Dennis Dixon Signs + More QB Talk

Posted: February 14th, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 73 Comments »

The Eagles just signed QB Dennis Dixon to a 2-year deal.  He was on the Ravens practice squad this year.  Most football experts (me, Dixon, and his agent) think that Dixon was the real key to the Ravens winning the Super Bowl.  What a glorious move.

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Okay, hyperbole aside, this is a good move. Dixon may turn out to be a good backup or he may fail miserably.  I do think his best chance at success is playing in the Chip Kelly system.  He’s cheap, has plenty of tread on the tire, and is still physically gifted.  Why not roll the dice and see if he can succeed here?  The key is to keep expectations realistic.  Don’t expect him to become a starter.  While that is possible, it would be a shocker.  He’s been in the league since 2008 and has barely played.  It isn’t likely that he’s suddenly going to look great.  Just seeing him play well enough to earn a reserve role would be pretty cool.  Trent Edwards was fine in the WCO, but is not a good fit for Kelly’s system.  Someone has to be the #3 QB.

Don’t read into this move.  It doesn’t mean the Eagles won’t still draft a QB.  It doesn’t mean that Foles is irrelevant due to his lack of athleticism.  This is just a low-risk move where you can add a QB who played for the coach and remains somewhat friendly with him.  Dixon regularly went back to Oregon.  He and Chip only were together for one season, but they have spent time together since then.  Dixon can also help the current players learn Kelly’s system.  We know Chip has told his Oregon coaches to help the NFL guys figure out what he wants.  Dixon can do that with the players.

Not a huge move or anything to go crazy for, but smart.

* * * * *

For PE.com, I wrote about Michael Vick playing for Chip Kelly and what Vick needs to do in order to succeed.  I think the most important thing for Michael is having some thick skin.  Chip is going to push his players.  Andy Reid was gentler.  Chip is going to push some buttons and hold the players accountable.  Ex-Kelly QBs still talk about how hard he could be on them.  If Vick can handle the coaching and responds well, it will help his game a lot.

* * * * *

Les Bowen wrote a piece yesterday on the Vick-Foles situation.  He’s not a fan of keeping Vick.

In response, Derek from Iggles Blog wrote a piece on why keeping Vick makes sense.

Both pieces are worth a read.

I know many of you miss Derek’s ability to use numbers and graphs.  The guy over at Eagles Rewind did a Derek-ian post on the importance of good QB play, which fed off some comments I made yesterday.  He’s got fancier visual aids than I ever will.

* * * * *

Some people want the Eagles to take QB Geno Smith with the #4 pick.  Others want the 2nd rounder to get Ryan Nassib or EJ Manuel.  Be wary of the 2013 QB class.  I wrote a piece on their failure to be special in college and how that doesn’t bode well for them in the NFL.

* * * * *

One interesting aspect to having Chip Kelly as the HC will be his ties to the college players.  DE Bjoern Werner and DT Star Lotulelei are both projected to be Top 10 picks.  Werner was a star at Florida State.  Lotulelei went to Utah.  Both strongly considered going to Oregon.

Werner’s trip to Eugene.

Star’s journey to Utah – video.

_

  • http://twitter.com/alex_karklins Alex Karklins

    I’m strongly in favor of gathering as many QBs as possible to see who sticks. Do you think the Eagles could have 5 or 6 QBs heading into training camp?

    • http://www.facebook.com/matthew.verhoog Matthew Verhoog

      If you have 2 Qb’s you have none.
      If you have 7 QB’s you have none.
      If you have 1 billion Qb’s you have none.

      • TommyLawlor

        Actually, with a billion you can conquer the US and just steal the Lombardi Trophy.

        • http://www.facebook.com/justin.sengstock.7 Justin Sengstock

          Not necessarily. I’m not convinced that you could cover someone even with a billion Nnamdi’s. You’d just have two billion fingers pointing at Kurt Coleman.

          • Average_Joseph

            OMG that is hysterical. Sadly true, but hysterical.
            Just An Average Joseph

          • TommyLawlor

            Comment of the day. Brilliant.

          • http://www.facebook.com/justin.sengstock.7 Justin Sengstock

            Sweet! Where’s my bag of Funions?

      • Ark87

        Then 2QB=7QB=1Billion QB. Might as well have a healthy competition and keep the best 3. Having no established franchise QB is a reality everyone is well acquainted with. But you want to explore all your options to see if you can’t find someone who has potential to grow into that role. Who knows, maybe by week 1 we will have 1 clear cut no controversy starting QB.

