The Jaguars quarterback situation is a conundrum. Heading into Dallas this week against the Cowboys, who do you start?
Do you roll with Todd Bouman again, even though he hurt a finger on his throwing hand? Do you trot out Trent Edwards if his thumb is good to go? Or do you bring back David Garrard if he's medically cleared today or tomorrow?
Todd Bouman was sitting on a tractor on Tuesday. On Sunday in Kansas City against the Chiefs, he completed 18 of 34 passes for 222 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. In the first half of the game Todd Bouman led the Jaguars to only a 1-point deficit heading into half time. The Chiefs came out of the half and scored a touchdown, of which Todd Bouman answered with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Mike Sims-Walker, Bouman's second of the day.
Then the game got away from Bouman, as he threw a pick six to linebacker Derrick Johnson and never recovered.
Bouman's valiant performance went by the wayside as the Chiefs went on to score 14 more unanswered points and the offense stagnated.
In his performance however, Bouman was able to throw for the most yards by a Jaguars quarterback for the season by almost half-time and was able to complete the longest pass play of the season, a 29-yard screen play to runningback Maurice Jones-Drew.
This begs the question: Does the quarterback matter? How much difference would the offense be if David Garrard had started?
In just 3 days of practice, Bouman was able to put up a similar performance Garrard does.
For all we know, David Garrard hasn't been medically cleared yet by the team. Del Rio said on Friday he expects Garrard to be cleared today or tomorrow, which leads me to believe he's yet to pass the concussion test. If he does, does he start? Does it make a difference?
The Jaguars currently sit at 3-4, so the season isn't totally lost despite feeling like it is. If David Garrard is cleared and starts on Sunday in Dallas and doesn't perform, it could be the last time he does. Heading out of the bye if the Jaguars are 3-5, I'd be surprised if David Garrard were still starting. At some point you've got to see what you've got in Trent Edwards and Edwards should have the jist of the playbook by that time. You need to know if Edwards can be "that guy" for when you draft a quarterback and if he can potentially be a long-term back up.
Honestly though, watching the game yesterday... what's the difference between Todd Bouman and David Garrard that you saw, aside from millions of dollars?