Chad Pennington and 10 Most Bizarre Midseason NFL QB Switches Ever
Chad Pennington has just been named the starter for the Miami Dolphins this Sunday at home against the Tennessee Titans.
Does head coach Tony Sporano know something we don't? Henne isn't injured; Sporano told the Associated Press that "It is time to move...If you don't move during this month, you're going to be in the also-rans."
It's a strange turn of events in South Florida. Henne was supposed to be the future and was off to a great start. Pennington hasn't thrown a pass since Week 3 of last year.
Only time will tell if they made the right move.
That got us thinking about other strange midseason quarterback switches in NFL history. Here are the top 10 and how they worked out for the head coach who made them.
(Remember injuries don't count; no Tom Brady-for-Drew Bledsoe, or Kurt Warner-for-Trent Green....or Green-for-Warner a year later.)
No. 10: David Garrard for Byron Leftwhich
1 of 10
Team: 2007 Jacksonville Jaguars
When: Week 1
Team Record: 0-0
Head Coach: Jack Del Rio
Immediate Result: Jaguars 13-10 loss; Garrard: 17-for-30, 204 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
End of the Season Result: Jaguars finish 11-5, win AFC Wild Card Game
Technically, this isn't a "midseason" switch, but as far as bizarre, non-injury related changes go, this one might take the cake.
Byron Leftwich had certainly struggled with injuries as the Jacksoville quarterback from 2003-06, but he was the seventh overall selection in the 2003 draft and the team invested a lot of money in him.
That's what it was so stunning that the team would announce their long time back, David Garrard, a fourth round choice in 2002, as the starting quarterback, at the end of training camp. Not only that, Leftwich was cut the next day.
Outside of Jacksonville, Leftwich never achieved the type of success he did with the Jaguars, but he did earn a Super Bowl ring in 2008. Garrard, however, has become a very efficient quarterback with the Jags.
Switch: Very good decision
No. 9: Brady Quinn for Derek Anderson
2 of 10
Team: 2008 Cleveland Browns
When: Week 10
Team Record: 3-5
Head Coach: Romeo Crennel
Immediate Result: Browns 34-30 loss; Quinn 23-for-35, 239 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
End of the Season Result: Quinn benched two weeks later, Browns lost last seven games, Crennel fired
Hindsight may be 20/20, but perhaps the Browns shouldn't have traded up to select Brady Quinn in the first round of the 2007 NFL draft. That season, Derek Anderson would earn a pro bowl spot, passing for over 3,700 yards and 29 touchdowns.
Anderson did not have a good start the next year, and he was benched in favor of Quinn. It's probably not that surprising considering the Browns had given up so much to get him, but putting a Pro Bowl quarterback on the bench in favor of an unproven commodity, was mistake. The move worked for one game; that's about it.
Switch: Fairly poor decision
No. 8: Trent Dilfer for Tony Banks
3 of 10
Team: 2000 Baltimore Ravens
When: Week 9
Team Record: 5-3
Head Coach: Brian Billick
Immediate Result: Ravens 9-6 loss; Dilfer 12-for-25, 152 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT
End of the Season Result: Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV
Brian Billick had no choice but to yank his starting quarterback from a Week 8 loss at Tennessee and for the remainder of the season: Tony Banks was a turnover machine in 2000 and the offense wasn't scoring nearly enough to survive. They went an entire month without scoring a touchdown that year.
But what made this move bizarre was who Billick replaced Banks with: a failed former first rounder who also had a knack for turning the ball over. In six years with Tampa, Dilfer threw 80 interceptions and lost his job to Shaun King.
Dilfer didn't really protect the ball very well either (in just eight starts he threw 10 interceptions). But in the postseason he only threw one and the Ravens won the Super Bowl.
Switch: Extremely successful decision
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
No. 7: Terry Bradshaw for Joe Gilliam
4 of 10
Team: 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers
When: Week 7
Team Record: 4-1-1
Head Coach: Chuck Noll
Immediate Result: Steelers 24-17 win; Bradshaw 9-for-21, 130 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT, 1 rushing TD
End of the Season Result: Steelers won Super Bowl IX
Bradshaw was probably destined to take the job back from third-year quarterback Joe Gilliam: Bradshaw was a first overall selection in 1970; Gilliam was the 11th round selection two years later. Clearly the Steelers had more invested in Bradshaw.
