Thigpen on Chiefs Four QBs: 'We understand how the business works'

by Joel Thorman on Sep 17, 2009 6:19 PM CDT in 2009 Kansas City Chiefs Campaign

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Tyler Thigpen talked with Nick Wright of 610 Sports after practice yesterday.

Wright asked him about the Chiefs decision to keep four quarterbacks when most teams usually keep only three. The thinking is that the Chiefs will, at some point, trim down to three quarterbacks. The odd man out will be between Thigpen, Matt Gutierrez and Brodie Croyle.

I talked about that this morning and pointed out that head coach Todd Haley seemed content with Croyle's performance last Sunday so he's probably staying put. Probably.

You gotta hand it to Thigpen. He doesn't really back away from many questions. When talking about the Chiefs quarterback situation, he said, "We understand the way the business works." While he does give the backup quarterback cliches of always being ready, he understands the situation.

Whether he's done enough to merit consideration for the 53 man roster once/if the Chiefs go to three quarterbacks is debatable.

Thigpen touched on that topic as well as a few others. Check out the What's Wright website for the audio. Below are some notes I took.

How does being a backup when the starter is injured affect your preparation throughout the week?

"It really doesn't affect it at all. You just gotta be, as a backup quarterback, be ready at any time no matter what the situation is. I think that goes for any backup quarterback. You've always gotta be prepared."

What's it like working with the other three quarterbacks when you know teams usually don't keep quarterbacks?

"I think the biggest thing is that we understand the way the business works. Right now, we're all good friends, but we understand, at the end of the day, not normally do they keep quarterbacks but right now we're keeping four quarterbacks.

"That's the decision that's not up to us. Right now we're just we're just competing for a job and going out there and trying to make our team better."

Why is there a belief that you can't be a traditional drop-back passer?

"That's those people jobs. To be out there and be critics and judge. I feel like I've come a long way from where I've been at. I feel like I've developed and settled down into being an under center quarterback."

Is the traditional drop-back passer something you can do or do you just prefer a different offense?

"I think any quarterback wants an offense that fits their physical abilities but, as a quarterback, you have to be able to play in every style of offense.

"Not every team is going to ble able to perform to a quarterback and their abilities so you gotta be ready to play in any sort of offense."

Do you feel you've already proven your critics wrong or is this just a new round of criticism?

"There's always going to be criticism. Like I said, that's their job and that's what'll keep them writing the papers and internet blogs or whatever, but my job is to go out there and make this team better and not worry about the other stuff."

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Comments

Even though I vote for him to be the odd man out, I do like the guy.

Absolutely should we hand it to him for always speaking out, yet being a respectful team player.

-cw

Watching the 2009-2010 Chiefs 12 hours ahead of you (in Taipei, Taiwan).
Twittering my every move. Don't act like you're not even slightly interested.

by webby37 on Sep 17, 2009 6:32 PM CDT reply actions

The arrowspread

Ok—-I may be crazy, but I think Thiggy should be kept around just in case they have to go to a radical offense again. The offensive line has not yet proven to be any better than the disastrous group of last year. The better part of last year was with the spread.

by route 66 on Sep 17, 2009 6:38 PM CDT reply actions

Sure...

But its not a long term solution. Add to the mix that we no longer have the offensive coordinator that came up with the offense, I don’t think we will ever see it again.

by Lucasjr5 on Sep 17, 2009 8:03 PM CDT up reply actions

Just waiting

for someone to say Yeah—you’re crazy. Figured I’d beat ya to it.

by route 66 on Sep 17, 2009 6:43 PM CDT reply actions

I think we attempt to put Matty G on the ps

and bring up Lance Long

Raider Hater!!

by Philthy_1 on Sep 17, 2009 6:44 PM CDT reply actions

None of the 3 backup QBs

are practice squad eligible. It is keep them, trade them or release them

by Fourstrike89 on Sep 17, 2009 7:38 PM CDT up reply actions

Great idea---

bring up Long

by route 66 on Sep 17, 2009 6:47 PM CDT reply actions

I don't see why they'd put him on the practice squad and leave Lawrence on the 53

He’s obviously better than Q by a LONG shot…….no pun intended

Raider Hater!!

by Philthy_1 on Sep 17, 2009 6:49 PM CDT reply actions

Maybe-----

he just has to learn the playbook first

by route 66 on Sep 17, 2009 6:50 PM CDT reply actions

He's a Haley guy

all he needs to know is the routes really

Raider Hater!!

by Philthy_1 on Sep 17, 2009 6:54 PM CDT reply actions

Long

Is not ready. And wont be this year.. Read the write ups on him, Q has better potential. Long is not ready to be an NFL player. Sorry to burst your bubble.

