Thoughts on these 70s-80s backup QBs

[Gary Najman]

Vikingsfan1963 made a topic last month about some 60s-70s backup QBs, so I would like to put some 70s-80s QBs who started some games and/or were high draft choice or highly regarded in college:

Scott Hunter (in his Falcons and Lions stints)
Tom Owen
Mike Kruczek
Matt Cavanaugh
Guy Benjamin
Steve Fuller
Steve Dils
Jeff Rutledge
Mike Moroski
Jeff Komlo
Turk Schonert
Ed Luther

Thoughts?

[Throwin_Samoan]

Feels like Kruczek and Fuller were in the optimal situations. Kruczek was pressed into service in '76, and with that defense, he didn't have to do much of anything. (And he didn't - at least he didn't screw up. He only had to throw 72 times in his six starts!)

Ditto for Fuller (who I always liked) - he went 6-5 in 11 spot starts for the 84-86 Bears. (Fuller was done at 29? The shoulder surgery must have ended his career.) EDIT: Turns out he did come back enough to be signed by San Diego in the '88 preseason, released, then signed late in the season when Mark Vlasic got hurt.

I always thought Matt Cavanaugh was a quality backup. He had something going on to hang on into the 90s.

The others were pretty fungible.

[Bryan]

Feels like Kruczek and Fuller were in the optimal situations. Kruczek was pressed into service in '76, and with that defense, he didn't have to do much of anything. (And he didn't - at least he didn't screw up. He only had to throw 72 times in his six starts!)

Ditto for Fuller (who I always liked) - he went 6-5 in 11 spot starts for the 84-86 Bears. (Fuller was done at 29? The shoulder surgery must have ended his career.) EDIT: Turns out he did come back enough to be signed by San Diego in the '88 preseason, released, then signed late in the season when Mark Vlasic got hurt.

I always thought Matt Cavanaugh was a quality backup. He had something going on to hang on into the 90s.

The others were pretty fungible.

The Steelers got rid of Kruczek after 1979 so Cliff Stoudt could get some PT, and Art Rooney Jr. thought that was a bad decision. He said that Kruczek always did what the coaching staff asked, was durable, and never turned the ball over. He thought Stoudt was terrible.

Fuller going 6-5 for the a team that went 31-4 without him in that same time period is pretty damning. I think if those mid-80's Bears teams had a better backup QB like an Earl Morrall or a Jeff Hostetler, they could have eked out another Super Bowl appearance.

Chuck Fairbanks said Cavanuagh was his most disappointing draft pick. He was picked in the 2nd round and couldn't throw. Fairbanks had much higher expectations, as Cavanuagh proved to be not any better than Tom Owen. I remember Cavanuagh beating the Eagles in 84 and 85 as a Niners backup, but that is about all I recall of his backup days.

[Bryan]

Vikingsfan1963 made a topic last month about some 60s-70s backup QBs, so I would like to put some 70s-80s QBs who started some games and/or were high draft choice or highly regarded in college:

Jeff Komlo

Such a great story. Wing-T QB at Delaware, 9th round draft pick of the Lions...opening game starting QB his rookie year! How many 9th round rookie QBs have started in Week 1? Zorn was a rookie FA, but at least the Seahawks were an expansion team. IIRC, Gary Danielson had beaten out Greg Landry for the starting job, and the Lions decided to ship Landry to the Colts for Freddie Scott (?). But since Danielson was made of glass, he got hurt in practice immediately after the trade, so Komlo ended up starting nearly the entire season. Lots of sacks, INTs, fumbles, and losses for Komlo in 1979, and not much else for his career. Oh well.

[7DnBrnc53]

Chuck Fairbanks said Cavanuagh was his most disappointing draft pick. He was picked in the 2nd round and couldn't throw. Fairbanks had much higher expectations, as Cavanuagh proved to be not any better than Tom Owen. I remember Cavanuagh beating the Eagles in 84 and 85 as a Niners backup, but that is about all I recall of his backup days.

The Dolphins ended up taking QB Guy Benjamin of Stanford one pick after the Pats took Cavanaugh (1978 2nd rd). A blog named Past Interference (a Dolphin fan blog) did a four-part series back in 2008 about Benjamin and David Woodley (Guy commented on one of the posts):

http://miamimigraine.blogspot.com/2008/ ... t-one.html

I don't know for sure, but there's a chance that NE passed on their future. Ex-Cowboy WR Tony Hill (who played at Stanford with Guy) said that Benjamin was the second-best QB he ever played with (Staubach was the best, obviously).

[BD Sullivan]

The story on Fuller includes the tale of Bill Walsh going to Clemson to work him out before the 1979 draft. They needed someone to catch his passes, so one of the Clemson receivers was used: Dwight Clark, who Walsh then picked up in the 10th round.

