I haven't been able to get excited about Chad Henne the last two weeks for a very simple reason: teams don't typically win the Super Bowl with guys cut by another team.
That's the goal, right?
As miserable as the Jaguars are this season, today's NFL is a quick-rebound league. You can go from awful to playoffs in a season or two (and vice versa). And this is a QB-centered league.
So I look at the two week run Henne has had, and I ask: can we win long term with this guy?
I simply don't see much history of teams winning Super Bowls with cast off quarterbacks. Looking back at the last 20 Super Bowls here are some of the names I see at QB:
Troy Aikman ('93, '94, '96)
Steve Young ('95)
Brett Favre ('97)
John Elway ('98, '99)
Kurt Warner ('00)*
Trent Dilfer ('01)*
Tom Brady ('02, '04, '05)
Brad Johnson ('03)*
Ben Roethlisberger ('06, '09)
Peyton Manning ('07)
Eli Manning ('08, '12)
Drew Brees ('10)**
Aaron Rodgers ('11)
*These are the quarterbacks I see as castoffs, to some extent. By that I mean QBs who were really not wanted by previous teams, at some point. Kurt Warner couldn't find a job in the NFL, so he went to the Arena League. Trent Dilfer is... Trent Dilfer. Brad Johnson was not wanted by the Vikings, but had a Pro Bowl season in 2002 when TB won the Super Bowl.
**I put Brees in his own category because although he was "rejected" by the Chargers, he had already had a Pro Bowl season with them and wasn't exactly considered a loser. Plus, if the Chargers don't want you, it's not a bad sign.
The rest of them speak for themselves. Some started off elsewhere (like Favre), but weren't necessarily released or unwanted.
That brings us back to Henne. Have we found a guy we can win the Super Bowl with as our quarterback? Can a guy rejected by the lowly Dolphins be that guy?
I hope so. I know this is pre-mature, but it's how I'm thinking.
If he's not the guy, who will it be? I want Gabbert to work out, but my doubts are strong. And the draft? Maybe a second or third round pick, but it doesn't look like there is a top-ten-pick-worthy QB this year.
What are your thoughts? What am I missing?


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