      • http://twitter.com/alex_karklins Alex Karklins

        Very poetic, but it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in this context. Are you expecting the Eagles to name a starter before training camp even begins? If not, then what exactly is wrong with a robust competition among 4 or 5 candidates? I’m envisioning Vick, Foles, Dixon, drafted QB, UDFA in the mix at the position.

        • http://www.facebook.com/matthew.verhoog Matthew Verhoog

          Your right, better 7 half decent QB’s then 2 half-decent QB’s and some camp bodies. I was being a little over the top.

    • TommyLawlor

      4 is the max limit. You want to get them reps so they can show what they can do. Also, the smaller the group, the more coachable they are.

      • Ark87

        1 step ahead of you Tommy. We are getting athletic QB’s, so lets load up on “wide receivers” and “corner backs” and “running backs” wink wink

      • http://twitter.com/alex_karklins Alex Karklins

        Ah, good to know. Although it would be interesting to see Kelly push the limit with his huge coaching staff and efficient, frantically paced practices. Couldn’t that mean more reps for more QBs?

  • Ark87

    Sensible move. As long as everyone gets a fair shake I’m satisfied. What ever happened to Mike Kafka. He seems like an ideal backup in a CK system, solid-good athleticism, smart, just doesn’t have a good arm.

    • http://twitter.com/alex_karklins Alex Karklins

      He’s off the market. The Patriots signed him a while ago.

      • TommyLawlor

        Yep, in NE.

      • Ark87

        Belichick!

    • Iskar36

      A believe the Patriots signed him at the end of the season.

  • Iskar36

    How much value do you think Dixon understanding Kelly’s system and what he may be looking for has in terms of Dixon keeping a roster spot on the team? In other words, if we draft a QB to add to the mix and Dixon at least shows he can be a serviceable QB, do you think it is possible that they keep him over the loser of the Foles/Vick battle in order to fill the “Doug Pederson role” from ARs first season?

    Obviously there are a ton of variables in that equation, so it may be to difficult to answer right now, but part of me feels that whoever loses the roster battle between Vick/Foles doesn’t really have much value to the team, long or short term. If Vick loses, you are wasting a ton of money on a backup that has no future value on a team with very unlikely chances of getting anywhere in the playoffs. If Foles loses, seems like he would lose because he doesn’t fit what Kelly is looking for in a QB, thus is also not likely valuable long term to the team and may have more value in a trade. Meanwhile, you have a guy in Dixon who can possibly help coach the other QBs on the practice field. I’m just curious what the value of that is.

    • TommyLawlor

      Dixon’s knowledge is a boost, but let’s not overstate it. He didn’t spend 4 years running the system and he hasn’t run it since 2007. Still, he did go back to Oregon regularly. And you can bet he watched UO games.

  • holeplug

    The guy that writes the Eagles Rewind blog has some good stuff on the draft too. Basically if your not selecting a franchise QB in the top 5 then you should be trying like hell to trade down since there is almost no difference in the % chance of finding an all-pro from picks 1-15. There is a noticeable drop between picks 1-15 and 16-32 in the 1st round so you don’t want to trade down too far.

  • Baloophi

    Trust me, Tommy – you don’t want visual aids.

    • Ark87

      the worst visually transmitted disease

    • TommyLawlor

      Now, that’s funny. Common phrase, but I never heard that joke before. Kudos sir.

    • SteveH

      Beautiful, well played sir.

  • Gregory Post

    KC reportedly likes Nick Foles. 2nd round pick and Brandon Flowers for Foles? Haha.

    In all seriousness I don’t see how the Eagles don’t sell Foles high. If we get a high pick for Foles, then great. If not, we still have a solid QB on our roster. I think we keep Foles though.

    • Arby1

      Tommy suggested previously KC’s 2nd round pick #33 for Foles, which I suppose is “good” value. But given Fole’s very good rookie stats (despite the losses) with a makeshift offensive line, imagine how good he could be with a healthy, solid line. Of course, if he doesn’t fit the new offense, that’s a mute point. He does get the ball out a helluva lot faster than Vick. If they were to trade him this year, the only thing I can imagine is they’d draft someone next year to take over for Vick. Personally, I’d hold on to him for another year to see what we’ve already got.

