Whoosh, whoosh...trades are swirling....
Okay, so that was a stupid attempt to demonstrate trade rumors swirling. Nevertheless, the rumors of Tyler Thigpen and the Jacksonville Jaguars out there. Whether they come to fruition is another question.
What does Todd Haley think about the trade rumors?
"I’ll talk about the guys practicing. Period. That’s my job: coaching, best I can."
Despite the whirlwind of activity that has been printed and typed today, the Kansas City Chiefs continued on with practice. Head coach Todd Haley even indicated which quarterback would be first off the bench following Matt Cassel's first half action.
It will be (Drum roll)....Tyler Thigpen.
Thigpen moves ahead of Brodie Croyle heading into Saturday night's game against the Seattle Seahawks as the primary backup to Cassel.
This isn't any sort of statement by the Chiefs coaching staff. No, they're not saying this is the depth chart. They just want to see more of Thigpen because, according to Haley, there's still plenty to evaluate, namely his ability as a pure drop back passer.
"I don’t think there’s any doubt that when you watch him play in the game against Houston he can make some plays with his feet. He was definitely a spark for the offense, but he needs to continue to work at that aspect of his game – being a drop-back passer. Some of the accuracy isn’t where it needs to be when he’s in that mode. It’s something he’s working on and I think he’s doing that."
Now, this is something that's always bugged me as an outsider looking in. Thigpen's not a drop back passer. He's valuable because he isn't a drop back passer. If we wanted a drop back passer, wouldn't Matt Gutierrez already have the job?
He has a unique asset and that's his legs. I don't think the Chiefs should turn him into something he's not. He's simply not a traditional quarterback.
Why try to turn him into something he's not?
Check out video and a full transcript of Todd Haley's session with the media here.