Hoyer (#8) could be a solid backup for the Steelers as they settle their Quarterback depth issue. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-US PRESSWIRE

Hoyer’s Career (2009-2011)

So who exactly is Brian Hoyer, and where did he come from?  Well for those of you readers unsure or unaware, Hoyer held the clipboard as Tom Brady’s top understudy in New England, and beat out three veteran Quarterbacks as an Undrafted Free Agent to make the team in 2009.  Over his three seasons in New England, Brian saw only a small amount of game-time (27 for 43, 286 Yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 80.2 QB Rating, 1 Rush TD), but was nevertheless able to work in one of the best environment’s for a young Quarterback.  It is not often that UDFA’s are exposed to the teachings and work-ethic of people like his Quarterbacks Coach/Offensive Coordinator Bill O’Brien and Ugg Spokesman and a Three-time Super Bowl winner like Brady.

Unfortunately for Hoyer, his time in New England ended prematurely and probably had everything to do with the rest of the then-Quarterback-needy teams passing on Ryan Mallett in the 2011 N.F.L. Draft.  Mallett, a guy I believed was the best pure-passer and possessed the best potential N.F.L. skill-set (arm-strength and knowledge of passing game) in that Draft Class lasted until the end of the 3rd Round that season due to some character concerns.  To their credit, the Patriots jumped at the chance to take a 1st-Round talent like Mallett so late in the Draft process, and used the luxury they had with Hoyer and Brady in front of him and allow their 3rd Round selection to develop.  This season however, New England felt like Mallett was their Quarterback of the future.  As the #3 Quarterback and set to make $1.9 million dollars (RFA Tender), Hoyer who became the odd-man-out this past August, and was cut.

How the Steelers & Hoyer Can Benefit

With Hoyer on the roster now, the Steelers can properly gauge how well the 4th year pro picks up the Offense and whether or not he can compete for a roster spot next season with six regular season games and an entire offseason under his belt.  Remember, both Batch (38 years old in 2013) and Leftwich (33 years old in 2013) will be potential Unrestricted Free Agents next season, and I have a hard time believing that the Steelers would bring both if either of them back unless Hoyer is a complete and total flop.  Plus, the former Spartan will have the chance to learn under Coordinator Todd Haley, Quarterbacks Coach Randy Fichtner, as well as Roethlisberger and maybe even one of the elder statesmen over the coming seasons as he continues his development.  If Hoyer eventually succeeds and earns a backup spot with the team, he could definitely help to shore up Pittsburgh’s backup Quarterback position and entrench himself as “The Guy..Behind The Guy” (“Swingers” reference I know) as the #2 Quarterback on Pittsburgh’s Depth Chart.

Final Thoughts

Pittsburgh needed to find some way to bolster their depth at Quarterback in the present and in the future, and I believe this move to sign Hoyer can accomplish both goals.  I simply want the Steelers to have some sort of capable, younger (sorry Charlie), and non-injury prone option to turn to if Roethlisberger ever goes down for a significant period of time in the future.  Although the 6’2″ 215 lb. Hoyer is not an elite athlete, he has learned from some of the best Teachers and Students at the craft (O’Brien & Brady), and has displayed enough of a skill-set to establish himself as a legitimate #2 on an N.F.L. roster.

Whether it is Hoyer or somebody else, the Steelers need to have a non-injury prone/non-elderly backup option behind Big Ben sooner as opposed to later.  This will be especially the case when Big Ben enters his mid-30′s and a decade-plus of hits and injuries begin to really take their toll.  If this situation eventually happens and Roethlisberger goes down again, I earnestly hope that Hoyer, another Free Agent, or another Draft Pick can fill in and play adequately.

Hoyer has a golden opportunity to learn and continue to develop behind and under some of the N.F.L.’s best in Pittsburgh.  With the uncertainty behind Big Ben, Hoyer will likely be given every chance to wrestle the #2 spot away from Batch and Leftwich between now and the beginning of the 2013 season as well.  I am crossing my fingers that this deal works out well for both parties.