      • Gregory Post

        We could also potentially flip pick 33 for a 1st next year, if some team sees a prospect that falls out of the 1st round and really wants to nab him. That’s a lot of guessing on my part, but definitely a possibility.

        • SuPaFrO

          If we do trade Foles, that leaves Vick and Dixon having a better chance to lose and have a chance of a high pick. plus the 34 pick which we can trade back for next .years draft.if we get (un)lucky that will leave us with 2 possible top 5 picks where we can draft J.CLOWNEY and M.MARRIOTA!

      • westy36

        KC’s second round pick is actually pick #34. In the draft, teams with the same record reverse order after each round so Jacksonville has pick #33.

      • laeagle

        I hate to be that guy, but you hit one of my pet peeves. It’s “moot” point, not “mute” point. A point does not ever have the capacity for speech under even the best of circumstances, and thus can never be rendered mute.

        • Baloophi

          Now THAT is a moot point.

        • A_T_G

          Just so you aren’t “that guy” alone, I’ll share a grammatical pet peeve too. “A lot” is two words, “alot” is zero words.

          • Arby1

            “Helluva”, adj., Ex:”You’ve got a helluva nerve trying to parse something that doesn’t need parsing.” (from my personal slang dictionary)

          • A_T_G

            No, I wasn’t referencing anything you wrote, just sharing a common error that bugs me. Besides, I’ve seen helluva in the grocery store, no qualms with that from me.

          • Arby1

            Some people like the chocolate version which I can’t understand!

          • Ark87

            They’re their there, *shudder* also the wrong usage of the word “literally”. I’ll never forget a doofus on MTV proclaiming that “U2 is LITERALLY turning the world upside down!” with emphasis on literally, and that was the very moment that became a pet peeve.

          • laeagle

            Then there’s the pet peeve so big, someone created a Twitter robot for it. It hunts down incorrect usage on Twitter, and corrects people. Best part is how pissed off people get at a robot.

            https://twitter.com/StealthMountain

        • Arby1

          No, be that guy. I don’t like being grammatically incorrect or misspelling and I’ve used “mute” that way for years. Thanks.

          • laeagle

            My pleasure. I never had anyone thank me for correcting them!

            And if you really want to drive home “moot” and mark it indelibly in your brain, look up the old Jesse Jackson gameshow sketch on SNL, “The Question is Moot”.

    • xeynon

      I don’t think trading Foles is a good idea right now. Even if Vick does win the job, and improve his turnover and decision-making problems, which as I’ve said before I think is a dubious possibility, he’s still going to be taking a lot of hits and is as brittle as glass. You need a competent backup. Dennis Dixon has thrown 59 passes in 5 seasons, and not very well. I don’t think he’s the guy.

  • A_T_G

    I got tired of my visual aides and so I signed up for in-home LASIK. The February special is a free pair of mirrored aviators, which do a remarkable job of reducing the screams of horror and crying from children when I go out in public. Great value for the money!

    • TommyLawlor

      Our best customer ever. God bless you, sir.

      • brza

        What do you think about adding Woodson in free agency? Landry reportedly won’t consider less than $6mill per year. woodson makes more now but doubt he’ll be asking for close to that. Also should be a good influence for the young DBs who survive the purge. Woodson & cyprien would be a huge difference to Coleman & Anderson.

  • D3Keith

    I’m pretty thrilled about being on the same side as Derek in an Eagles discussion. Almost as thrilled as I’d be if Bounty Bowl updated his reading section —>

    In the offseason, more options are good. Right now we have technically four QBs and there’s nothing stopping us from adding one in this draft, the next draft or via free agency either year. May the best man win.

  • D3Keith

    Who is the guy over at Eagles Rewind? Does he have a name, or is it regular commenter “The Guy?”

    • TommyLawlor

      Can’t remember the guy’s name off hand. Told him to put a by-line in posts from now on.

  • MichaelFloyd84

    Tommy, quick question. Everywhere i see how the Eagles were “decimated by injuries” and such. I’ve always just assumed (but haven’t seen anyone mention it) that that was simply because it was gonna be a terrible year. The front office, coaches, players, fans, all knew half way through the year that it was a waste. I’m basically saying that i’ve always assumed that half those injuries were injuries that wouldn’t put a guy out during a competitive season. But a wasted one like that and suddenly people are dropping like flies. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that once it was common knowledge Reid was gone suddenly everybody gets hurt (Peters, Kelce excluded). Very similar to 2005 IMO. Those types of years really bring out the bogus injuries.

