tiggerpolice

Backup QBs state their cases
Saturday, August 13, 2005
John DeShazier
Right off the bat, the first pass Kliff Kingsbury threw, on his first play in his first game as a Saint, was perfect. It was as if he still was playing pitch-and-catch with receivers when he was a record-setting quarterback at Texas Tech.

A gorgeous, no-need-to-break-stride, over-the-top toss to Michael Lewis covered 57 yards. Surprisingly it didn't cover the final 21 to the end zone, because Lewis, one of the fastest players in the NFL, was tracked down and the ball was poked out of bounds.

Right off the bat, Adrian McPherson was an injection of electricity, energizing what was left of a paltry preseason crowd by simply trotting on the field late in the fourth quarter, then justifying the ovation by throwing a couple of strikes and dancing around the turf and past defenders like a water bug on a pond.

And he shook off a blooper moment -- on fourth-and-one, McPherson lined up behind right guard before running back Keith Joseph pushed him over behind center. The Saints burned a timeout, and McPherson gained the needed yard on a keeper.

As drama goes, the scuffle for No. 3 quarterback doesn't register high on the scale. If all goes according to plan, the most the third-team quarterback will do is wear a hat, hold a clipboard, be given a few snaps per practice when he runs a little offense with the scout team and maybe even a play or two with his own offense.

But Kingsbury or McPherson very well could be the Saints' future at quarterback. So although what happened Friday night in a 34-15 loss to Seattle in New Orleans' exhibition opener wasn't headline news, it wasn't exactly unimportant, either -- certainly not for the two players who are battling for one of the few roster spots that might be up for grabs.

If one is ahead of the other, give the nod to McPherson. Regardless of what is said, the facts are pretty clear.

The Saints invested a fifth-round pick on McPherson this year; they signed Kingsbury off the street last season. If McPherson, whose talent oozes through his pores, is cut, he's more likely to be snatched up by another team than is Kingsbury, a former sixth-round pick by New England who spent all last season on the Saints' practice squad.

Today Kingsbury, who became the third player in NCAA history to pass for more than 10,000 yards, clearly is more polished. He has had gallons more playing experience, mostly because McPherson was kicked off his college team at Florida State after his sophomore season amid allegations of check stealing and gambling.

But McPherson's potential is eye-popping. The thought of what he might do in the future is so seductive that it's intoxicating, the belief being that if he truly has learned from his past mistakes and dedicates himself to his craft, he has carry-a-team-type talent.

Friday, he couldn't carry a collection of backups and camp bodies into the end zone. The one drive McPherson led petered out on the doorstep, his fourth-down pass attempt falling incomplete in the end zone. Kingsbury quarterbacked a drive that led to a field goal in the fourth quarter.

They did nothing franchise-altering but were impressive from the standpoint that each made the best of a bad situation. Mop-up minutes in exhibition games aren't the times anyone is expecting to see the best of the best. By then, starters are milling around and joking on sidelines, a good portion of fans have headed for the exits, and a quarterback is more likely to spend his time running for his life behind spotty linemen than coolly sitting in the pocket, picking apart a defense.

From that disorder, the Saints' future quarterback could emerge. On Friday, at least, Kingsbury and McPherson looked sharp enough that each might be able to handle a label and job that only one can have with New Orleans.

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John DeShazier can be reached at jdeshazier@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3410.

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