I just think you need two types of backup QB. Its good to have a veteran who can fill in when an injury occurs during a game. You know he'll be prepared, knows the offense, is a pro (that shaun hill) and you need a backup who can come in when your starter goes down for the long term who has a much higher upside.Mothman wrote: I'd expand that to "teams that need good backups are all of them".
The idea that a team needs a good backup to grind out a win or two in the absence of the starter flies in the face of what we see practically every year: starters who go down for extended periods of time, sometimes losing most or all of a season. Sometimes a backup needs to become the starter for much more than just a short window of one or two games.
Teams should endeavor to have the best backup QB they can find because at any moment, that player can become the starter.
I always find it baffling that many fans agree QB is the most important position in football yet maintain a laissez-faire attitude about the backup position, when that player is just one injury away from taking over the most important position on the team.
Maybe Cassel is the #28 QB in the league. He's a bottom tier starter. Hill is maybe #40. a top tier backup. Neither one provides what you need in a longterm starter. Both are valuable as backups, although I'm not sure Cassel wants to play that role. What you need in addition to a guy like this is a younger player with upside. Most teams can't afford two QBs in the top 20 at their position. And if they get that second QB in the top 20 they are usually of much more value to another team, and thus wind up being traded. That's another benefit in finding a promising young QB to fill the "long term" backup role. You can trade them in for other impact players.
Shaun Hill is a good player and has always been a good player. He's also a player who knows his place. He's an asset.
