Mike Glennon Had a Better Rookie Year Than Carson Wentz, is He a Legit QB1 Option?

With Tony Romo only headed to a winning team, and the Patriots maybe not trading Jimmy Garoppolo, the QB options are scant for the teams that need one. Let’s list those teams:

Buffalo Bills (Cardale Jones, EJ Manuel)
New York Jets (Bryce Petty, Christian Hackenberg)
Cleveland Browns (nobody)
Houston Texans (yes, they need a QB)
Jacksonville Jaguars (they’ll need to add a legit backup, right?)
Denver Broncos (probably only in the Romo sweepstakes)
Minnesota Vikings (likely to just trot out Sam Bradford again)
LA Rams (are we sure Jared Goff is the Week 1 starter?)
San Francisco 49ers (got nothin’)

I think Tyrod Taylor would help all these teams, if only to be a band-aid for a couple years while developing a young QB such as Mitch Trubisky or DeShone Kizer.

A name you don’t hear as much of: Mike Glennon. It’s probably because he’s thrown a combined 11 passes in the last two seasons. Tampa Bay drafted Jameis Winston, and Glennon was resigned to backup duty.

But … let’s look back at Glennon’s first year as the starter, at age 24 in 2013. His numbers were nothing special on a horrible team that started 0-8:

59.7 percent completions
2,608 yards
19 TDs, 9 INTs
6.3 yards per attempt
83.9 QB rating
56.7 QBR
sacked 40 times (only attempted 416 passes in 13 games)

But before we chalk Glennon up as a career backup, let’s take a look at Carson Wentz, the #2 overall pick in the 2016 draft. He also started as a rookie at the age of 24:

62.4 percent completions
3,782 yards
16 TDs, 14 INTs
6.2 yards per attempt
79.3 QB rating
55.4 QBR
sacked 33 times (attempted 607 passes)

This isn’t some passionate defense for Glennon, or even a suggestion that he’s better than Wentz. But after his rookie year, the Bucs fired coach Greg Schiano and replaced him with Love Smith. Almost instantly, Smith named a new starting QB: Veteran journeyman Josh McCown. The two were together in Chicago.

Glennon played sparingly in 2014 (McCown kept getting hurt) and the Bucs were terrible once again. They landed the #1 pick in the 2015 draft. Enter Jameis Winston.

And that’s why Mike Glennon has thrown 11 passes in the last two years. Jimmy Garoppolo was a 2nd round pick (Glennon 3rd) who has started two games in three years. But because he played for the Patriots, and he wasn’t exposed to starting a full season for a dumpster fire franchise, and because he’s learned at the altar of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, everyone wants him.

Is Mike Glennon a cheaper option for the 49ers? A sleeper for the Browns, who maybe still draft a QB with the 12th pick, or in the 2nd or 3rd round?

The only way I’d steer the Jets away from him: Let’s trot Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg out all season, expect the team to go 3-13, and then target Sam Darnold or Josh Rosen at the top of the 2018 draft.