Life may be rough for Aaron Rodgers in the wake of the Brett Favre trade, and I'd hate to be one of the dozen ESPN reporters who got scooped by Jay Glazer, but the biggest loser in the Favre trade may be Chad Pennington.Until Favre was picked up, Pennington still had a chance to be the Jets starter. Now he's released, and the reality is that it's going to be tough for him to find a situation nearly as friendly as the one he had with the Jets.
As we hit the midway point of most training camps, one thing that's clear is that there aren't a whole lot of teams who are looking for a potential starting quarterback. There aren't a whole lot of teams where Pennington would be a clear upgrade over the current talent.
The reality is that a team that signs Pennington has to know what they're getting. Whether you make him the starter or the backup, you have to have a special playbook set up for Pennington. At this point he's incapable of throwing the ball consistently more than 20-yards downfield, and forget about calling out routes to the sidelines. Everything has to be short slants, hooks and screens. The Jets were willing to make that sacrifice, even if it meant that a two-minute offense for New York consisted of an amazingly painful series of five-yard dump offs.Because he has a pulse and has thrown an NFL pass, he might be an upgrade over the QBs in Chicago, but the Bears are seemingly stubborn about going down in flames with Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman. Similarly, the Vikings keep talking about how Tarvaris Jackson is their man, and they also are excited about backup Gus Frerotte.
If you're looking for teams where Pennington would fit, you could turn to Miami or Kansas City. Pennington never played for Bill Parcells when Parcells ran the Jets--he arrived a year later, but he would be a safer bet than John Beck, and the Chiefs are rolling the dice with a Brodie Croyle/Damon Huard/Tyler Thigpen combo-pack. But Baltimore may the team with the most reason to give Pennington a call. They already are used to running an offense completely reliant on short passes (Steve McNair couldn't throw the deep ball either), and Pennington might be a more useful immediate starter than Kyle Boller on a team with plenty of aging stars. He'd be the interim fill-in until Joe Flacco matures. And do remember that there were rumors of a Pennington to Baltimore trade around draft time.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-07-2008 @ 9:01PM
jesse said...
Pennington was a guy who threw too softly to begin with and is now coming off shoulder surgery. The Favre deal just made the inevitable happen.
The fact that he couldn't clearly beat out Kellen Clemens means that even if he had been starting, he would probably be one of the three worst starters in the league.
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8-07-2008 @ 9:50PM
LB said...
Should we really be sorry for him. He never had the arm of an NFL QB.
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8-07-2008 @ 11:11PM
Alex said...
1st of all, Trent Grent is in ST. Louis now, backing up Marc Bulger.
Secondly, we shouldn't forget that Pennington was actually a pretty good QB for a while, before his two shoulder surgeries. He is one of the most accurate passers in the history of the NFL, and he usually got pretty good yardage totals because he could put the ball right where the receiver could get the most yards after catch. The problem wasn't his arm strength - up until this last year, he'd occasionally hit the deep out or corner - the problem was his arm endurance. He just couldn't make more than 3 or 4 of those throws a game, and in total, he couldn't really more than about 30 passes in a game without completely exhausting the arm and losing what strength he had. So, in games where the Jets won, ran out the clock, and Chad didn't have to throw a ton, he threw great. But when they were losing and had to pass to catch up, Pennington's strength would go. Ironically, this meant he played worst when his team needed him most.
Don't hate on Chad's arm too much, is what I'm saying.
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8-08-2008 @ 10:38AM
Jan said...
Pennigton, another victim of the Imperial ego of Favre. I can hardly say Farve's name, I am so ashamed of him. He feels no shame, it was Favre rolling through the NFL like a huge rock and lands on the doorstep of the Jets.
While Pennington might possibly not be in the same league as Favre but he tried hard and was faithful. One cannot call Farve faithful, I see him as a fallen star who thinks the world cannot go on without him.
That he has the starting quarterback job now, I feel bad for Chad Pennington, who although injured, still continued to play his heart out. Farve has no embarrassment for the Packer fans and his team mates and makes it clear to all of us that bullies still exist. What an examble for young children and the problems that exist with bullies in school. Would you want your child attacked by a kid who was doing a "Farve"?
Jan in Beaver, Utah
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8-09-2008 @ 7:15PM
TD said...
Yeah...no more NY weak arm garbage for Pennington. Ask Randy Moss when at Marshall how weak Chad's arm was on typical 45-50 yarders that made this duo click. Yes, an injured arm is a weak arm...duh. Last year he had a bum ankle that never got to the press, that was why Kelly got in Jet games. Chad is at 100%, if the Offensive line at Miami does their job, watch Chad who has a P. Manning leadership demeanor work his magic. Oh, ask Laverneus Coles if Chad has a weak arm when healthy. This guy is a winner.
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8-10-2008 @ 12:58AM
George B Vieto said...
Leaving the Jets for the Dolphins is a good deal for Chad Pennington. At least he gets to compete for the starters job in Miami and improve the team dismal 1-15 record of a year ago.
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9-01-2008 @ 6:26PM
richard wood said...
Give Chad a break. I have been a true dolphins fan since the early seventys. For a team that won only one game last year, Chad is a welcome addition! Parcels with what talent we had, (Thomas, Tayor, Feeley who was one of the best kickers in Phins history) Just let them all go, You wonder what Bill has been smoking in his new office. I have a lot of respect for the Dolphins owner and wonder why he a) pick Parcels and B) let the mentioned players go. Sure, we have drafted over the last couple of years, some very talented offensive linemen and that is all fine and dandy. But what I have seen recently in the N.F.L. are teams that build their defense and then go on building the rest of their team, have all been successfull. Come on Bill, take a look around!
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