But he was so inconsistent at the start of his career that Chuck Noll had to start 1974 with Gilliam...even though Bradshaw had won the only playoff game in team history two seasons earlier, having thrown "The Immaculate Reception."
The Steelers won under Gilliam, starting out 4-1-1 that year. But his efficiency wasn't anything special. He completed less than half of his passes and tossed twice as many interceptions (eight) as touchdowns (four).
And although Bradshaw saw Gilliams as a guy who "was better than me," Noll made the switch after Gilliam went 5-for-18 for 78 yards in a Week 6 win over Cleveland
Switch: Extremely successful, dynasty-forging decision
No. 6: Vinny Testaverde for Bernie Kosar
5 of 10
Team: 1993 Cleveland Browns
When: Week 7
Team Record: 3-2
Head Coach: Bill Belichick
Immediate Result: Browns 28-17 win; Testaverde 11-for-24, 127 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT
End of the Season Result: Browns finish with a 7-9 record
In the first year of unrestricted free agency, the Browns and head coach Bill Belichick spent a lot of money to bring in Vinny Testaverdge from the Buccaneers. Although they were the same age, the Browns believed Kosar's skills were "diminishing" and Testaverde was the future.
They were probably right, because Testaverde led the Browns to a wild-card spot the next year. And he would actually play more than a decade longer than Kosar. But Kosar, a native of the Cleveland area, was the hometown hero and benching him at the age of 30 was a stunning move.
Although it wasn't quite as big of an October shock as the Browns fans would endure two years later, when Art Modell announced the team was moving to Baltimore, it was bizarre to say the least.
Switch: Probably the right decision, not that successful, however
No. 5: Brian Griese for Rex Grossman
6 of 10
Team: 2007 Chicago Bears
When: Week 4
Team Record: 1-2
Head Coach: Lovie Smith
Immediate Result: Bears 37-27 loss; Griese 34-for-52, 286 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT
End of the Season Result: Bears finish the season 7-9
Rex Grossman was never a great quarterback for the Chicago Bears. After being a Heisman candidate as a sophomore at Florida and becoming a first round selection in 2003, he did very little. Until 2006.
He wasn't an All Pro, but he threw for 23 touchdowns and more than 3,000 yards that season. More importantly, he won 13 of 16 starts and the Bears reached Super Bowl XLI. And yes, he was pretty awful in that 29-17 loss to the Colts.
Still, it was pretty hard to imagine that just eight months later he would be banished to the bench, in favor of another washed up quarterback, Brian Griesie, who had been cast out from the Broncos job a few seasons earlier.
No matter what is going on, to bench a Super Bowl starting quarterback, just three games into the next season, has to raise some eyebrows.
Switch: Not a great, not an awful decision
No. 4: Eli Manning for Kurt Warner
7 of 10
Team: 2004 New York Giants
When: Week 11
Team Record: 5-4
Head Coach: Tom Coughlin
Immediate Result: Giants 14-10 loss; Manning 17-for-37, 162 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
End of the Season Result: Giants finish 1-6
Of course the first overall selection in that year's draft, Eli Manning, was eventually going to be given a chance to start.
But he didn't exactly have a journeyman ahead of him. Kurt Warner had washed out of St. Louis, but he was a two-time MVP and only 33 years old. And his numbers were very good after just nine games: 63 percent completion, 2,054 yards, six touchdowns, four interceptions.
This move would be less bizarre today, after Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Flacco, Matt Ryan, and Mark Sanchez proved that rookie quarterbacks can win consistently.
And considering that Coughlin made the move as the head coach of the Giants (there's a bit more scrutiny), where his career record in New York was at the time 11-14, it was a gutsy move that could have cost him his job. It didn't.
