Vote Yes For The Thig: QB Of The Future, Tyler Thigpen

Tyler Thigpen wasn't supposed to be the starting QB this year in Kansas City, he wasn't even supposed to be the top backup. Thigpen was supposed to feel honored to just be on an NFL sideline holding a clipboard.

Thigpen has done much more than hold the clipboard this year in KC, as he has now started eight games for the Chiefs. Thigpen or The Thig as me and my friends prefer to call him, was the first QB in program history at Coastal Carolina University.

Coastal Carolina started their program in 2003 and The Thig excelled in their spread offense earning himself the Big South Conference Player of the Year Award.

Thigpen was drafted by the Vikings in the 7th round of the 2007 NFL Draft, but was cut after training camp and claimed by the Chiefs. The Chiefs had seen something in Thigpen during their annual training camp scrimmage with the Vikings, enough that they decided to take a chance on The Thig.

Thigpen played in one game in 2007 after Damon Huard went down, but hardly got a taste of being an NFL QB until this season. Thigpen was thrown into the fire that is the Kansas City Chiefs 2008 season in week two.

Thigpen didn't play great, but he played well enough, and with Damon Huard and Brodie (The Twig) Croyle injured he got his first career start in Atlanta the next week.

Thigpen looked like a rookie that had no business in the NFL in the game against the Falcons. Thigpen told reporters that he was so excited about his first career start that he spent more time notifying family members than preparing for the game during the week.

Thigpen wouldn't get another chance to start until week eight at the Jets, after Croyle went down again in week seven. Thigpen made the most of his chance to start, flourishing in the Chiefs newly discovered spread offense. 

No one will be confusing Herman Edwards with Dick Vermeil anytime soon but he does deserve some (very little) credit for tailoring to Thigpen's strengths and the use of the spread offense.

Thigpen discovered that he might belong on an NFL field after all, and many people hyped up the fact that The Thig had just outplayed future Hall of Famer Brett Favre.

Thigpen has continued to play well, throwing for 12 TDs and only four INTs while completing 60 percent of his passes in his last seven starts. The Chiefs have stuck with a form of the spread even with the return of RB Larry Johnson, opting for the pistol formation to fit both of their styles.

In the pistol formation Johnson lines up as if he would in the I-Formation, directly behind the QB and Thigpen lines up in front of Johnson in the shotgun. This way LJ can stick with his downhill running style and Thigpen can get rid of the ball quickly to his receivers.

Much of Thigpen's sucess can be attributed to his top two receivers, Tony Gonzalez and Dwayne Bowe. Thigpen can throw the ball in the general direction of Gonzalez and feel good about his guy catching the ball, and Bowe is able to go up and get the ball with the best of them too.

Thigpen has plenty of adequate skill players working next to him, but if they aren't able to get open The Thig knows what to do.

Thigpen doesn't do it with his arm alone, he has some of the most dangerous legs at the QB spot in the league, leading all QBs with 385 yards rushing.

Thigpen has also helped out Fantasy Football owners this year, as he was available in virtually every league known to man to start the season, and those who were in need of a QB down the stretch picked up one of the top 10 fantasy QBs for the second half of the season.

The Chiefs are in the midst of deciding which way they are going to go in the offseason, and one of the biggest questions is whether or not to build the offense around Thigpen and the spread.

I believe the Chiefs have many more pressing needs than QB, most notably many of the guys in their front seven on defense need to be changed. That is where I think they should look in the draft and in free agency.

Thigpen has done all that he can to help the Chiefs win this year, and has put them in position to win some games. Unfortunately Thigpen's job isn't to stop the run or to call the plays, his job is to execute the calls that are made.

For the most part Thigpen has done a very good job of that, playing very efficiently within the Chiefs new offense.

If nothing else he has shown that he can compete on Sundays, and he has the arm and legs to be successful every week.

That's why I say vote yes for The Thig, QB of the future in KC.