Be Prepared To Make A Quarterback Change-Preseason 2000

He had a career year throwing for nearly thirty touchdowns and 3,500 yards. After completing that season fantasy owners were very high on him for the 1999 season. That quarterback was Vinny Testaverde who went down with an Achilles tendon injury in the first game of last season.

He was a proven veteran that had always had great seasons passing in the NFL. He was coming off of a season in which he threw for 36 touchdowns and over 4000 yards passing. Many people had him ranked the number two quarterback on their fantasy football draft boards in 1999. This quarterback was Steve Young, who lasted only two games before being knocked out with a serious concussion.

This quarterback was coming off a year in which he dazzled the NFL with his great heroic performances to earn his team a playoff spot in 1998. He led comeback after comeback for his team and won a playoff game. Fantasy owners were very high on him and many had him ranked as a top five for quarterbacks. His name was Jake Plummer and he missed four games due to a finger injury, and played the rest of the year not at 100 percent.

Testaverde, Young and Plummer aren’t the only quarterbacks that suffered through an injury prone season. In fact, 23 out of the 31 NFL teams had different quarterbacks at some point during the season, whether it was due to injury or a quarterback being benched. I guess you could throw Brett Farve in there because he played all season hurt even though he never missed a start.

If that isn’t a reason to stay away from drafting a quarterback early, then I don’t know what is. Here is a list of quarterbacks that were backups last season, and because of their teams starting quarterback going down last year they had an opportunity to start. All of these quarterbacks played so well, that they will be starting next season in the NFL.

Tony Banks
Cade McNown
Tim Couch
Rob Johnson
Kerry Collins
Damon Huard/Jay Fiedler
Kurt Warner
Jeff Garcia
Akili Smith
Donovan McNabb
Shaun King

There will be 11 new starting quarterbacks that weren’t starting week one of last season. A big reason for that is because of the old veterans retiring, like Dan Marino and Steve Young. But the main reason is because quarterbacks are inconsistent and injury prone.

More than likely, a quarterback that you draft as a starter is going to go down with an injury during the season or will be benched due to poor play. So I have come up with a list of quarterbacks that are backups entering training camp now and have the ability to surprise people when they get an opportunity to play this season. Stay tuned for that article.