Benjamin, Dils and Schonert all hailed from Stanford, which had a reputation as a QB factory, with a gent named Elway following soon after Dils left.

[Bryan]

Chuck Fairbanks said Cavanuagh was his most disappointing draft pick. He was picked in the 2nd round and couldn't throw. Fairbanks had much higher expectations, as Cavanuagh proved to be not any better than Tom Owen. I remember Cavanuagh beating the Eagles in 84 and 85 as a Niners backup, but that is about all I recall of his backup days.

The Dolphins ended up taking QB Guy Benjamin of Stanford one pick after the Pats took Cavanaugh (1978 2nd rd). A blog named Past Interference (a Dolphin fan blog) did a four-part series back in 2008 about Benjamin and David Woodley (Guy commented on one of the posts):

http://miamimigraine.blogspot.com/2008/ ... t-one.html

I don't know for sure, but there's a chance that NE passed on their future. Ex-Cowboy WR Tony Hill (who played at Stanford with Guy) said that Benjamin was the second-best QB he ever played with (Staubach was the best, obviously).

Thanks for posting that link...it was interesting to read, especially Benjamin's own comments. Benjamin was much better his Senior year with Bill Walsh than his 3 years prior at Stanford, so perhaps that 'inflated' his college resume, so to speak. I'm not really sure that Benjamin would have been any better than Woodley.

[Gary Najman]

Chuck Fairbanks said Cavanuagh was his most disappointing draft pick. He was picked in the 2nd round and couldn't throw. Fairbanks had much higher expectations, as Cavanuagh proved to be not any better than Tom Owen. I remember Cavanuagh beating the Eagles in 84 and 85 as a Niners backup, but that is about all I recall of his backup days.

The Dolphins ended up taking QB Guy Benjamin of Stanford one pick after the Pats took Cavanaugh (1978 2nd rd). A blog named Past Interference (a Dolphin fan blog) did a four-part series back in 2008 about Benjamin and David Woodley (Guy commented on one of the posts):

http://miamimigraine.blogspot.com/2008/ ... t-one.html

I don't know for sure, but there's a chance that NE passed on their future. Ex-Cowboy WR Tony Hill (who played at Stanford with Guy) said that Benjamin was the second-best QB he ever played with (Staubach was the best, obviously).

Thanks for posting that link...it was interesting to read, especially Benjamin's own comments. Benjamin was much better his Senior year with Bill Walsh than his 3 years prior at Stanford, so perhaps that 'inflated' his college resume, so to speak. I'm not really sure that Benjamin would have been any better than Woodley.

It's also odd that the Dolphins drafted in 1978 BIll Kenney with the last pick. He went to the Chiefs and later beat Fuiller for the starting job.

[7DnBrnc53]

Thanks for posting that link...it was interesting to read, especially Benjamin's own comments. Benjamin was much better his Senior year with Bill Walsh than his 3 years prior at Stanford, so perhaps that 'inflated' his college resume, so to speak. I'm not really sure that Benjamin would have been any better than Woodley.

Walsh making a QB look better. Interesting. Wonder if that explains Montana's play?

As for Benjamin, we don't have any hard evidence on how good he would have been, so it's hard to judge, but from his Stanford days, I heard that the coach that was there prior to Walsh reluctantly played Guy even though he liked the other QB (Mike Cordova) better because Guy was out-playing him.

[JohnR]

Chuck Fairbanks said Cavanuagh was his most disappointing draft pick. He was picked in the 2nd round and couldn't throw. Fairbanks had much higher expectations, as Cavanuagh proved to be not any better than Tom Owen. I remember Cavanuagh beating the Eagles in 84 and 85 as a Niners backup, but that is about all I recall of his backup days.

The Dolphins ended up taking QB Guy Benjamin of Stanford one pick after the Pats took Cavanaugh (1978 2nd rd). A blog named Past Interference (a Dolphin fan blog) did a four-part series back in 2008 about Benjamin and David Woodley (Guy commented on one of the posts):

http://miamimigraine.blogspot.com/2008/ ... t-one.html

I don't know for sure, but there's a chance that NE passed on their future. Ex-Cowboy WR Tony Hill (who played at Stanford with Guy) said that Benjamin was the second-best QB he ever played with (Staubach was the best, obviously).

When I was in HS I got to see Hill & Benjamin play at Stanford. Besides Hill there was James Lofton and a nifty little back who could catch passes named Darren Nelson. Guy had a lot of talent around him. It was a fun team. So many "what if" stories because players don't find a niche where they can flourish. Thanks for posting that link, 7DenBrnc53. That scratched a very old itch of mine. I saw Benjamin speak briefly last year, he carries himself with a relaxed Hawaiian air.