    • wee2424

      Herremans needed surgery, Watkins came back, Mccoy came back. Vick was injured due to concussion, and then was benched which was the right choice at the time. There were other players injured at various times that also came back. I do not agree with what you are saying in this case, although it is a good theory, but like I said does not apply. I have been stuck down in Florida since week 3 of this past year so sadly i missed alot of games and probably alot of injuries.

    • TommyLawlor

      Peters – done for year

      Kelce – done for year

      Herremans – serious foot injury

      Patterson – odd situation

      Shady – serious concussion

      DJax – broken ribs

      Vick – serious concussion

      Those were totally legit injuries. Maybe DJax doesn’t go on IR if the team’s in contention, but he was still going to miss several games. Could Vick and Shady have come back sooner in a different year? NFL really cracked down. Guys didn’t come back until approved by independent neurologist.

      Not sure if I’m missing anyone.

      There were some guys who missed games that I don’t recall the circumstances – Celek, Maclin, Avant, Damaris Johnson, Kurt Coleman. Those guys are possible.

      • Baloophi

        I think you may have forgotten a few more injuries…

        Nnamdi – high ego strain

        DRC – broken tackles

        Kurt Coleman – pulled brain muscle

        Bryce Brown – acute fumbilitis

        Andy Reid – sprained cankle

        Maclin – hypochondria

        Damaris Johnson – dwarfism

        Juan Castillo – scapegoat’s disease

        Demetress Bell – dyslexia

        Jason Babin – rectal intracranialism

        • Iskar36

          “Jason Babin – rectal intracranialism”

          That is brilliant! Well done.

        • jshort

          Let’s not forget McCoy’s severe case of acute twitteritis.

  • SteveH

    I don’t care for any of the quarterbacks this year, but I am all aboard the Cyprien train. Think he’d be just right value at #4 in he 2nd round?

    • TommyLawlor

      He would be good value there. Would love to add him.

  • Baloophi

    In watching the coverage of the Carnival Cruise ship disaster, I can’t shake the feeling that somehow, someway, Fred Smoot is involved.

    • Arby1

      That’s a smoot point. And a funny one.

  • T_S_O_P

    Do you think Big Red takes a QB at #1? He has as good a chance of finding a decent starter at the top of Round 2. A trade out to stupid Oakland and take an OT must be a possibility?

    There doesn’t seem to be a consensus number 1 guy, though everyone is suggesting Geno because history suggests a QB will be taken with a No1.

    I think after the combine Mingo will be a top 5 player. I suspect his measurables’ will be off the charts, but he isn’t 280lbs like Clowney, Peppers or Mario.

    I think it is hard to target a NT in the top 5, even a ‘Star’.

    That leaves the OT class which is talented, but is there a clear consensus All-Pro waiting to be drafted? Is Joekel as good as Jake Long?

  • T_S_O_P

    I mentioned John Lovett and the Texas Tech safeties. I would like now to mention that as Miami’s Ray Ray Armstrong who had his impressive outing under DC Lovett.

    • bridgecoach

      I brought up Ray Ray Armstrong a few weeks ago. He is EXACTLY the type of safety I think we will be targeting in the draft – and we can get him in the 7th! Good Call TSOP.

  • austinfan

    They have a spread offense QB coach, a WCO offense OC and a read option expert at HC.

    Some weird coaching picks if Chip is just going to install his Oregon offense.

    But what if he’s looked at the population of NFL QBs and his offense and came to this conclusion:

    1) The ideal solution is to run his offense, with a Kaepernick, Wilson,
    RGIII, etc. Talented QBs with 4.5 speed, but they’re hard to find (at
    best average one a year over decade and usually require a top pick, and
    some like V Young and Locker simply aren’t good QBs in the pocket). And
    if they get hurt, then what?

    2) One compromise is to use a mobile QB who’s a good passer, a 4.7 guy,
    but even these guys are hard to find, Alex Smith might qualify, Flynn
    doesn’t, Geno Smith probably doesn’t. This guy will be able to run the
    read option, but with only limited effectiveness because he’s not a real
    threat to run against NFL defenders. Teams will let him keep the ball
    and try to kill him. At worst they give up 5 yard runs, at best they
    get to play against his backup. There’s a reason teams aren’t
    installing the read option for these kind of QBs.

