Who Should be the Backup QB with the Seahawks?

The Seahawks signed a veteran that no one expected and still have Trevone Boykin. Who should the back behind Russell Wilson be?

Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks does not like to give up any snaps to a backup. In 2016 he injured his ankle, knee and pectoral muscle. In the meantime, it also felt like he lost an eye, played with three fingers and other awfulness. Wilson was banged up and was not himself last season. 12s all know this. What we saw from Wilson was a Wilson that was not near 100 percent.

The problem was either the offensive line was terrible and caused Wilson to be injured. Or Wilson holds on to the ball too long and therefore gets hit more often than he should. Maybe the running backs, mostly Christine Michael early in the year, had no idea how to pass-protect. Or a combination of all of the above. No matter what the real issue was, Seahawks fans were lucky that Wilson did not have to miss multiple games.

In 2017, maybe we will not be so lucky. If Wilson were to miss games, who should come in and maintain the Seahawks playoff-quality performance? Here are the options.

Austin Davis

Davis is not overly athletic or accurate or, frankly, very good. Still the Seahawks took a chance that he could be the veteran backup presence in the quarterback room. They signed Davis instead of other free-agent option Colin Kaepernick. Is Kaepernick better than Davis? No doubt, yes. But Davis wanted less money. Davis also, for better or worse, brings less baggage. Seattle, of all the teams in the NFL, does not seem to care so much about the political ramifications involved in Davis versus Kaepernick, but it may have played some small part. In any case, Davis will never take the Seahawks to a Super Bowl.

Trevone Boykin

Mr. Boykin, please just find a way to stay out of the public eye off the field. Please.

That said, Boykin is a decent backup in Seattle’s system. He has a lot of the same skills as Wilson and the offense does not have to change with him under center. In limited, and admittedly garbage time, Boykin had a quarterback rating of 91.2. He had a Total QBR of 71.6. (Total QBR includes things like rushes, passes, penalties, turnovers, etc.) Boykin did play twice, though, against the San Francisco 49ers who were terrible in 2016. Davis, on the other hand, has never come close to a Total QBR of 71.6. His highest is 49.8 in 2014. Now, if Boykin can only show consistent maturity off the field and do things that do not involve law enforcement, he would be ok. His inconsistent lack of judgement is one reason he went undrafted in 2016. He has the raw skill, but his challenge is the mental, and non-football, side.

Kaepernick

Sure, the Seahawks passed on signing Kaeperick after they brought him in for a visit. Different reports had different reasons for Seattle not signing Kaepernick. He either wanted too much money or whatever. Maybe Kaepernick does not want to be a professional quarterback. Maybe he would be better finding a job in public service. It could be that NFL teams are colluding to not sign him because of his outspoken political beliefs. Whatever the case may be, one would be hard-pressed to say Kaepernick is not one of the top 32 quarterbacks available to play. He is better than Tom Savage of the Houston Texans, for instance. Kaepernick does not help himself when he constantly tweets out things that ruffle conservative NFL executive feathers. Maybe in actual life the problem is that those execs are too close-minded and Kaepernick is right about many things. In the NFL, though, those execs make the decisions and Kaepernick will have a hard time finding a job.

Robert Griffin III

I throw Griffin in simply because he is athletic like Wilson and a free agent. Griffin seems like a decent person. But he probably got injured doing something in the time it took you to read these three sentences.

Answer to the Backup to Russell Wilson

Clearly the answer is Boykin. He is already on the team. He has learned the Seahawks system. Boykin has athletic skill and can be an accurate passer. He lacks experience, and in a way 12s should hope he never gets it and Wilson remains healthy. If Wilson were to be injured, though, Boykin could lead the team to a winning season.