If Not Brett Hundley, Then Who?
Let's start this off by saying I don't believe the Packers have a chance to make the Playoffs if Brett Hundley is the starting quarterback until (or if) Aaron Rodgers returns from injury. The Green Bay Packers are a year-in, year-out playoff football team.
Therefore, I don't believe Brett Hundley is fit to start at quarterback for the Green Bay Packers in the foreseeable future. He has had his opportunities. Aaron Jones had a great game against the Saitns, which was also the best game of the season for the offensive line, and the receiving core of Nelson, Adams, Cobb & Company is damn good. Let's just look at his numbers.
Through almost eight quarters of consecutive full-time work:
Brett Hundley, QB: 30/58 (51.7%), 244 Yards, 1 TD, 4 INT, 39.7 Passer Rating
That means he's only making half his passes for under 125 yards a game with four more times the interceptions than touchdowns. Again, that's a Cutler-like passer rating. Maybe you could blame part of half of that on a pretty good Vikings defense, but the Saints' defense is mediocre at best. Sure, I'll acknowledge that he's made a couple good runs, one for a touchdown, but Aaron Rodgers can run at 33 like Hundley can run at 24, while completing 70% of his passes and tallying a triple-digit passer rating. Obviously I'm not expecting Hundley to be as good as Rodgers out there, but he's a straight-up liability at this point. Completing a pass is kind of the thesis of being a quarterback, and Brett Hundley simply can't do that on a regular basis.
Who else then? Mike McCarthy would say Joe Callahan, the current third-string slinger, but what has he proven? Is it just the fact that he's spent more than one season in the Packers system? Callahan was completely outplayed by Taysom Hill in the preseason, so how is he supposed to lead a playoff-caliber roster. If that's the verdict, which it absolutely shouldn't be, then the Packers need to look externally.
Now it's time to rule out the common yet oh so stupid suggestions people are spreading around social media. Let's get the loudest one out of the way:
Colin Kaepernick will not be a Green Bay Packer. This move wouldn't make sense at all. Kaepernick is a mobile, read-option quarterback who wouldn't learn, nor fit, in the Green Bay offense at all. He plays extremely similar to Brett Hundley, which is exactly what got us into this crisis right now. If you don't know the politics of the Green Bay area, I'll inform you: it's extremely conservative. The last thing that Green Bay citizens, ergo the owners of the team, need is a player to bring controversy to Green Bay. Big egos don't belong in Brown County, and the Packers are probably the last team that needs a mobile backup quarterback to stir the pot.
Tony Romo will also not be a Green Bay Packer. First of all, it would take a lot for him to come out of retirement and risk his health to be benched maybe 8 weeks later. I also don't care if he grew up in Wisconsin; he played college football in Illinois and played and lived his entire career in Dallas. He's also doing a pretty good job as a color commentator in his post-playing career. I'd definitely take him over Troy Aikman and Joe Buck any day of the week.
Brett Favre will definitely not be a Green Bay Packer. Well, again. Sure, he was great in his day, but he just turned 48. There's no way in hell he's coming back to play football for anyone at the age of 48. Unless your first name is Morten and your last name is Anderson, you're not playing at 48 in the 21st Century.
What other free agents are left?
On paper, the most likely suspects are Matt Barkley and Matt McGloin. Both players have worked out for a few teams since the beginning of the regular season, and both players have played in offensive schemes similar to the Packers. Barkley saw more playing time last season than all of his previous three seasons combined, where in 7 games he threw for 1,611 Yards, 8 Touchdowns, 14 Interceptions and a 68.3 Passer Rating. The yardage is about average, but having almost twice as many interceptions as touchdowns shows he might be as much of a liability as Brett Hundley. If you combine Matt McGloin's four seasons with the Raiders, he played 13 Games in which he threw for 1,868 Yards, 11 Touchdowns, 11 Interceptions with a passer rating of 75.3. His completion rating and yards per game were a bit less than Barkley, but his TD/INT ration and passer rating were both decently better. As far as liability goes, McGloin might be the safer option.
The Packers might want to go with someone more experienced. The most experienced realistic free agent is Shaun Hill. Hill is 37 and has played the safe plug-in backup role for many teams. In his past three seasons combined, he played 15 Games and threw for 1,914 Yards, 8 Touchdowns, 7 Interceptions with a passer rating of 76.1. Finally, a quarterback who's thrown more touchdowns than inteceptions. His completion rate is as good as any other quarterback on the list as well.
There are a options with more experience but with less of a resume than Shaun Hill. The most popular is Robert Griffin III. Griffin missed all of 2015 due to an injury and played just 5 Games with the Browns last season, averaging just 177 Yards a game with 2 Touchdowns and 3 Interceptions. If he wasn't a viable option in Cleveland, he certainly isn't one in Green Bay.
Two bigger wildcards for veterans are T.J. Yates and Luke McCown. Neither player has played since 2015, and both of them tend to throw more interceptions than touchdowns, so it's a no for both of them. Another crazy veteran option I saw was Christian Ponder, but he hasn't played in a game since 2014 and there's no way he's ready to step in after three years away from the field. If Matt Flynn had played a game since 2014, I'd throw his name immediately in the mix, but his disqualification from employment is on the same grounds as Ponder.
FINAL VERDICT
If the Packers are comfortable taking a risk at quarterback, then they have no reason to replace Brett Hundley, as no other options would be a clear improvement. If the Packers absolutely need a safe, comfortable option at quarterback, then Shaun Hill is the man for the job.
Please let me know what you think!
Thank you and God Bless,
Samuel R. Fuller