Chime in Readers: Will the move to acquire Hoyer help?  What do you think of the move?  Should Leftwich or Batch, or both be allowed to walk after the season?  Should the Steelers sign/draft another Quarterback this offseason?  The floor is yours…

Figures and Stats Courtesy of: Spotrac.com Pro Football Reference.com, Team Rankings.com, and ESPN.com

Weeden is the apparent "future of the franchise." Mandatory Credit: David Richard-US PRESSWIRE

Slotted at #6 overall in the 1st Round of a Draft which would eventually produce four Pro Bowl Quarterbacks, the Browns were in a prime position to take one of three highly-touted signal-callers which were assumed to go in the Top 10 (Matt Schaub went in Round 3).  Yet as they had done so many times before, and have done so many times since, the Browns dropped the ball, and the rest is history.

Apparently set with the depth they had at the position at 1st and 2nd string (newly acquired Jeff Garcia and Kelly Holcomb), Cleveland waited until Round 4 to take a Quarterback (Luke McCown).  Worst of all though, Cleveland opted to go with Tight End Kellen Winslow II in Round 1 instead of a Quarterback that played his college ball in Ohio named Ben Roethlisberger.

After doing a bit of fact checking and research on the subject, I found out that Weeden will be the 13th different Quarterback to start a game for Cleveland since that fateful 2004 season.  Because of this, I figured that it would be interesting to take a look at how Cleveland Quarterbacks have done since they decided that Big Ben apparently was not the answer, and how both franchises have fared since that Draft over eight years ago:

(Warning: If you are a Browns Fan you might want to look away, it gets pretty ugly and some painful memories might be drudged up)

2004 (4-12, Last in A.F.C. North)

Kelly Holcomb: (1-1) 59-87, 737 Yards, 7 TD 5 INT

Jeff Garcia: (3-7) 144-252, 1731 Yards, 10 TD 9 INT

Luke McCown: (0-4) 48-98, 608 Yards, 4 TD 7 INT

2005 (6-10, Last in A.F.C. North)

Trent Dilfer: (4-7) 199-333, 2321 Yards, 11 TD 12 INT

Charlie Frye: (2-3) 98-164, 1002 Yards, 4 TD 5 INT

2006 (4-12, Last in A.F.C. North)

Frye: (4-9) 252-392, 2454 Yards, 10 TD 17 INT

Derek Anderson: (0-3) 66-117, 793 Yards, 5 TD 8 INT

2007 (10-6, Tied 1st in A.F.C. North, Lost Tiebreaker to Pittsburgh (0-2) record)

Frye: (0-1) 34-7 Week 1 Loss to Steelers caused him to lose job (4-10, 34 Yards, 1 INT)

Anderson: (10-5) 298-527, 3787 Yards, 29 TD 19 INT

The "Brady Quinn Experiment" did not work out so well. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

2008 (4-12, Last in A.F.C. North)

Anderson: (3-6) 142-283, 1615 Yards, 9 TD 8 INT

Ken Dorsey: (0-3) 43-91, 370 Yards, 0 TD 7 INT

Brady Quinn: (1-2) 45-89, 518 Yards, 2 TD 2 INT

Bruce Gradkowski: (0-1) 7-21, 26 Yards, 0 TD’s 3 INT

2009 (5-11, Last in A.F.C. North)

Quinn: (2-7) 136-256, 1339 Yards, 8 TD 7 INT (Beat Steelers 13-6 on Thursday Night Football)

Anderson: (3-4) 81-182, 888 Yards, 3 TD 10 INT

2010 (5-11, 3rd in A.F.C. North)

Jake Delhomme: (2-2) 93-149, 872 Yards, 2 TD 7 INT

Seneca Wallace: (1-3) 64-101, 694 Yards, 4 TD 2 INT

Colt McCoy: (2-6) 135-222, 1576 Yards, 6 TD 9 INT

2011 (4-12, Last in A.F.C. North)

Wallace: (0-3) 55-107, 567 Yards, 2 TD 2 INT

McCoy: (4-9) 265-463, 2733 Yards, 14 TD 11 INT

Whenever I think that watching Bubby Brister, Kent Graham, or any of the other Quarterbacks the Steelers started between Terry Bradshaw and Big Ben was awful, I remind myself of what Browns fans have had to go through on a yearly basis as of late and tip my cap to those which have managed to watch with both eyes open.  So how bad has it been?  Well, Cleveland has not made the postseason from 2004-2011 (and not since 2002), has finished with a winning record only once, notched one win in sixteen chances against the Steelers, and finished with a dismal 42-86 record overall.

