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The 2021 NFL Draft saw quite a few promising QBs being taken off the board. These QBs bring hope for their new teams and to the league as they can hopefully become franchise players soon enough.
Nevertheless, with all the promise a new rookie QB can bring to a team, a veteran QB may see his job in jeopardy as a result. With all the new QBs drafted, there are certainly a few veterans who could be replaced this season.
Let’s look at a few veteran QBs who may enter 2021 as their team’s starter but could finish the campaign warming the bench.
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Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers
Jimmy G’s job security has been under speculation since way before potential successor Trey Lance was drafted. Though 49ers brass remains confident in Jimmy, the team likely drafted Lance for a reason and the NDSU product may see the field sooner rather than later if Garoppolo struggles in 2021.
If there are any concerns about Jimmy G, it’s his durability (his only 16-game season in four years with the 49ers was 2019) in addition to his generally pedestrian numbers. The QB did post 3,978 yards in 2019 but he also had 13 picks to his 27 touchdowns. In nine games combined in the 2018 and 2020 seasons, the QB finished with 12 touchdowns to eight interceptions.
It comes down to something as easy as this: if Garoppolo struggles at any point during the 2021 season, fans may call for Lance, and coach Kyle Shanahan may go ahead and insert the rookie. After all, the 49ers have a solid defense and great skill players and can be serious NFC contenders with stable QB play.
Cam Newton, New England Patriots
Like Jimmy G., veteran Cam Newton may not finish the 2021 season as a starter for New England. The team drafted Mac Jones out of Alabama with the 15th overall pick as Jones simply fell into New England’s lap. Despite the crowded QB room the Pats have (Newton, Jones, Brian Hoyer, and Jarrett Stidham), there remains no doubt the starting job will come down to Newton vs. Jones.
The case against Newton is that his production has dipped and become subpar since that epic 2015 season with Carolina. Last season, the veteran only managed 2,657 yards with eight touchdowns and 10 picks. Nevertheless, he did have 592 rush yards and 12 rush touchdowns, which was encouraging. Newton didn’t have enough weapons in the passing game last season but with the Pats upgrading their pass-catching unit, Newton can shine and keep the pressure off his job if he performs well. Coach Bill Belichick has stated the veteran will start. Nevertheless, the chants for Jones will grow louder if Newton struggles in 2021 and that should worry fantasy managers considering the QB may not finish 2021 as the starter.
Andy Dalton, Chicago Bears
Despite the Bears saying veteran Andy Dalton will be their starter, it’s quite hard to believe he will make it throughout 2021 as the starter simply because of the fact that the team traded a massive haul to move up in the past draft and grab Justin Fields out of Ohio State.
We’ve all seen this play out many times before where a team will start a vet only for him to be replaced by a new gunslinger. Out of the three QBs on this list, Dalton seems the least likely to start all season because the team needs to win now or else coach Nagy and GM Pace could lose their jobs. Dalton doesn’t look like he can have an explosive campaign in 2021, let’s face it. The last time he posted more than 3,500 yards was in 2016.
Dalton stepped in for injured QB Dak Prescott on the Cowboys last year, posting 2,169 yards, 14 touchdowns, and eight picks in 11 games. That’s basically ok numbers, but everyone knows Dalton is nothing more than a bridge QB in Chicago. We all knew it when he signed with the team in March.
Whether that bridge lasts for a few weeks or few months remains to be seen. Bears fans have been waiting TOO long for a stable franchise QB and they will likely holler at any chance they can get to see Fields hop onto the field and show what he has. The 33-year-old veteran may have just signed with Chicago, but it already seems like his time with the team is running out.
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