My Thoughts Of A Franchise QB

Earlier this year the Broncos organization and franchise quarterback Jay Cutler parted ways. The Chicago Bears paid quite a bit for a proven Pro-Bowler with a rocket arm , who in their opinion is what they are lacking. Along with the deal their starting quarterback was sent to Denver as a bonus in the block buster deal.

What I saw in Cutler was everything I would want in a quarterback. He took command of the offense when he was out there. He was big and strong and when he got in trouble he could scramble and extend broken plays. He could make something out of nothing and do it all seamlessly. He could break tackles and seemed to have no fear of being hit. He could throw a bullet into a tight space. He carried himself with confidence and a 'never say die' attitude. And this attitude flowed through the rest of the offense. You could see the joy of that young offense exuberant every time they scored. It was like the 4th of July in Autumn if you were a Broncos fan since they could light up a score board. It was an exciting offense to watch. An offense that did not get a chance to survive a coaching change and new dictatorial regime.

I'm a believer that on the offensive side the foundation is built with having the right quarterback that can lead a team. A quarterback that can recognize before the snap that potentially the current play is in trouble and that he has to check out of it to a play designed to counter attack. A quarterback that can make accurate throws and bait defenses with his eyes and deceive line men during screens.

What makes me a believer in what I just wrote is the fact that a majority of Super Bowls have been won with quarterbacks that have these characteristics. And many of them are multiple winners of the Super Bowl. It seems like from the very beginning this standard was set in professional football. Let's take a look at these multiple Super Bowl Championship quarterbacks.

Multiple Superbowl Appearances with Perfect Records:

Bart Star - Green Bay - 2
Terry Bradshaw - Pittsburgh - 4
Jim Plunkett - Oakland - 2
Joe Montana - San Francisco - 4
Troy Aikman - Dallas - 3
Ben Rothleisberger - Pittsburgh - 2

Multiple Superbowl Appearances with both W & L Records

Len Dawson - Chiefs - Won 1, Lost 1
Earl Morrall - Baltimore Colts - Won 1, Lost 1
Roger Staubach - Dallas - Won 2, Lost 2
Bob Griese - Miami - Won 2, Lost 1
Joe Theisman - Washington - Won 1, Lost 1
Bret Favre - Green Bay - Won 1, Lost 1
John Elway - Denver - Won 2, Lost 3
Tom Brady - New England - Won 3, Lost 1
Kurt Warner - Won 1, Lost 2

1 Time Superbowl Appearance Winners

Joe Namath - New York Jets
Ken Stabler - Oakland Raiders
Jim McMahon - Chicago
Phil Simms - New York Giants
Doug Williams - Washington
Jeff Hostetler - New York Giants
Mark Rypien - Washington
Steve Young - San Francisco
Trent Dilfer - Baltimore Ravens
Brad Johnson - Tampa Bay
Peyton Manning - Indianapolis Colts
Eli Manning - New York Giants

Multiple Superbowl Appearances with No Wins

Craig Morton - Dallas & Denver - 2 Losses
Fran Tarkenton - Minnesota - 3 Losses
Jim Kelly - Buffalo - 4 Losses

1 Time Superbowl Appearance Losers

Daryle Lamonica - Oakland
Joe Kapp - Minnesota
Billy Kilmer - Washington
Vince Ferragamo - Los Angeles Rams
Ron Jaworski - Philadelphia
Ken Anderson - Cincinnati
David Woodley - Miami
Dan Marino - Miami
Steve Grogan - New England
Boomer Esiason - Cincinnati
Stan Humphries - San Diego
Neil O'Donnell - Pittsburgh
Drew Bledsoe - New England
Chris Chandler - Atlanta
Steve McNair - Tennessee Titans
Kerry Collins - New York Giants
Rich Gannon - Oakland Raiders
Jake Delhomme - Carolina
Donovan McNabb - Philadelphia
Matt Hasselback - Seattle
Rex Grossman - Chicago

There are 43 Superbowl winning quarterbacks.

The top 6 on the list with Perfect Multiple Superbowl wins were/are hands down franchise quarterbacks.

The 9 with Multiple Appearances with wins and losses in the Superbowl were franchise quarterbacks even though they lost. They got back to the big game and won it. Or in Staubach, Theisman and Favre's case, went back the year after and lost defending the crown.

These 15 Franchise quarterbacks total 44 appearances out of a possible 86. That is a staggering 51%! And they are accountable for 29 World Championships, or 63%. Out of those 15, 3 of them are still playing - Kurt Warner, Tom Brady and Ben Rothleisberger have 9 appearances in the last 8 Superbowls with 6 World Championships between them.

Taking a look at the 1 Time Superbowl Apperance Winners there are 12 total. Out of the 12, only 2 quarterbacks were not franchise quarterbacks. Jeff Hostetler was a backup to franchise QB Phil Simms. After winning the Superbowl he was traded to the Los Angeles Raiders where he BECAME a franchise quarterback. The other is Trent Dilfer who was with the Baltimore Ravens when they won the Superbowl. He was released after being the Superbowl winning quarterback and ended up at Tampa Bay as a back up for Brad Johnson. The rest are notable franchise quarterbacks. 2 are still fresh in the middle of their NFL careers - Peyton & Eli Manning are more than talented enough to lead their teams back to the big game.

As far as QB's with Goose egg's in the win column, the most notable franchise quarterbacks are Fran Tarkenton, Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, and Donovan McNabb.

Out of the Goose Egg's, 5 of them are still playing and 4 of them are quite secure in their jobs as leading their teams this year: Kerry Collins, Jake Delhomme, Donovan McNabb, and Matt Hasselback. Rex Grossman is now a back up with the Houston Texans.

Now given our current situation, Josh McDaniels is still having the two quarterbacks compete. Even though he has declared that Kyle Orton is the starting quarterback, the competition is still open! If you look at these franchise quarterbacks mentioned above, there was really no one snipping at their heels. A majority of them clearly separated themselves from their competition, because they were that good! They were given a generous amount of talent that allowed themselves to be #1, and the confidence to know the job was theirs if they just showed up.

Where one organization does not recognize such philosophies, other organizations do recognize. The Bears welcomed Cutler with opens arms saying "You're the MAN!"

So, the question is: Is Kyle Orton our franchise quarterback?