Compounding the absolute craptacular nature of all of this for the city of Cleveland is the fact that Derek Anderson can be considered the most “effective” Quarterback of this era simply due to the the fact that he won 10 of his 15 starts in 2007 (a season which the Browns did not beat a team with a +.500 record), yet still finished with a 16-18 regular season career record overall.  Cleveland’s Offenses were so ineffective during this era that Cleveland finished 27th (out of 32 teams) or worse in Points Per Game from 2004-2011 (excluding their 2007 season), and finished 26th or worse (excluding 2007 again) every season in Total Yards Per Game as well.

Pop Quiz:   How are the Pittsburgh Steelers like a woman’s period?

Answer:  When it comes time to show up, it’s always better late than never.

Yesterday’s 38-10 dismantling of the Cincinnati Bengals wasn’t as easy as the score might indicate.  If you watched the first quarter, then decided to:

- Watch 45 minutes of “Contact”
- Burn a mix CD for a “friend”
- Go on a Starbucks run
- Watch a quarter of woman’s volleyball on ESPNU
- Play Metal Gear Solid

And came back just in time to see the Human Victory Cigar, QB Byron Leftwich, throw a final TD pass in the 4th quarter, you’d probably think, “Easy win.”

But you’d be wrong.  Very very wrong.   For you see, something happened between the beginning and end of the game.  Somewhere in there the Steelers decided to make things interesting by playing down to the level of their opponents.  And that’s why what should have been a merciless smashing at halftime turned into a meager 10-7 advantage.

I couldn’t believe what was unfolding before my eyes.  The Steelers went up by 10 in the first quarter while limiting the inept Bungles to 20 yards of total offense.  Evidently defensive coordinator Dick Lebeau decided this was an insurmountable lead and put our D into prevent.

Maybe it wasn’t actually prevent but it sure looked like it.   All our DBs started playing 10-15 yards off the wide receivers, allowing QB Ryan Fitzpatrick to complete passes at will.  The LBs weren’t helping matters either as the most fearsome pass rush in the NFL failed to get anywhere near the Bengal signal caller.  On the flip side, QB Ben Roethlisberger and the offense went from moving the ball at will to a complete standstill.  I blame Bruce Arians for no other reason than he’s Bruce Arians.

Luckily, the Steelers woke up and realized they were the Steelers by the start of the fourth and the route was on.  A three TD avalanche in the final frame accompanied by some stifling defense restored the universe to proper order.  The final stats are pretty impressive if you just look at the game on paper.  But to Cincy’s credit, they found a way to (once again) hang around much longer than their meager talent had any right letting them.

RB Mewelde Moore has clearly established himself as an absolute gem of a free agent pick-up.  He rushed for 120 yards and scored 3 TDs in relief of Pothole Willie Parker.  Whatever they’re paying this guy, it’s a steal.  Speaking of stealing money, $7 million dollar benchwarmer OT Max Starks got his first action of the season and did a decent job as the line managed to keep Big Ben from getting sacked for the first time this year.  Of course, this is more a function of Cincy’s terrible defense than awesome pass blocking but we’ll take what we can get.  I did notice RG Darnell Stapleton made several crushing blocks to spring Moore on running plays so the Steelers might have found something there.

When the defense looked good, man did it look good.  Blitzburgh finished with 7 sacks, all by our linebackers.   James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley had 2 apiece and Lawrence Timmons (starting for the first time this year) chipped in 2 more.  I never thought I’d see a better group than the Kevin Greene, Greg Lloyd, Chad Brown, Levon Kirkland foursome back in the early 90’s but these guys might be it.   The only bad play was by our CBs but that seemed to be more a result of being told to give the Cincy WRs too much respect.  Bryant McFadden was getting dissected by Fitzy on their lone TD.  He later left the game with an injury so that might explain how our best CB went down the tubes so quickly.   And S Troy Polamalu, doing his part to keep the NFL from becoming a pansy game, left after getting concussed on a devastating helmet-popping collision in the third quarter.

Didn’t matter, however, as by the end of the game the Steelers went into full mop up mode.  The hapless Cleveland Browns went down in flames again to the Wash Redfaces (who’ll we will be seeing in a couple weeks) so their one week resurgence lasted exactly one week.  Pesky Baltimore defeated the Miami Dolphins Wildcats to hang around in the division but after playing them, does anybody consider them a threat?   The next three games see us play the Giants, Colts, and Skins so I guess we’ll get a chance to see exactly how good we are in the coming weeks.  So far the Steelers have been flying comfortably under the radar but a few big wins and that’ll all change really fast as the NFL media looks for the Next Big Story.