My Boise State Quarterback Question

With another post out on Bronco Country and Ryan Murphy’s question from Coach Petersen’s WAC news conference about who should start at quarter back I am reminded of days past. I am not sure when the obsession over who is starting at quarterback for Boise State was brought into question by the local news media and fans. I do recall the whole Mike Stanford or Jared Zabransky thing back in 2004. In 2007 Boise State fans and media were yet again obsessed over who should man the offense. Now in 2008 Boise State, from a fan and media perspective is embroiled in the Bush Hamdan and Kellen Moore quarterback stand off. It should be noted that any of the four quarterbacks on the current roster could lead this team, maybe not as well as the next, but quite capable of running the offense. For all the insight, media driven controversy and obsession, my Boise State quarterback question is not who will be the Boise State quarterback, but rather who will be the Boise State quarterback with enough talent to man a National Football League team.

Over the past weeks Bronco Fans have learned their hero to zero to hero Jared Zabransky was cut yet again, this time by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Taylor Tharp, by all accounts may have had a shot to catch on in Carolina was cut this month. Past quarterback Bart Hendricks had his moments in NFL Europe and most recently the AFL 2. Ryan Dinwiddie, arguably the best Boise State quarterback in recent memory is having the best career thus far. Ryan’s services are being employed up north in the CFL, getting the chance to lead his Winnipeg team in the 2007 Grey Cup and now after Winnipeg’s 0-4 he replaced the season starter and led his team to victory this past week. However, even with those successes Ryan was also cut by the NFL’s Chicago Bears.

Most would agree a great College Football quarterback may not be NFL material. There are countless examples, Andre Ware, Tommy Frazier, Tim Couch and most University of Florida products. With that said, most if not all NFL quarterbacks started in the college ranks somewhere. In addition, I think most college quarterbacks desire to become NFL quarterbacks. The bottom line is I would like to see a Boise State quarterback shine in the NFL.

It is possible for non BCS teams to produce such a talent; Steve Young, Jim McMahon and Trent Dilfer were all Super Bowl starters and winners. Imagine if Boise State landed a talented enough quarterback that NFL scouts would consider him a first round choice after his college career. Imagine a quarterback with that type of talent leading a Chris Petersen coached team. I say forget asking who will start at quarterback in 2008 for Boise State, but rather do we now or are capable in the future of having an future NFL talent at the helm of the Boise State offense.