Best Backup in the NFL?

The title of best backup quarterback in the NFL is almost a backhanded compliment. On one hand, it’s great to be noticed in a positive light for something you do well for a living, but on the other hand, you aren’t a starter, which is what every competitive athlete wants to be.

The Texans’ Sage Rosenfels may be the very best backup quarterback in the NFL, although he may not be completely happy with that role.

“I’d like to have a chance to be a starting quarterback in the NFL,” Rosenfels said. “That’s the lifelong dream I have. I’m 30. Who knows how much longer you’re going to have? Hopefully, I have seven or eight more years, but that is the frustrating part of it. But again, I support Matt (Schaub) as much as any one else on this team.”

What Houston has in Sage Rosenfels is a backup quarterback that can not only step in and be competitive in football games, but a quarterback who can run the offense without skipping a beat. In the five games Sage started in 2007, the Texans went 4-1, matching their best five game stretches in team history. Rosenfels stats were respectable, as he threw 15 touchdowns and 12 interceptions a year ago, and finished with a quarterback rating of 84.8. This was without having much of a running game (the Texans finished with the 22nd ranked rushing attack a year ago).

Rosenfels value around the league was certainly evident in the offseason, as Houston general manager Rick Smith reportedly received several calls inquiring of the availability of the Texans’ backup signal caller. Smith and the Texans flirted a little, and then decided to stand pat and hold on to their valuable commodity in Rosenfels.

Texans head coach Gary Kubiak, a career NFL backup quarterback, empathizes with Rosenfels situation—

"Believe me, I understand how tough that is. And as I've told him, and I would say nothing different to you, 'You get opportunities because of what you're doing now.' And if he keeps doing what he's doing, there's no doubt in my mind his opportunity's coming somehow, someway, and you never know what's going to happen throughout your season or throughout his career, so if he just keeps his nose to the grindstone, keeps working the way he's working, Sage is going to play football for a long time and he'll get many opportunities."

It is pretty clear that Sage is better than at least a few starting quarterbacks in the NFL. Ironically, the player he sits behind, quarterback Matt Schaub, was in a similar situation as recently as 15 months ago, as he was stuck behind Michael Vick on the Atlanta Falcons depth chart before being traded to Houston. Schaub talked about the move from backup to starter—

“There’s more things as a starter that you have to do and handle on a day-to-day basis versus being the backup, but it doesn’t matter. Going in there and knowing that going in and meeting it head on, whether it be the media or watching film or meeting with the coaches, all of that. You just have to be prepared going in that that’s what it’s going to be.”

Sage Rosenfels (Getty Images)

Although Rosenfels certainly appears ready to take on a greater role, he hasn’t made himself a distraction to his team.

“It’s been an interesting offseason,” said Rosenfels. "As a quarterback, you’d like to have a chance to make a team your own. And this is Matt’s team. And I understand that. There’s obviously some frustration there. But I’m excited for next year. I’m excited to get back to work, and I’m excited to have Kyle Shanahan as a coordinator, because I think he’s going to do a great job this year.”

Sage is on the short list of the league’s best backups and it is simply just a matter of time before he gets a legitimate chance to lead a team on a full-time basis. Rosenfels is under contract through 2009, and his four-year, $7 million deal represents one of the best bargains in the NFL, especially when you consider that the Jacksonville Jaguars spent $9 million over three seasons for backup Cleo Lemon, who has struggled mightily in the team’s offseason activities and mini-camps. It appears that until he becomes a free agent, Sage will have to do what he has been doing for the last few years for Houston, filling in on a moments notice and winning football games.

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Charlie Bernstein is the Editor-in-Chief of Sports Media Interactive, covering multiple teams in the National Football League, NCAA, and National Basketball Association. Charlie is a regular syndicated contributor to FoxSports and Sirius NFL Radio, and has been featured on the NFL Network. Charlie is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America. Feel free to contact him -HERE- with questions or comments.

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