John Skelton and the 3 Worst NFL Players Winning Preseason Battles

Every preseason positional battle will ultimately yield a winner, but sometimes a winner is elected by default. 

A few players are in the lead of their respective competition, yet aren't exactly thoroughly impressing their respective coaching staff. 

John Skelton instantly comes to mind.

With two weeks to go until the regular season kicks off, let's take a look at the worst players currently winning positional competitions. 

Austin Howard

Austin Howard is winning the New York Jets' competition for the starting right tackle position by default. 

We all know about the pass-blocking deficiencies of Wayne Hunter, and how porous he's been in the Jets' first two preseason games. 

With Gang Green facing the likes of Mario Williams, LaMarr Woodley and J.J. Watt, all pass-rushers who'll be attacking the team's right tackle spot, the coaching staff realized Hunter's ineptitude made him a huge liability. 

Although New York wants to return to a ground-and-pound style of offense in 2012, there's no way Mark Sanchez will develop as a quarterback if he isn't given ample time to deliver the football. 

Howard went undrafted out of Northern Iowa in 2010. He was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles and played in four games that season. In 2011, he was signed to the Baltimore Ravens' practice squad in September, but the Jets claimed him in November. 

We don't know what type of player the 6'7'', 333-pound Howard can be, but it's telling that he's only appeared in four games early in his career and spent last season on the practice squad. 

John Skelton

The quarterback situation in Arizona is pretty bad. 

Kevin Kolb, the team's $65 million man, has thoroughly disappointed in the preseason. Having said that, he's coming off a resilient effort against the Tennessee Titans on Thursday in which he played with the second and third team. 

Given a glorious opportunity to firmly take the lead in the quarterback competition, Skelton's underwhelmed. 

After a trio of respectable performances, the former seventh-round choice regressed on Thursday night against Tennessee. 

He completed 4-of-10 passes for 40 yards with an interception. 

Skelton is still winning the battle for the starting spot, but he has been far from impressive. 

Kevin Ogletree

The Dallas Cowboys receivers are dealing with a slew of injuries right now, with Miles Austin still nursing a hamstring he injured during training camp. Meanwhile, Dez Bryant has a sore knee.

Both wideouts should be ready for the season opener against the New York Giants. Therefore, a battle for the No. 3 wide receiver spot has been ongoing since the start of training camp.

Right now, receivers coach Jimmy Robinson says Kevin Ogletree has a "slight lead" in the competition, according to Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News. 

Other Cowboys wideouts battling for the No. 3 position include Dwayne Harris, Andre Holmes, Tim Benford and Cole Beasley.

Ogletree has hauled in five passes for 72 yards in the team's first two preseason games, and he has potential, but he's far from a proven commodity. 

During his first three years in Dallas, he has 25 catches for 294 yards and has yet to catch a touchdown. 

King Dunlap

Prompted by Jason Peters tearing his Achilles tendon, the Philadelphia Eagles signed Demetress Bell to a five-year, $34.5 contract to man the left tackle spot in 2012 and bolster an offensive line that's struggled in the past. 

Unfortunately, he's been slow to acclimate to odd-man defensive fronts and has struggled as the team's left tackle in training camp and the preseason. 

Therefore, 6'9'' King Dunlap was given first-team reps in practice and he started the team's second preseason game against the New England Patriots. 

He didn't put on a horrible performance, but he's extremely inexperienced and slow moving off the snap. Dunlap has started seven games during his Eagles career that began in 2009, and manned the left guard spot in 2011.