Chiefs FTW

by The_IT_Guy on Sep 18, 2009 8:02 AM CDT up reply actions

My wife just said---

If you have four quarterbacks——then maybe you have a Whole back.

by route 66 on Sep 17, 2009 6:59 PM CDT reply actions 2 recs

Or a Dollarback

Don't Fuccop Succop

by chicks_love_chiefs on Sep 17, 2009 7:01 PM CDT up reply actions

Wish we did buddy

Raider Hater!!

by Philthy_1 on Sep 17, 2009 7:04 PM CDT reply actions

Kinda wish Thigpen was a douche...

that way it’s so much easier to part with him…

by worc on Sep 17, 2009 7:26 PM CDT reply actions

It's interesting that Haley does have some special plays for Thigpen. I'd guess

that Haley, naturally, wants to perfect his basic offense first but is also thinking about some of the unusual things that Thigpen brings. Haley is very creative and just the fact that he is keeping Thigpen around indicates that he still may hope to use him in some other (Wildcat, or a variation) ways. It will be interesting to see.

by jcox31mc on Sep 17, 2009 7:31 PM CDT reply actions

Or has no other option..

But cutting him..

Wildcat is a good change of pace now and then, but at the end of the day I think we understand that they aren’t keeping 4 QBs because they love the Wildcat so much. If they get a decent offer they will part with Thiggy in a second.

This may be an attempt to drive up his value without having to put him in high risk situations. I’m not saying he won’t help the offense, he probably will, but most backup QBs never see the field in a season, especially 3rd stringers. He gets a couple TD runs/passes in a game, then maybe we get a few offers knocking on the door.

by Lucasjr5 on Sep 17, 2009 8:08 PM CDT up reply actions

I wish

I wish I felt like that was the case. I think they see value in Thiggy, and he does have value. I think they are waiting for a little bit to see if any happens on the injury front before the trade deadline. If someone gets hurt they could come knocking, since they know we have interest in trading him and they also have the context of a “price” in the jags rumors.

by jakethesnake27 on Sep 17, 2009 9:27 PM CDT up reply actions

I could just see him running the quarterback draw a few times and then all

of a sudden, he drops back and hits a long bomb. He has the arm.

by jcox31mc on Sep 17, 2009 8:25 PM CDT reply actions

No. He. Doesn't.

If he had even a decent arm, he would be #2. Dude can’t throw any better than Mark Bradley or LJ. Any of those guys could pull off the wildcat as well or better than Thigpen.

by Chiefsfan1970 on Sep 17, 2009 10:38 PM CDT up reply actions

wow you just don't stop do you?

And guess what Croyle’s comp % is just barley above Thigpens,with 200 less throws and years of getting starter reps in the off season, so what does that say about him.

Herm is gone things are better with that one move!!

by bringbacktheglory on Sep 17, 2009 11:03 PM CDT up reply actions

lol

I just noticed you stole that comment from a guy on another post, that is funny you are so desperate to say something bad you have to steal it.

Herm is gone things are better with that one move!!

by bringbacktheglory on Sep 17, 2009 11:17 PM CDT up reply actions

Trade Thigpen.

Maybe he might fit into this offense, but I just don’t see it happening.

by elektroman3000 on Sep 18, 2009 3:35 AM CDT reply actions

OK OK OK....

Thigpen is absolutely one of the worst QB’s in the league.
Pioli and Hailey missed their chance to trade Thigpen for decent value.

Put it to you like this, and you tell me if it feels the same way.

Hockey: Take Ovechkin for example. When he touches the puck, everyone stands up because they think they will see the next greatest goal.
When Thigpen throws, people stand up hoping it’s not intercepted.

Thigpen has trouble with accuracy and reading defenses among other things.

He will be released next week after Cassel shows he is healthy.

by HaySoose on Sep 18, 2009 7:11 AM CDT reply actions

Bye bye Thigpen

We need O line help, why waste a roster spot on a possible trick play. Let’s face it we have seen the best Thigpen has to offer, and that does not fit with the current offense. Would it be nice to have that option…Sure it would but we need a TE and O-line help and we can’t keep 4 QB’s much longer. Gut is young and will develop into this offense better than Thigpen will, He runs the offense better and the offense looks better when he is in there. I believe in time he will be Coyle’s replacement in the future without all the injury issues and may even develop into the Cassel under Brady type of back-up QB.

If Thigpen has any value now is the time to get it, but if there’s no interest in him than release him and bring in players for the positions of need. We are not going to change the whole offense for one player, and the one time they put him in as a wildcat option the whole offense looked lost and confused. To be honest I don’t see why the same type of play can not be run using either Croye or Gut. But then again I’m not a High paid professional football coach. I like to think they know more than we do at this point.

is it me? or isn't about time the Lamar Hunt trophy belonged to His team?

