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Thread: Thigpen, The QB hope for the future?

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    Default Thigpen, The QB hope for the future?

    Thigpen is now the Chiefs’ QB hope for the future

    By ADAM TEICHER

    The Kansas City Star


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    DAVID EULITT
    Tyler Thigpen struggled against the Raiders early in the season and then made a dramatic improvement last week.
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    The thought of getting a well-quarterbacked game like the one provided last week by Tyler Thigpen helped sustain the Chiefs through a long, tumultuous offseason.
    They of course believed such a game would be delivered instead by Brodie Croyle and not Thigpen, who made his second career start last week against the Jets in New York.
    But in a season already full of unexpected turns, Thigpen is suddenly a little more than the Chiefs’ quarterback of the moment. He, and no longer Croyle, is also their hope for the future.
    “In a perfect world, you’d like to see him develop into somebody you could really trust as a solid football player,” veteran guard Brian Waters said. “If there were three games left in the season, I wouldn’t say that’s enough time to qualify him as that. With nine games left, if he can continue to grow and have solid performances like last week, you have to respect that and think he could be our quarterback.
    “In my mind, I’m not hoping all of a sudden he’s a great performer. I just want him to be consistent. If he can do that, you have to take that into the evaluation of whether he’s a guy you can stick with.”
    The Chiefs have a considerable amount invested in this Thigpen experiment, in Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay and beyond. If he can use the last nine games to secure the quarterback spot for next year, that frees the Chiefs to concentrate on repairing their numerous other deficiencies.
    That, in turn, would speed the rebuilding process.
    The notion of Thigpen as the Chiefs’ permanent starting quarterback seemed ridiculous early in the season given his sloppy play. Even now, it’s just one game, but the Chiefs haven’t had a well-quarterbacked game like Thigpen’s against the Jets for quite some time.
    Expectations for Thigpen are soaring, something coach Herm Edwards didn’t want to see. The last thing he wants is an overburdened Thigpen, so he spent most of the week trying to downplay them.
    “Let’s don’t anoint him,” Edwards said. “Don’t put so much pressure on this poor guy. He went from Atlanta, where everybody was going, ‘Whoa, whoa,’ and all of a sudden he plays this game, his second start, he plays good.
    “He’s still learning. He has to keep playing, keep growing.”
    But there is no denying Edwards and the Chiefs are eager to see whether Thigpen can play so well again. The Bucs have a stronger and quicker defensive team than the Jets.
    Passing lanes, if they exist at all, will close much faster.
    “He’s got to be careful of these guys, be careful where he throws the ball, Edwards said. “These guys react very well and get after the quarterback. They play very, very fast. That’s the thing he’s going to have to realize. They can close on the football. You’d better be dead-on perfect. If you’re not, it’s going the other way.
    “What he has to do is not press. It’s like anything. When you have a decent game, the next game you want to do better and you end up pressing. He doesn’t need to press. He needs to play like he did. What I liked about him last week is he played … under control with his nerves. He was very calm.”
    The Chiefs tried to make things easier for Thigpen against the Jets by frequently going without a huddle and spreading the field with receivers. He played in a spread offense in college.
    Whatever the reason, Thigpen played much better than he did earlier in the season. The Chiefs are hopeful but not certain it’s genuine improvement and not just one of those unexplainable, out of character games.
    “Maybe the light went on for him,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden said. “All it takes sometimes is confidence. You watch him snap some of those outside breaking routes, like the touchdown he threw at the end of the first half, those are big-time throws. Sometimes all it takes is success. Success can be such a great teacher.”
    At the least, Thigpen got the attention of Ronde Barber, the veteran Tampa Bay cornerback. Barber said he’d never even heard of Thigpen until he arrived for work on Wednesday, when the Bucs began preparing for Sunday’s game.
    “He’s impressive for a guy nobody knows about,” Barber said. “He obviously got better when he knew he was going to be the guy. You could tell he had a week of practice under his belt against New York. He played with some confidence. He definitely has control of the offense.
    “To me, he looks like an option. He looks like somebody they could use long-term there.”

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    Oh good lord, one good game against a mediocre team and this guy is the answer to our future?

    Sorry gang, we said we needed 16 games to determine that with Croyle, there is no way we can say Thigpen is that after just one good game.

    This is how it goes though, so if Thigpen comes out and throws 5 interceptions and is sacked 3 times, then these very same stupid sports writers will turn on him. Much like a lot of us will.

    Personally, I hope he turns into the next Tony Romo, I hope he is a super talented, pro-bowl calendar quarterback!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hayvern View Post
    Oh good lord, one good game against a mediocre team and this guy is the answer to our future?

    Sorry gang, we said we needed 16 games to determine that with Croyle, there is no way we can say Thigpen is that after just one good game.

    This is how it goes though, so if Thigpen comes out and throws 5 interceptions and is sacked 3 times, then these very same stupid sports writers will turn on him. Much like a lot of us will.

    Personally, I hope he turns into the next Tony Romo, I hope he is a super talented, pro-bowl calendar quarterback!
    AMEN!!

  4. #4

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    I agree with Herm.

    Wait... did I REALLY just say that?

    Don't pressure the guy. Thigpen had confidence against the Jets.. I dunno why, maybe because he knew for a fact that he couldn't get benched no matter how poorly he played.

