly system, but to suggest he wouldn't succeed elsewhere as a starter is absurd.

Seattle: While he continues to recover from the death of his young son, and may be using the game as a refuge of sorts, Trent Dilfer remains a guy consummately capable of stringing together a winning streak. Dilfer played well in the preseason and, while there is still a simmering desire to be a starter again, he's a classy player who will never rock the boat and cause distractions.

Miami: OK, so place an asterisk next to the Dolphins, because of the injury to principal backup Brian Griese. But the former Denver starter should return from a toe injury after the first month of the season. And while Griese struggled in preseason to assimilate the Norv Turner offense, the Dolphins feel a lot more secure with their backup situation now than they did a year ago.

San Diego: At age 40, Doug Flutie might not have the energy he possessed only a few seasons ago, but he remains good enough to win some games if Drew Brees is ever out of the lineup. Remember, it was just two years ago that Flutie started all 16 games.

Cleveland: This is contingent on Tim Couch overcoming the emotional funk he has been in since losing the starting job to Kelly Holcomb in the preseason. Couch is still just 26 years old, a babe by quarterback standards, and he can't view his career as over yet. Coach Butch Davis has told him that he needs to be ready to play this year. And Couch has to realize that, any time he gets snaps, he will be auditioning for those teams who might want to acquire him in a trade or free agency next spring.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.