It’s been quarterback “musical chairs” in the NFC North the last 12 months or so. All four of the division’s teams have changed regular quarterbacks since last season.
Aaron Rodgers is trying to replace a legend in Green Bay where Brett Favre is gone after 16 seasons. Kyle Orton took over this year for Brian Griese and Rex Grossman in Chicago. Dan Orlovasky replaced the injured Jon Kitna in Detroit. Gus Frerotte, of course, is the starter here, not Tarvaris Jackson.
Whether it’s been performance issues, injury or a flirtation with retirement, the results have been new faces. With Green Bay, Chicago and Minnesota playing .500 football with 5-5 records, and Detroit at 0-9, no one is going to make the case that the division has the best quarterbacking in the league.
Rodgers has a 94.5 quarterback rating. That’s fifth best in the league but few will argue that his performance equals that of Favre last season when his marvelous play led the Packers to a division title and almost to the Super Bowl. The other quarterback ratings are Orton at 88.3, Frerotte at 76.6, Orlovasky at 76.7. (The NFL quarterback rating system uses various statistics to arrive at the averages.)
Earlier this fall Houston head coach Gary Kubiak, who was an NFL assistant before coaching the Texans, was asked how important he sees the quarterback position being to an NFL team. “I think it is the key to stability in a franchise,” he said. “When you’ve got that settled and you know that, that guy is going to be an effective…(player) for eight-10 years then it helps you build a football team around him.
“If you are unsettled at that position, then it can get very, very difficult. So I think it is important. I have been through it many times in Denver, and of course having (John) Elway for years, and those types of things I’ve seen in San Francisco when I was there with Steve Young. Those guys are difference makers every week. They are going to touch the ball 65 to 70 times so they are in control and what they bring to the franchise is huge.”
Those comments will undoubtedly draw amens in the NFC North.