Switch: Tremendously successful
No. 3: Tommy Maddox for Kordell Stewart
8 of 10
Team: 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers
When: Week 5
Team Record: 1-2
Head Coach: Bill Cowher
Immediate Result: Steelers 32-29 loss; Maddox 22-for-32, 276 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT, 1 rushing TD
End of the Season Result: Steelers win AFC Wild Card Game, loss AFC Divisional in overtime
After a shocking career rebirth in 2001, Steelers quarterback Kordell Stewart fell fast and hard early in the next year. In Week 3, Maddox relieved Steward, completed 11 of 13 passes, and led Pittsburgh to a last-minute comeback win over Cleveland.
Considering that just 18 months earlier, Maddox was in the ill-fated XFL, Bill Cowher's choice to replace his Pro Bowl quarterback with Maddox was a surprising one.
As much of a disappointment as Stewart's career had been from 1998-2000, Maddox's NFL career was worse. Despite being a first round selection, he had yet to win a game as a starter.
But "Tommy Gunn" proved the doubters wrong, leading the Steelers to their first AFC North title and a stunning wild-card comeback win over Cleveland.
Switch: Very good decision
No. 2: Jeff George for Randall Cunningham
9 of 10
Team: 1999 Minnesota Vikings
When: Week 8
Team Record: 1-6
Head Coach: Dennis Green
Immediate Result: Vikings 40-16 win 9-6 loss; Cunningham 15-for-28, 250 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT
End of the Season Result: Vikings won eight of last 10 games, won wild card over Dallas
Cunningham was the feel-good story of the 1998 season. He had been out of football, returned after a year, joined the Vikings and quarterbacked the greatest offensive team in NFL history. Having Randy Moss, Cris Carter, Jake Reed, Robert Smith and a great offensive line helped.
In the 1998 playoffs he came within a missed Gary Anderson field goal of reaching his first Super Bowl. He played great in that NFC Championship Game loss to the Falcons.
But he struggled mightily with interceptions into the 1999 season. With the 2-3 Vikings behind 19-0 to the Lions in the second half, Dennis Green inserted Jeff George, who nearly sparked the team to a comeback win. The next week, Green named Cunningham the quarterback.
What made this so bizarre was the odyssey that both quarterbacks had endured during their careers. Cunningham was coming off his first "rebirth," while George was about to begin his third!
The No. 1 overall pick in 1990, George resurrected his career in Atlanta in 1994, washed out there, then went to the Raiders and led the NFL in passing yards. He washed out there, then joined Minnesota.
And with the Vikings in 1999, he went 8-2, threw f23 touchdowns, only 12 interceptions and racked up 2,806 yards as well as a playoff win.
Switch: Short-term successful decision; Daunte Culpepper took over the next year
No. 1: Rob Johnson for Doug Flutie
10 of 10
Team: 1999 Buffalo Bills
When: Week 17
Team Record: 10-5
Head Coach: Wade Phillips
Immediate Result: Bills win 31-7; Johnson: 24-for-32, 287 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
End of the Season Result: Bills lost AFC Wild Card ("the Music City Miracle")
This move came prior to the team's last regular season games, so techinically it wasn't "midseason." But when your a playoff team that's close enough.
Doug Flutie didn't have a great season in 1999, but he did pass for over 3,000 yards, threw 19 touchdowns and led the Bills to 10 wins and the doorstep of their first post-Jim Kelly/Marv Levy playoff appearance.
Still, for whatever reason (rumors are that owner Ralph Wilson ordered him to) Phillips benched Flutie in favor of Johnson, prior to the team's finale against Indianapolis. The fact that the team was paying Johnson a lot of money, and had given up a first and fourth round pick a year earlier to sit on the bench may have been a factor.
It looked like a brilliant move after one week. Not so much after two weeks. From the bench, Flutie watched Johnson complete 10 of 22 passes for 130 yards. (Although he did drive the team for the go-ahead field goal in the final seconds, prior to the "Music City Miracle".)
Switch: Poor Decision
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
.jpg?w=600 "Post-June 1 Trade Candidates ☎️")
.JPG?w=600 "TO Talks Cowboys Relationship")
.jpg?w=600 "Taylor Heinicke Retiring")
.jpg?w=600 "49ers OC Hypes Mike Evans 🤩")