    Still, we can't expect too much from him yet. But we did learn one thing: Thigpen CAN make those passes. He CAN stay poised in the pocket. He CAN make excellent decisions, and he CAN make plays with his feet.

    Will he do it again against Tampa Bay? I sure hope so, but let's not make the mistake of resting our entire franchise's future on this young man's shoulders either way.

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    Look, we can't let this happen. Thigpen may turn out to be a worthwhile stop gap for the rest of this season, and maybe next season. But he is not the long-term solution to the Chiefs QB problem.

    Herm and Carl would love nothing more than to pretend that the answer to the Chiefs problems has been on the roster all along. That they didn't screw up by not drafting a franchise QB over the past two seasons.

    Thigpen can keep us competitive in a spread offense. Like the Wildcat with Miami, you can fool teams for a few games with a unique offense, but when they eventually figure it out, it goes to pot. Thigpen is not a good QB outside of a spread offense. He doesn't have the physical talents, the instincts, or the field vision. I'm not running him down - he may turn out to be a good backup. But if we pretend he is the long term solution, all you are doing is buying Herm more time.

    If Thigpen wins three of the next nine games (it's sad when you're rooting for a 33% win percentage), I say we keep him to start next year while grooming our QB of the future (Stafford, hopefully). If he goes 0-9, or gets hurt, then we just have to shrug of the Jets game as a novelty.

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    I told you guys that Thigpen has the potential to be someone big. All he has to do is do is "bloom" or in other words have more time as starter for now. I'm not saying that he should stay as starter but let's not make the same mistake as we did with Gannon.
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    Quote Originally Posted by PawnshopMarimba View Post
    I agree with Herm.

    Wait... did I REALLY just say that?

    Don't pressure the guy. Thigpen had confidence against the Jets.. I dunno why, maybe because he knew for a fact that he couldn't get benched no matter how poorly he played.

    Still, we can't expect too much from him yet. But we did learn one thing: Thigpen CAN make those passes. He CAN stay poised in the pocket. He CAN make excellent decisions, and he CAN make plays with his feet.

    Will he do it again against Tampa Bay? I sure hope so, but let's not make the mistake of resting our entire franchise's future on this young man's shoulders either way.
    I disagree with Herm:

    Pressure the HELL out of this guy. Let him know this is his window to put up or shut up.

    Want a long-term job? Get your a** to work!


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    Quote Originally Posted by jmlamerson View Post
    Look, we can't let this happen. Thigpen may turn out to be a worthwhile stop gap for the rest of this season, and maybe next season. But he is not the long-term solution to the Chiefs QB problem.

    Herm and Carl would love nothing more than to pretend that the answer to the Chiefs problems has been on the roster all along. That they didn't screw up by not drafting a franchise QB over the past two seasons.

    Thigpen can keep us competitive in a spread offense. Like the Wildcat with Miami, you can fool teams for a few games with a unique offense, but when they eventually figure it out, it goes to pot. Thigpen is not a good QB outside of a spread offense. He doesn't have the physical talents, the instincts, or the field vision. I'm not running him down - he may turn out to be a good backup. But if we pretend he is the long term solution, all you are doing is buying Herm more time.

    If Thigpen wins three of the next nine games (it's sad when you're rooting for a 33% win percentage), I say we keep him to start next year while grooming our QB of the future (Stafford, hopefully). If he goes 0-9, or gets hurt, then we just have to shrug of the Jets game as a novelty.
    I agree with everything except Stafford. He showed me absolutely NOTHING today. And his "spirals", if you can even CALL them that, look like total sh*t.

    Sanchez and Tebow are back on the top of the charts with me. Tebow has ideal conditions to play under, but he totally DOMINATED Georgia today.
    I don't think Sanchez HAS the same ideal conditions, and he's struggled against tough defenses, but his technique and form are NFL-Ready right now.


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    Quote Originally Posted by Darth CarlSatan View Post
    I agree with everything except Stafford. He showed me absolutely NOTHING today. And his "spirals", if you can even CALL them that, look like total sh*t.

    Sanchez and Tebow are back on the top of the charts with me. Tebow has ideal conditions to play under, but he totally DOMINATED Georgia today.
    I don't think Sanchez HAS the same ideal conditions, and he's struggled against tough defenses, but his technique and form are NFL-Ready right now.
    Im not so sure about Sanchez ... and I lived in USC country the last 4 years (about 10 miles from the campus). Hasnt he been hurt a few times since he was given the starting job? Im not sure I might be getting him mixed up with Booty. He does have a decent NFL type technique and delivery with decent field vision.

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    Quote Originally Posted by jap1 View Post
    Im not so sure about Sanchez ... and I lived in USC country the last 4 years (about 10 miles from the campus). Hasnt he been hurt a few times since he was given the starting job? Im not sure I might be getting him mixed up with Booty. He does have a decent NFL type technique and delivery with decent field vision.
    Booty was the QB with the major back surgery. Sanchez's injury list is pretty tame; he broke the thumb on his throwing hand in fall practice 2007, was out for the first game, then came back for the next game.
    In fall camp 2008, he suffered a dislocated knee cap, which the trainers were able to put immediately back in place. He was out three weeks, but started the opener of the regular season, and had a great game making 26 of 35 for a total of 338 yds.

    As far as the "Thug Quotient" goes; he had one episode of "he said/she said" which was dismissed, and he broke a window at a fraternity party.


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