The Jacksonville Jaguars re-signed Chad Henne yesterday, and the popular consensus is now that they won't be inclined to use their 3rd overall pick on one of the draft's top quarterbacks. Well, we'll see.
A year ago at about this time, the Buffalo Bills signed veteran Kevin Kolb, and some of the same things were said. With a veteran in place to start, they won't be in the market for the draft's top quarterbacks. Buffalo, of course, used its first-round pick on EJ Manuel, and Kolb (who got hurt) never started a game for them.
As this article notes, signing Henne gives the Jaguars options. "If we didn’t get Chad back or didn’t sign a quarterback in free agency, now we’re going into the draft and there’s a stronger intent to draft a quarterback," says Gus Bradley. "But just because we signed Chad doesn’t mean we won’t draft a quarterback. It gives us flexibility to look at other areas.”
Had the Jaguars not brought back Henne, they'd be looking at either selecting one of the draft's top quarterbacks or actually putting Blaine Gabbert back under center next season. The other free-agent options are either worse than Henne or will probably have better options than the rebuilding situation that is Jacksonville.
Another of those veteran options, Matt Cassel, re-upped with the Vikings yesterday. Like Jacksonville, the Vikings now have a veteran and a disappointing 2011 first-rounder, Christian Ponder, under contract. But does this mean the Vikings, who pick 8th overall, won't be drafting a quarterback? Not necessarily.
The table below shows all the quarterbacks who attempted at least 200 passes a year ago, organized by passer rating. By that measure, only six quarterbacks had worse seasons than Henne did, and four of those guys (Schaub, McGloin, Pryor, Weeden) definitely won't be starting in 2014. Cassel comes out slightly higher, but only one (Manuel) of the additional quarterbacks he's slotted ahead of (Clemens, Campbell, Keenum, Ponder) looks likely to be a 2014 starter.
In short, don't take yesterday's quarterback signings to mean those teams are out of the picture for selecting Bridgewater, Bortles or Manziel. It gives them another, mediocre or poor option at quarterback, nothing more.
| 2013 QUARTERBACKS, PASSER RATING | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | TD | Int | Rate |
| Nick Foles, Phil. | 27 | 2 | 119.2 |
| Peyton Manning, Den. | 55 | 10 | 115.1 |
| Josh McCown, Chi. | 13 | 1 | 109.0 |
| Philip Rivers, S.D. | 32 | 11 | 105.5 |
| Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 17 | 6 | 104.9 |
| Drew Brees, N.O. | 39 | 12 | 104.7 |
| Russell Wilson, Sea. | 26 | 9 | 101.2 |
| Tony Romo, Dall. | 31 | 10 | 96.7 |
| Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 28 | 14 | 92.0 |
| Colin Kaepernick, S.F. | 21 | 8 | 91.6 |
| Sam Bradford, St.L. | 14 | 4 | 90.9 |
| Matt Ryan, Atl. | 26 | 17 | 89.6 |
| Jay Cutler, Chi. | 19 | 12 | 89.2 |
| Alex Smith, K.C. | 23 | 7 | 89.1 |
| Andy Dalton, Cin. | 33 | 20 | 88.8 |
| Cam Newton, Car. | 24 | 13 | 88.8 |
| Tom Brady, N.E. | 25 | 11 | 87.3 |
| Andrew Luck, Ind. | 23 | 9 | 87.0 |
| Matthew Stafford, Det. | 29 | 19 | 84.2 |
| Carson Palmer, Ariz. | 24 | 22 | 83.9 |
| Mike Glennon, T.B. | 19 | 9 | 83.9 |
| Robert Griffin III, Wash. | 16 | 12 | 82.2 |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tenn. | 14 | 12 | 82.0 |
| Ryan Tannehill, Mia. | 24 | 17 | 81.7 |
| Matt Cassel, Minn. | 11 | 9 | 81.6 |
| Kellen Clemens, St.L. | 8 | 7 | 78.8 |
| Case Keenum, Hou. | 9 | 6 | 78.2 |
| Christian Ponder, Minn. | 7 | 9 | 77.9 |
| EJ Manuel, Buff. | 11 | 9 | 77.7 |
| Jason Campbell, Clev. | 11 | 8 | 76.9 |
| Chad Henne, Jac. | 13 | 14 | 76.5 |
| Matt McGloin, Oak. | 8 | 8 | 76.1 |
| Joe Flacco, Balt. | 19 | 22 | 73.1 |
| Matt Schaub, Hou. | 10 | 14 | 73.0 |
| Brandon Weeden, Clev. | 9 | 9 | 70.3 |
| Eli Manning, NYG | 18 | 27 | 69.4 |
| Terrelle Pryor, Oak. | 7 | 11 | 69.1 |
--Andy Richardson