    3) Another compromise is to build an offense that can shift from stud
    athlete, to mobile QB to pure pocket QB. This means building a base
    offensive scheme built around a pure pocket QB, with packages designed
    for mobile QBs and stud QBs. Since Chip wants his QB to be a QB first,
    any QB has to be able to make the pre-snap reads, throw from the pocket,
    and efficiently execute a short passing game. So the base package
    would be the same for all three QBs. Then, given a QB’s mobility, you
    have additional packages tailored to his skills.

    This would explain his coaching choices.

    I just think Chip means exactly what he say, he’s going to take a long
    look at film and decide what elements of his Oregon offense translate to
    the NFL. He’d love to have RGIII with Newton’s body, a read option QB
    big enough to take hits and fast enough to make it work, but also smart
    enough to stay in the pocket and pick team’s apart. But the odds of
    finding that guy? Zero. So he’s gonnna have to make compromises to
    build an offense that can get through a 16 game season.

    Does anyone think Vick will make it through 16 games?

    Is there any evidence after 4 years in the league, with 2 knee surgeries
    and 2 starts, that Dixon at 28 is a NFL caliber starting QB?

    Do you design a scheme that only works with 10-20% of the available legitimate QB prospects?

    Do you build an offense around two gimpy QBs who run 4.7 or slower (Vick
    was 4.3 a decade ago, but when you get tackled from behind by DEs you
    no longer have elite speed, we saw that with McNabb after 2006) based on
    their mobility?

    And what happens when they get injured?

    Do you draft a mobile QB with raw QB skills and watch teams bring the SS into the box every play and dare you to pass the ball?

    Or do you build the flexibility into your offense to work with any QB, just like you said you plan to do?

    • http://twitter.com/alex_karklins Alex Karklins

      This makes far too much sense.

    • http://twitter.com/KeeepSwinging Anthony Hart

      I think it’s pretty obvious that our offense is going to be centered around Shady and Bryce running the ball out of creative sets at a fast tempo. We can do that with Vick, Foles, or whoever. The QB needs to be able to make quick reads and accurate throws first. Would Chip like a mobile QB? Yes, that’s why Vick is getting another shot, but the running backs are going to be the center of this offense.

    • Mac

      +1

    • GermanEagle

      You my friend, know football!

  • ACViking

    Re: Mad Scientists – Mike Martz . . . and, maybe, Chip Kelly

    Martz became a big name NFL coach when he moved from the Redskins QB coach to the Rams O-Coordinator in 1999. That year, the Rams became “The Greatest Show on Turf” with QB Kurt Warner, HB Marshall Faulk, and WRs Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt.

    Sometimes forgotten is that Warner became the Rams starter in 1999 only because, in a pre-season game, then-Chargers’ safety Rodney Harrison hit Rams QB Trent Green on his left knee from the side on a safety blitz (think Bryce Paup on Randall Cunningham).

    So who the hell was Trent Green to be the designated QB for what soon became the most entertaining offense in the NFL?

    Trent Green graduated Indiana University in 1993 — and was an 8th Rd pick of the Chargers. Green moved onto the BC Lions in 1994. Then back to the NFL in Washington from ’95 to ’98.

    From 1993 to 1997, Trent Green threw just 1 pass in an NFL game and that was in ’97 for the ‘Skins.

    In ’98, Green — being coached by ‘Skins QB coach Mike Martz — took over the starting job in D.C. from Gus Frerotte and started 14 games.

    And Green posted great numbers for a 6-10 Washington team: 23 TDs 10 Ints in 14 games.

    Martz then moved onto the Rams and Green, a free agent, came along as the designated starter. (Not to be, though.)
    ________________

    Dennis Dixon — like Trent Green did — has been barely hanging on to an NFL career for 5 years.

    But then Green, who’d thrown a single pass in anger in five years, met his QB Guru in Mike Martz.

    And viola . . . Martz turned Green into an NFL starter and pretty damned good QB.
    ________________

    Yes, T-Law is right of course that the odds of catching lighting with Dixon because he’s rejoining a coach who made a college force are very long. Dixon’s done next to nothing for 5 years.

    But it’s happened before.

    • Mac

      Wait… doesn’t this actually mean Dixon is destined for a career ending knee injury?

      Long live future SB winner Nick Foles!

      • ACViking

        Trent Green — after his 1999 knee injury — went on to start 100 games in the NFL from 2000-08 . . . including 85 consecutive games from 2000-2005 (at which point he was 35).

