Pennington to the Chiefs makes perfect sense

by ChiefDJ on Aug 7, 2008 6:28 PM CDT Comment 9 comments

Chad Pennington career stats:

65.6% completion percentage
13,738 passing yards
82 TD
55 INT
88.9 QB Rating (by comparison, Tom Brady's is 92.9)

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Let me start out by making sure everyone understands. I DO NOT WANT CHAD PENNINGTON TO BE THE STARTING QB FOR THE K.C. CHIEFS.... EVER!

However...

Chad Pennington is one of the smartest QBs in the league, he simply does not have a great deal of athletic ability. If he had Peyton Mannings body, he would probably have had a similar career.

Look at the Jets win-loss record during the Herm Edwards era there. The years that Pennington was injured (which was fairly frequent), the team tanked. But the years he was able to stay healthy, the team went to the playoffs (winning playoff games as well) every time.

Because of Penningtons frequent injuries and lack of great athletic ability, I think his time is a starter is over. But he still has great value as a backup, especially for a team like the Chiefs that is committed to developing young QBs.

If Pennington is willing to take up a mentor role (and it is not clear yet if he is) and tutor the candidates in the Chiefs search for their franchise QB, I can think of no better candidate. He also would have valuable veteran skills that far surpass Damon Huards if the Chiefs find themselves in a playoff hunt in coming years and the starter goes down.

The tie between Chad Pennington and Herm Edwards has been reaffirmed by both men since Edwards left New York for Kansas City. There is obviously a huge bond between them.

However, Brodie Croyle is also "Herm's boy" and I don't see Herm departing from "the plan" to find and develop a franchise QB just to help out a friend. I think Herm will be very upfront with Pennington about what his role with the Chiefs will be, and that role can ONLY be as a backup mentor and that might be a role that Pennington would consider more in KC beside Herm Edwards than with any other team.

Damon Huard, sorry, but the only real valuable experience you can pass on as a journeyman backup is how to hold a clipboard. If we must have a veteran backup presence, I can think of no better candidate than Chad Pennington.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Arrowhead Pride's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Arrowhead Pride writers or editors.

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No way

Signing a 32 year old is against the youth movement, and Herm knows people will not like it. Plus Huard played really well tonight.

by Vince D on Aug 7, 2008 11:07 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

No Pennington! Period!

All About The Exclamation Points!!!

by Goldzone on Aug 8, 2008 2:36 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Pennington's Younger Than Huard

So it’s not really going against the youth movement because we’d be getting younger at backup QB…and if we can get him for less than we pay Huard, we’d be saving some money.

And just to correct a common misconception, youth movements are about building the core of your team around younger players in the hopes of developing them into good veterans, they’re not about dumping all of the experience from your roster just for the sake of being younger. You still need experienced players at some positions to help bring your young players along, and QB is one of those positions.

Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.

by UCrawford on Aug 8, 2008 9:59 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

The good thing is...

I don’t think Pennington would want to come to KC if he can’t compete to start.

by Vince D on Aug 8, 2008 12:54 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

I think he wants to play and the Dolphins offer him the best chance to do that. If he’s getting offered nothing but backup slots, then maybe we’ve got a shot at him. But there are a couple of teams desperate for a QB this year. Minnesota might figure in too, maybe Chicago.

Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.

by UCrawford on Aug 8, 2008 4:01 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs