Quarterback Shuffle

Most quarterback draft classes would look weak compared to the Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, Ryan Tannehill, Matt Weadon, and Russell Wilson draft class of a year ago. Perhaps due to the perceived weak draft class this year there has been significant shuffling of quarterbacks in the NFL this offseason. It all started with the San Francisco 49ers trading Alex Smith to the Kansas City Chiefs. The dynamic emergence of Colin Kaepernick made the former top pick in the 2005 NFL Draft expendable. The 49ers replaced the backup Smith with backup Colt McCoy from Cleveland. Smith's arrival in Kansas City made previous starter Matt Cassel expendable. Cassel moved to Minnesota. He'll back up young Vikings starter Christian Ponder. A proven, veteran starter backing up a young, developing quarterback will also cut down on the sleepless night of head coach Leslie Frazier and the rest of the Vikings coaching staff. With Cassel gone the Chiefs added former New Orleans Saints backup Chase Daniel to back up the newly acquired Smith. The Buffalo Bills cut ties with Ryan Fitzpatrick only a couple of years after signing him to a nice extension to be their franchise quarterback. That didn't work so Fitzpatrick is now the backup to the young, developing Jake Locker in Tennessee. That sounds similar to the situation in Minnesota. With Fitzpatrick, the Titans no longer needed veteran backup Matthew Hasselbeck. Unwanted in Tennessee, Hasselbeck is now backing up Andrew Luck in Indianapolis. Drew Stanton was the backup to Luck but he's in Arizona now. With former Cardinals starter Kevin Kolb signing with Buffalo, Stanton could be the starter but then again maybe he won't. The Cardinals might trade for Oakland Raiders starter Carson Palmer. Palmer became available when the Raiders traded a couple of picks to the Seattle Seahawks for Matt Flynn. That left Russell Wilson as the only passer on the Seahawks roster. Free agent Tyler Thigpen could be headed there as the backup to the young Wilson.

I'm not sure how any of this shuffling will affect the draft prospects of West Virginia's Geno Smith, USC's Matt Barkley, Florida St.'s E.J. Manuel, NC St.'s Mike Glennon, Syracuse's Ryan Nassib or any of the other newbies. Perhaps, not at all. Proven veterans Alex Smith and Carson Palmer might keep Kansas City and Arizona from spending a top-10 pick on a quarterback but those teams still might look for one that slips through the first round. The Chiefs would have to wait for round three as they gave up their 2nd for Smith. Kolb and Flynn might not prevent the Bills or the Raiders form spending their top-10 picks on a quarterback. Flynn has never been a starter. Kolb was shaky, at best, as the Cardinals savior.

It's all fun and games and a lot of shuffling right now.