I’m a Chiefs fan Dammit and I’m damn proud of it!

by KC Fanatic on Sep 18, 2009 7:54 AM CDT reply actions

Gutterrez the guy?

Just curious why everyone thinks Thigpen will be cut and not Gutterrez. If I’m a head coach looking at a career backup in Croyle, I’m asking myself which QB has the most upside. Gutterrez is more NFL-ready, but Thigpen clearly has more upside. He just needs some coaching. Gutterrez’s upside, unfortunately, is likely that he’ll be a career third stringer (if he’s even in the NFL after a few seasons). From what I saw of Gutterrez, almost all of his passes in the preseason were checkdowns. Not the kind of conservative play I want to see from a QB fighting for his job.

by Jon Yoon on Sep 18, 2009 8:07 AM CDT reply actions

Then you didn't watch preason this year.

Gutterrez took more chances down field than any of the QB’s. If he did check down, that is SMART thinking. Why risk an interception when you can just check down and let your receiver make YAC.
Gutterrez did have a few interceptions, but he also took the most chances and was throwing to people not currently on our roster.

You say Thigpen only needs coaching and has the upside. Well, he has been coached. Coached on the Vikes and Chiefs, and we are still waiting for that upside.
If I am not mistaken, he was flat out released from the Vikes. He will be flat out released by the Chiefs too.

by HaySoose on Sep 18, 2009 8:17 AM CDT up reply actions

Stupid

How in the name of God can you spend the amount of money on a QB that Chief have before they see play a game. That is not right. Thigpen should leave as soon as possible and go to a team that has an offense line, before he gets hurt. These coaches have all ready proven that that they make bad decisions. Thigpen was thrown into a bad team last year after two QB were hurt and he did an great job, it was the offense and defense that lost games

by Billy Barnes on Sep 18, 2009 8:15 AM CDT reply actions

Kind of right, kind of wrong

Thigpen should leave as soon as possible. There is a safeway in his home town that could use a bagger.
Thigpen was not thrown into a bad team last year. He chose to join the team after the offer was made. He also knew he was the 3rd string QB.

Thigpen didn’t have good numbers.
The offense had to be changed to fit him.
He only seen two receivers on the team, Gonzalez and Bowe.
he only completed 50% of the attempts to those 2 guys.

Gonzalez had 96 receptions for 1058 yards and 10 TD’s
Bowe had 86 receptions for 1022 yards and 7 TD’s
Thigpen had 230 completions for 54% 2608 yards 18 TD and 12 INT

Thigpen has lived his dream. It’s time to go home and get a 9-5 job.

by HaySoose on Sep 18, 2009 8:36 AM CDT up reply actions

I have seen alot of people give reasons to get rid of Thigpen but

I have never seen anyone try to use his stats to say he was bad, You do know his stats were better than 16 other starting QB’s in the league.

As far as just cutting Thigpen, Pioli was offered a 5th round for him and refused. I don’t see a smart business man passing on that and then getting nothing for him.
That would be like you getting an offer on your car saying no and turn around and take it the the junk yard and crushing it. That would make no sense.
If Pioli gets an offer he likes he will take it for him but until then he will be on this team.

Herm is gone things are better with that one move!!

by bringbacktheglory on Sep 18, 2009 9:33 AM CDT up reply actions

Wrong

Ranked 27th in passer rating
Ranked 29th in Yard Average
Ranked 30th in completion percentage

He did however tie for 11th with only 12 interceptions (11 games)

Because he only played in 11 games, you cant even do numbers for yards (which were good)

You can only take the numbers on the averages, and his ranks speak for him.

Pioli wanted better than a 5th, and they tried to get that by showcasing Thigpen in the last game. He blew it and looked like poop.
He has always looked like poop. Tyler had no value when the Chiefs picked him up, and its not going to cost them anything to release him.

The anology of the car?
If someone gave me a car, and I tried to sell it, Id try to get more value for it. If I couldn’t sell it because it ran like poop, then heck yes i would take it to the dump.

by HaySoose on Sep 18, 2009 9:48 AM CDT reply actions

Thigpen

On February 28th, instead of working to build theteam from the ground up, Scott Pioli chose to trade for Matt Cassel, and make him rich. After watching Tyler Thigpen develop and post a 21.6 points per game avg (Above the leagu avg), and did so with a terrible offensive line, I was hoping that he would be the starter this year.
So slowly but surely as each Cassel performance goes by, it becomes clearer that I was not looking thru rose colored glasses. Any defensive Coordinator would prefer to be able to tee of on Cassel, instead of risky blitzing the elusive Thigpen.
The decision to build from th top down is why I have not invested any hope, and of course, money in the 2009 or 2010 Chiefs.

by Sergeant King on Sep 28, 2009 9:39 PM CDT reply actions