Sage Rosenfels: Underrated?

It may be 4th-and-long for Sage Rosenfels' career; however, I think he may be capable of throwing up a Hail Mary for a touchdown. 

Rosenfels has spent most of his nine years in the NFL bouncing around, mostly as a backup or spot starter. That is a tough assignment in itself; going from one team to another year after year, sitting on the bench most of the time.

Given the opportunity to start, Rosenfels would have an opportunity to have a bad game or two without the constant thought in the back of his head that he will lose the job. It would not only be a huge confidence booster for him, but also give him a comfort level he has never had a chance to experience.

There are many arguments against Rosenfels: his touchdown-to-interception ratio, his low passer rating, the criticism can't perform in big games, so on and so forth. If one were to think about it, those exact same arguments could be made against teammate Tarvaris Jackson.

With John David Booty not given a chance to start at quarterback in Minnesota, the team is left with two QBs who have the same arguments against them. The difference is Rosenfels has nine years of experience in the league.

If you look at the career numbers for Rosenfels and Jackson, they break down as follows:

Rosenfels

Years of experience: 9

Total games played: 32 (only 12 of which were starts).

Pass attempts to completions ratio: 351 of 562—a 65.2 completion percentage

Total passing yards: 4,156

Overall yards per game average: 129.9

Average yards per pass: 7.4

TDs-to-INTs: 30-to-29

Overall passer rating: 81.2

Jackson

Years of experience: 4

Total games played: 25 (19 starts)

Pass attempts to completions ratio:306-524—career completion percentage of 58.4

Total passing yards: 3,442

Overall yards per game average: 137.7

Average yards per pass: 6.6

TDs-to-INTs: 20-to-18

Overall Passer Rating: 76.5

So looking at the numbers, Rosenfels and Jackson have similar numbers with almost the same amount of playing time. The one big difference that people seem to be missing: Rosenfels has never had the receivers to throw to that Jackson has. 

When I look at all of that, I think, given the opportunity, Sage Rosenfels could be a true success story. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he is the next Tom Brady. What I am saying is he may very well be an underrated and unrealized upgrade at the QB position to Tarvaris Jackson.

Sage Rosenfels may just be the experienced field general the Vikings need to kick start the offense from being one-dimensional to a two-dimensional attack. At the minimum, it could take a little pressure of the running game.

This may be his last chance; his last second, fourth quarter Hail Mary to win the championship. Truth be told, I think he will complete that proverbial pass. I think he will do a fine job and maybe create a noteworthy career after all.