Franchise Quarterback

[carolinanimal]

all good points. i think like other posters a franchise qb requires more than just getting him in the first round, he requires a couple of factors to be succesfull. it would matter how much skill he has if he has a porous oline or really bad recievers or no run game. the reason why it is so hard to pin down a franchise qb because there is no one criteria for being a franchise qb. you have guys like peyton manning and brady and drew brees , but then you have guys like big ben, matt ryan, flacco. these guys dont put up the same numbers as the top guys, but are considered franchise qbs.

[carolinarolls]

The phrase is used to identify a qb who nfl fans commonly identify with their respective franchise. It does not mean they are superman or that they can win with their arm or that they had a great college career or that they were a first round pick.

It means they are identified by the team and the team is identified by them. They are essentially one in the same with the team.

Jake Delhomme is the epitome of a "franchise quarterback"

[HSCBandit07]

I would still take cutler for a one of our crappy draft picks. He is a baby but Smith will scare some hair on his balls.

[rayzor]

i figured you'd get a lot of different opinions about this.

here's my take...it's the QB that the team believes they can build around and that can carry them when necessary. he's the focal point of that teams offense and the field general that the team believes in. more than that he is someone who has or will be worked into their long range plans.

it doesn't necessarily mean that they are good, just that they depend on and believe in him. thats why jake has been the panthers franchise QB for years.

flacco, palmer, roethlisberger, palmer, schaub, peyton, brady, sanchez, rivers, stafford, rodgers, ryan, brees, romo, eli, mcnabb, hasslebeck, bulger...these are the guys i would consider franchise QBs.

are they all good? nope, but they were good enough for the team to decide they wanted to make the core (not corps) of their franchise. i could put cutler up there but i really don't believe he's going to be with any team more than a couple years. you have to have that long term commitment...not just in contract but in practice. it's who they choose to go to war with year in and year out and who they believe will carry them through.

[AceMan]

Jake is a "franchise QB" without the actual ability. I think we; fans, coaches, and above, put Delhomme on a higher level than we should have. Mostly, this is because of the 2003 Super Bowl run and John Fox's philosophy. To me, it's like if the Bengals never drafted Carson Palmer back in the day and kept starting Jon Kitna.

I'm inclined to agree with the assessment that Delhomme was a franchise QB. He was one because we MADE him one. We should have grabbed a young, true signal caller a while ago.

[carolinarolls]

all answers are right to a certain extent. the problem is the one that we have that fits all the criteria is probably not deserving of the title due to the fact that he isn't overwhelmingly considered as a good quarterback and never been in the top tier of those commonly thought of as franchise QB's like Manning, Marino, Young, Montanna, etc.

Jake is an anomaly. He is identified as a panther player, team leader, build a team around him kind of guy. But the teams built around him were designed to hide him and not be his tools necessary to build a great career.

This moniker is not strictly based on talent and results at all. I consider Garcia a good quarterback with lots of success but I can't identify him with any one team over his career thus he is not a franchise QB for anybody.

wait...why am i spending so much time on this and why does anyone care?

[top dawg]

Some of y'alls responses are quite entertaining and amusing, but I think that this quote get down to the nitty gritty and is most analytical in its simplicity:

A franchise QB is a QB who can win the game all by himself, even if your run game or defense is having a bad day. He will be your qb for many many years, avoid injury as much as possible, lead with authority, have the trust of the entire team and coaching staff, be able to think on his feet, and have all the technical aspects needed in the NFL today.

Although this one is perhaps more manly:

You just need a guy that can go out there, and make accurate throws when you need him to convert. A guy that can make the defense pay for 8 in the box by hitting intermediate routes and the occasional deep ball. Not overthrowing 40 year old receivers by 10 miles.

[guyinchesapeake]

I stand by the contention that Jake WAS a FQB for this team. He was the face of the team, and we had success when we were healthy. Just like Jake was the face of all things good for us, he has NOW become the face of all things that are bad. In other words, he is NOT a FQB, for the simple fact that he's not getting the job done anymore.

Jake used to give us a fair chance when the game was late and we needed a score. Those days appear over.

But the responses have shown many valid criteria for defining a FQB. Another one I'll throw in here is that a true FQB is one whose team will not think about changing, they are confident he is the right one for them, and thus you never see any realistic assertions that they will be 'available' in an upcoming FA period, or will be traded. They will continue to build around him. McNabb comes to mind here, the Eagles for years didn't have a good receiving corps for him to throw to, but they appear to have addressed that, and he's getting it done for them. I think all here can recognize a FQB when they see one! And we don't have one at present. Time will tell, I reckon..

[jpniner]

Panthers record when Jake attempts 30 or more passes: 7-28, when less almost the complete opposite. This is not "Franchise QB"(used in a good sense) material.

