Can your team survive losing its starting QB? 2008-09-11 - Philadelphia Eagles News at Eagleswire.com

Brady's loss does more than affect the NFL's competitive balance. It will force teams to evaluate their own backup situations and preparedness should the same happen to them.

FOXSports.com is here to help. We've divided second-string quarterbacks into four categories, which reflect different organizational philosophies about how the position should be addressed.

Unproven apprentices

New England (Matt Cassel), Green Bay (Matt Flynn), Detroit (Dan Orlovsky), Cincinnati (Ryan Fitzpatrick), Baltimore (Troy Smith) and Indianapolis (Jim Sorgi).

Brady and Peyton Manning have the NFL's longest starting streaks behind Brett Favre. They are future Hall of Famers still in their prime.

Wanting to spend money at other positions under the salary cap this offseason, New England and Indianapolis eschewed allocating as much as $3 million annually to established backups, as Washington and Jacksonville did with Todd Collins and Cleo Lemon, respectively. Instead, the Patriots and Colts continued to stick with late-round draft choices Cassel (2005) and Sorgi (2004) as less costly developmental projects.

Detroit and Green Bay have second- and third-stringers who have never started an NFL game. Fitzpatrick hasn't played since 2005 — and that was with St. Louis, not Cincinnati.

The Bengals, Lions and Packers believe grooming passers in their own systems is wiser and more financially prudent than pursuing pricier veterans. It's what the Patriots successfully did with Brady — a 2000 sixth-round pick who had a year of seasoning before his first start — and will try doing with rookie Kevin O'Connell.

As for Baltimore, rookie Joe Flacco was rushed into the starting lineup because of preseason ailments suffered by Smith (severe tonsillitis) and incumbent Kyle Boller (shoulder/season-ending). The Ravens have signed journeyman Todd Bouman, but Flacco and Smith are expected to occupy the top depth-chart spots through 2008.

Grizzled veterans

Dallas (Brad Johnson), Jacksonville (Lemon), Washington (Todd Collins), Minnesota (Gus Frerotte), Tampa Bay (Brian Griese), New Orleans (Mark Brunell), Atlanta (Chris Redman), San Francisco (Shaun Hill), St. Louis (Trent Green), Tennessee (Kerry Collins), San Diego (Billy Volek), Kansas City (Damon Huard) and Pittsburgh (Byron Lefwtich).

Backups for these teams all have at least six years of NFL experience. Leftwich, Lemon and Hill are the only quarterbacks under the age of 30. The average age of the other 10 reserves is 35.

Minnesota, Kansas City and Atlanta have veterans who help tutor less-experienced starters. Other graybeards like Volek and Todd Collins had their moments in 2007 when pressed into action. Huard and Kerry Collins already will start this Sunday because of opening-game injuries, while Griese gets the nod if Jeff Garcia (ankle) can't play.

Age and diminished skills make it questionable whether many of these quarterbacks can thrive over the long haul. That's why most of this group is firmly entrenched as reserves for the rest of their NFL careers.

Once-promising youngsters