Seneca Wallace Should Have a Starting Job Somewhere

Matt Hasselbeck gets hurt and again and the Seattle Seahawks will call on Seneca Wallace to save the day.

The team has tried to make him a receiver for years, but he has resisted this idea. Some people might say that’s selfish, but I think he's right.

Wallace is the best backup quarterback in the league.

Now, there are some other solid back up quarterbacks that have done a good job—Billy Volek, Sage Rosenfels, even Todd Collins. But Seneca is better than any of these guys. Let's take a look at some stats:

    Comp%/Yds/TD/INT/RTG

Wallace            58.8/2974/23/13/83.0

Volek                59.7/3515/26/14/84.9

Rosenfels         62.5/4156/30/29/81.2

Collins              56.7/4355/22/19/76.2

Now, someone might look at Volek and say he is arguably better. But, again, I will beg to differ.

A) Volek hasn’t taken a snap since 2007.

He had one good year in 2004, when he started 10 games for the Titans. Volek posted 2,486 yards, 18 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and a QB rating of 87.1 that year.

But that was five years ago, can anyone really expect him to be the same?

B) Wallace has taken snaps in each of the past five years.

Last year, with a terrible offense, he posted 1,532 yards, 11 touchdowns, and three interceptions in 10 games.

When he gets reps, he doesn’t make mistakes.

Also, he has the ability to scramble and improvise—something most teams lack at the quarterback position. Because of this, Wallace is clearly the best backup in the game.

Now, on to a more interesting argument.

I believe Wallace could start for more than 50 percent of teams in the NFL.

Obviously there are the untouchables—Brees, Brady, P. Manning, E. Manning, Warner, Rivers, Palmer, Cutler, Roethlisberger, and Rogers.

Let's look at the rest of the teams, however.

Atlanta—Matt Ryan: He wouldn’t start here.

Ryan is a fabulous player and had a QB rating of 87.1 last year. This year, it looks like it's going to be higher with the addition of Tony Gonzalez.

Baltimore—Joe Flacco: Now, I will get some grief here, but Wallace is BETTER than Flacco.

He has a career rating of 80.3, throws way too many interceptions, and doesn’t play well against good defenses. He is off to a decent start this year, but I would take Wallace over Flacco, despite Flacco’s upside.

Buffalo—Trent Edwards: He has a career 81.2 QB rating, but just 22 touchdowns compared to 19 interceptions.

Wallace makes less mistakes despite a lower completion percentage. His ability to scramble is also huge. I take Wallace over Edwards.

Carolina—Jake Delhomme: This really shouldn’t be an argument, but Delhomme actually does have good numbers.

In big games, he is truly awful though. Delhomme has thrown way too many interceptions of late and is 34 years old. Wallace would run that offense well. I take Wallace over Delhomme.

Cleveland—Brady Quinn: Both Quinn and Derek Anderson lack consistency and have terrible completion percentages. They throw too many interceptions despite some good numbers.

I would need more time for Quinn to make a fair judgment, but as of now, I take Wallace over either Quinn or Anderson.

Dallas—Tony Romo: After Sunday night's game, I would think Cowboys' fans would take Wallace over Romo despite his career 94.2 passer rating and 80 touchdowns to 49 interceptions.

Despite his failure in big games, I take Romo over Wallace.

Denver—Kyle Orton: Orton knows how to win, but lacks a big arm and throws too many interceptions.

He has yet to move the Broncos offense effectively and has a career 72.4 passer rating and 32 touchdowns to 27 interceptions. I take Wallace over Orton.

Detroit—Matthew Stafford: Now, I know nobody would fair well with the Lions, but the Seahawks were pretty bad on offense last year and Wallace did just fine.

Stafford needs more time in the NFL, but right now, I would take Wallace over Stafford.

Houston—Matt Schaub: He is a career 86.9 passer rating with 34 touchdowns and 26 interceptions. Despite his good rating, he is far too inconsistent, but does have flashes of brilliance (see the Titans game).

