Why The Patriots QB Situation Is Scary

It's become hard to fathom exactly what Bill Belichick is thinking regarding Patriots quarterbacks.

The Patriots have recently cut two quarterbacks, Kevin O'Connell and ex-Raider Andrew Walter, making that position perilously thin as the team enters the regular season. Currently, there are only two on the roster: Brady and undrafted rookie Brian Hoyer.

The Kevin O'Connell cut was particularly surprising, given the fact that the Patriots had invested a third-round pick in him the year before. In fact, he had overtaken Matt Gutierrez (who played well in preseason) as third quarterback behind Brady last year.

This snafu comes one year after Brady demonstrated conclusively that he was, in fact, mortal. Just this month, in fact, we have seen continued fragility—the sore shoulder suffered after Albert Haynesworth's sack.

Of course, Matt Cassel stepped in and played well last year, but several factors contributed to that. Most notably, Cassel had spent years learning the team's offensive system. As a longtime backup, he was able to develop slowly—to learn the game before being thrown to the wolves.

Even still, Cassel had problems adjusting at first (witness his high sack total in the early games). However, the familiarity with the team and its personnel undoubtedly helped him lead the team to an 11-5 record and nearly to the playoffs.

Contrast that to our current situation. If Brady should go down early, Hoyer would be the team's only real option at quarterback. That should scare any fan.

Hoyer, despite being impressive in the final preseason game, is still a rookie. Rookies, even talented ones, need a good deal of time to develop, and the fact that Hoyer went undrafted means NFL teams did not see him as a finished product.

(Of course, NFL teams are often comically wrong when it comes to personnel, but the odds that Hoyer can step in and play immediately are similar to my odds of winning the lottery.)

Even were the Pats to pick up a veteran player, the situation would still be troublesome. Quarterback is the hardest position to learn in football, and the veteran would have to step in without the benefit of training camp or preseason games.

Daunte Culpepper tried that with the Lions last year, and we all saw the results.

Unfortunately, the quarterbacks in the league with recent Patriots experience are all currently employed by other teams. Gutierrez was picked up by Scott Pioli and the Chiefs. O'Connell was signed by the Lions.

Should the Pats have to make an emergency call in the middle of the season, to whom would it go? Vinny Testaverde?