Get it shawtaay
Third String But Playing on Special Teams
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Mallett's status is a peculiar case indeed. He's merely a back-up with limited film to gauge his progress as an starting caliber QB at this point. Until he's thrown into the fire we won't know how far he's come along. Even if he has great practice habits and all that until he's in the games in pressure situations, we don't know how he'd react to that.
By the same parallel we didn't know what was there with Brady. He stepped in and never looked back. Some guys excel in these situations while others fold pretty quickly. The great part about the NFL is that it exposes either traits fairly early in the process.
The thing to keep in mind is that anyone is replaceable, even first ballot HOFers can be replaced. Brady's not immune to this reality. His age is definitely a factor at this point and he's closer to the end than the beginning. If his play starts to dip and decline rapidly then you cannot seriously expect a coaching staff as rigid as Belichick's wouldn't plan to move on from him if they have a better option in place whether its Mallett or otherwise. There's no room sentiments in a cut-throat business like the NFL, just ask Peyton Manning or Joe Montana.
The good thing is that this hasn't occured, yet, though one day it likely will. Hopefully sooner rather than later. And perhaps Mallett could be the answer if that's the case. This training camp/preseason will be big for him. If he ever expects to earn a starter's job here or elsewhere now's the time to show it.
The bolded is very true, and its why I don't understand why teams hang on to bad quarterbacks who were ostensibly good prospects. How often does a QB who doesn't show the ability to be a top quarterback within their first year go on to become a good quarterback? Practically never.
As for Mallett, I hated it at the time because I really wanted someone else. But it was a prudent idea to try and squeeze him into draft picks - the climate after the Kolb/Cassel trades really turned and made it impossible.