        Can you imagine Mike Vick starting 85 consecutive games? And — as Green did — starting 48 consecutive games from age 33-35?

        Green was a tremendous gamer . . . but concussions drove him out of the NFL at age 38.

        • Mac

          Not sure what your original comeback was, but just wanted to say how much i enjoy your posts. I hope you didn’t take offense to my little joke.

  • knighn

    1. Tommy – did you do a Scouting report on Dennis Dixon prior to the 2008 draft? Curious to see what that said.
    2. When the Eagles restructured Vick’s contract, I believed that MIke Vick was to Chip Kelly what Doug Pederson was to Andy Reid – a stopgap until the Head Coach had his guy ready to play. Now, I believe there is a better comparison -
    Mike Vick, Nick Foles, Dennis Dixon are to Chip Kelly & the Eagles
    what
    Donovan McNabb, Rex Grossman and John Beck were to Mike Shanahan & the Redskins.
    I seriously believe that all of these guys are stopgaps for Kelly until he finds his “RGIII”.

  • BobSmith77
  • GermanEagle

    One (old) man can dream, right?! How awesome would it be to have both Charles Woodson and Ed Reed in the Eagles backfield?!!

  • ACViking

    Re: Beware dismissing Dennis Dixon . . . ’cause in the NFL, anything’s possible

    The odds of Dixon becoming the Eagles’ starter are long. To be sure.

    But besides Trent Green (mentioned below), the NFL’s had a few other late bloomers.

    It could happen here if Kelly’s system is just the right catalyst for Dixon’s career.
    _______________

    Here are some other late bloomers.

    The “Mad Bomber,” Daryle Lamonica — a 24th Rd pick — spent 4 years picking splinters from the seat of his pants in Buffalo while the late Congressman Jack Kemp was leading the Bills to back-to-back AFL titles. But in 1967, Oakland’s Al Davis acquired Lamonica (for former Eagles WR Art Powell) . . . and Lamonica found the right system to show off his remarkable deep-passing skills to the likes of Warren Wells, Fred Belitnikoff, and Raymond Chester.

    In 1968, at age 35, Earl Morrall, a journeyman QB, won the NFL MVP award while leading the Colts to the SB (and then playing his worst game of the season — Jimmy freakin’ Orr was WIDE open!). Then in 1972, at age 38, Morrall won All Pro honors again leading the Miami Dophins to an undefeated regular season after replacing an injured Bob Griese — also hurt against the Chargers — in Game 4. (Morrall, unlike Dennis Dixon, did have a couple of pretty decent years earlier in his career with the Lions and Giants.)

    HOFer and former Eagles’ 4th Rd pick Sonny Jurgenson spent 4 years on the bench for the Birds, throwing a total of just 141 passes, before finally becoming the starter in 1961. (After two more years as a starter, the Eagles traded Jurgy to the ‘Skins for Norm Snead. Yeah, a bad deal.)

    Former Raiders QB Ken Stabler waited 5 years (two of those playing semi-pro football) before he earned the starter’s job in Oakland in 1973, throwing just 139 passes.

    Dave Kreig — who had a pretty good career — didn’t become a starter until his 5th year in the NFL. He’s 15th all-time in yards passing.

    Redskin great Joe Theisman spent 5 years waiting to become an NFL starter. He was a 4th Rd pick in ’71 by the Dolphins; he chose to play for the Toronto Argonauts for 3 years; spent 1 season as a punt returned in Washington; and then earned the back-up QB job in ’75. He finally becames the Redskin’s starter in the last 5 games of the ’76 season. Six years later, he won a SB.

    Former Cowboys QB Danny White spent 6 years waiting to become a starting QB. There were no guarantees the guy would be a success (but was a hell of a good punter). Once he succeeded Roger Staubach in 1980, he held the job for 8 years.
    _________________

    A final note on Trent Green. After his 1999 pre-season knee injury, he didn’t just disappear.

    He actually went on to start 100 games in the NFL from 2000-08 . . . including 85 consecutive games from 2000-2005 (by which time he was 35).

    Imagine if Mike Vick could start 85 consecutive games. And Green made 48 of his 85 straight starts from age 33-35. Making the Pro Bowl twice in that time, too.

    I get that Dixon’s chances here are not great. But what the hell . . . he might surprise the heck out of us.