All top QB's attempt on avg 30 or more passes a game.

Any QB can learn how to hand the ball off to a RB

[panthers55]

Yeah I like the one about being top five in all categories ever year. Nevermind that there are 32 teams. Everyone can have a franchise quarterback and they all can be in the top 5 in all statistical categories.

Or how about where he wins the game singlehandedly even when the defense and special teams suck. So if you had a franchise quarterback on each team in a game, would they still be a franchise quarterback if they lost??

What about a guy like Warner who has some great games and also the worst game by any quarterback this year. Is he a franchise quarterback all the time or just when he is winning the game. Otherwise he sucks.......

Exactly how many of these franchise quarterbacks are there in the league??

[panthers55]

Panthers record when Jake attempts 30 or more passes: 7-28, when less almost the complete opposite. This is not "Franchise QB"(used in a good sense) material.

All top QB's attempt on avg 30 or more passes a game.

Any QB can learn how to hand the ball off to a RB

Problem is so do a lot of the worst ones. Number of attempts seems a useless way of categorizing quarterbacks. You don't account for the Donovan McNabbs who have thrown for only 25 times a game with his 90 rating, and you include the Matt Cassels with his 68. Seems both poor and good quarterbacks throw the ball alot. Teams that consistently lose throw just as much or more than those who consistently win.

[Gman was right]

We don't a franchise qb, we have jake! Slurp slurp slurp!

[Nu Guns]

Franchise QB = Opposite of Jake Delhomme

[rayzor]

jake has been the franchise QB for the panthers....he's a poor choice for one but that is still what he has been.

he has been the focal point of the franchise on offense for years. the team is built around....well it has been built around his limitations for the most part.

for better or (more likely) worse, he has been the leader of this team and the guy that they put on a pedestal. he's their general. if he wasn't then he would have been gone long ago.

we just need a better franchise QB. one that we can be proud of as a player and not just a man/leader/whatever.

defining what exactly a franchise QB is is a difficult thing. everyone has their own idea what it means, obviously.

i saw this article that had a decent explanation for it and then had a list of failed, potential, up-and-coming, and current franchise QBs. it was written in july and there are a couple adjustments i would make to it. i didn't agree with some of it when i first saw this and there are some things that have happened this season that change it some like alex smith being moved up to potential, jake, kerry collins, and jemarcus russell being moved to failed. vince moved to up-and-coming, carson palmer moved to current....meh, you get the point.

Failed Franchise Quarterbacks

Alex Smith—San Fransisco 49ers

Marc Bulger—St. Louis Rams

Derek Anderson—Cleveland Browns

Tyler Thigpen—Kansas City Chiefs

Kyle Boller—Baltimore Ravens (2003-08)

Potential Franchise Quarterbacks

JaMarcus Russell—Oakland Raiders

Matt Stafford—Detroit Lions

Mark Sanchez—New York Jets

Brady Quinn—Cleveland Browns

Josh Freeman—Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Luke McCown—Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Byron Leftwitch—Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Shaun Hill—San Fransisco 49ers

Vince Young—Tennessee Titans

Sage Rosenfels—Minnesota Vikings

Tarvaris Jackson—Minnesota Vikings

Troy Smith—Baltimore Ravens

Matt Leinart—Arizona Cardinals

Up-and-Coming Franchise Quarterbacks

Matt Ryan—Atlanta Falcons- All criteria, needs another year

Joe Flacco—Baltimore Ravens- All criteria, needs another year

Matt Cassel—Kansas City Chiefs- All criteria, needs another year

Jay Cutler—Chicago Bears- All criteria, new team

Kyle Orton—Denver Broncos- All criteria, new team

Carson Palmer—Cincinnati Bengals- Needs to stay healthy

Trent Edwards—Buffalo Bills- Needs consistency

Jason Campbell—Washington Redskins- Needs consistency

David Garrard—Jacksonville Jaguars- Needs consistency

Matt Schaub—Houston Texans- Needs to stay healthy

Kerry Collins—Tennessee Titans- Needs consistency

Matt Hasselbeck—Seattle Seahawks- Needs consistency/stay healthy

Current Franchise Quarterbacks

Drew Brees—New Orleans Saints

Phillip Rivers—San Diego Chargers

Tom Brady—New England Patriots

Eli Manning—New York Giants

Peyton Manning—Indianapolis Colts

Aaron Rodgers—Green Bay Packers

Tony Romo—Dallas Cowboys

Donovan McNabb—Philadelphia Eagles

Ben Roethlisberger—Pittsburgh Steelers

Kurt Warner—Arizona Cardinals

Jake Delhomme—Carolina Panthers

Chad Pennington—Miami Dolphins