But consistency is the name of the game and so this is a coin flip. I would take Wallace, but I couldn’t blame people for going the other way.

Jacksonville—David Garrard: Garrard has a career 84.8 rating with 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He makes good decisions, but is very inaccurate sometimes with only a 52 percent completion percentage.

In my eyes, Wallace is a better, more mobile version of Garrard. Thus, I take Wallace.

Kansas City—Matt Cassel: Moved from probably the best backup into a very tough situation in Kansas City. Last year, Cassel wowed everyone with his 89.4 passer rating and 21 touchdowns to only 11 interceptions.

This might be the system, but I think Cassel is a legit quarterback, and has a good coordinator to help him develop. I take Cassel over Wallace.

Miami—Chad Pennington: Could you imagine Wallace in the Wildcat Offense, considering he has played some receiver? How deadly!

This alone gives him an edge over Pennington. Wallace is a more athletic version of Pennington and brings much of his good decision-making, poise, and savvy. I take Wallace over Pennington.

Minnesota—Brett Favre: Because of Favre’s bad decision-making, I have to put him here and not as a lock. Despite that, he is a future Hall-of-Famer and brings lots of experience and wisdom to the Vikings.

If he continues managing the game like he has done, then I take Favre over Wallace. But if he ends up like the Favre of the second half of last year, I might have to change my mind.

NY Jets—Mark Sanchez: It looks like Rex Ryan picked the right man for the job—Sanchez has a 91.3 rating in his first two games

However, it is much too early to tell whether or not this can be sustained. Let this be an undecided based on inconclusive evidence.

Oakland—JaMarcus Russell: Now, this makes too much sense. Russell has a career 70.8 passer rating and has started off this year terribly.

He has 16 touchdowns to 14 interceptions, a terrible completion percentage, and is not accurate enough on his deep balls. Wallace would be perfect for this West Coast Offense.

San Francisco—Shaun Hill: Hill is 9-3 as a starter, doesn’t make mistakes, and is crafty.

Wallace is much of the same, but is better and more mobile. They have almost identical stats, but the mobility factor puts Wallace over the top. He is perfect for the West Coast.

Seattle—Matt Hasselbeck: He has all the accolades, experience, and a great stat line: 84.2 rating, 150 touchdowns to 96 interceptions.

But Hasselbeck is going to be 34 soon, he can’t stay healthy, and doesn’t have a strong arm. In my opinion, the Seahawks are better when Wallace plays. Last year, and apparently this year, will help prove my point.

St. Louis—Mark Bulger: Bulger has a career 85.2 rating, but is having a rough year. Who can blame him? The Rams are terrible.

He hasn’t had a passer rating above 71 in his last two years, though, and I think his prime years are done. Wallace has proven his numbers and is still in the prime of his career, not even 30, and hasn’t taken many hits. I would take Wallace over Bulger.

Tampa Bay—Byron Leftwich: I am a big Leftwich fan, and he hasn’t gotten his fair share most of the time. He has a career 80.3 passer rating and has played well this year.

His career stats of 58 touchdowns to 40 interceptions is also pretty good. I think this one is a wash—Leftwich brings more of an arm, Wallace is more accurate. Depending on what they are looking for either could start.

Washington—Jason Campbell: Now this one makes the MOST sense out of any team.

Wallace is literally the version of Campbell that they want him to become.

He doesn’t have as good of an arm, but is more mobile and is just flat-out better than Campbell. Get owner Daniel Snyder to trade for Wallace right now. A 9-7 win over the Rams is embarrassing. I take Wallace.

Tallying it up, I have Wallace starting for 14 teams. Pretty close to my prediction.

How does someone so good get stuck as a backup and people like Tarvaris Jackson, Chris Simms, Quincy Carter, Josh McCown, Tim Rattay, Kyle Boller, Brody Croyle, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Drew Hensen, etc., get chances to start?

It has always boggled my mind.

Regardless, someone should take a chance on Wallace. He could turn your season around, as he is a very good starter in my mind.