Dallas Cowboys News: Should Team Start Kellen Moore Instead of Matt Cassel?
Normally a 3-8 team would be completely out of the playoff race, but this year is a little different considering the wide open NFC East. The Dallas Cowboys have been terrible this season, but not a single team in the division even has six wins this year.
Obviously the biggest issue for "America's Team" this season has been the health of Tony Romo. The Pro Bowl quarterback has been battling injuries all year long and the Cowboys are a miserable 0-7 without him. Brandon Weeden started (and lost) three games and has been released from the roster. Matt Cassel is a weekly train wreck with his pick sixes and inaccurate passes. Even when Romo has played, he has just five touchdowns to seven interceptions this year.
Which begs the question: why not give Kellen Moore a chance?
Remember Moore? Moore was a fantastic quarterback at Boise State winning 50 of the 53 games he started. With the Broncos, Moore threw an exceptional 142 touchdown passes to just 28 interceptions. Obviously those numbers would take a huge dive in the NFL, but Moore is an accurate thrower, good decision maker, and he's only 26 years old. Cassel is constantly losing the Cowboys games with turnovers, and that's the complete opposite of how Moore plays. Moore is a 'play it safe' quarterback, somewhat comparable to an Alex Smith.
Sometimes you just have to see what you've got. Kurt Warner was once a backup quarterback who was undrafted, like Moore. Heck, even Warren Moon went undrafted having to play in Canada. No, I'm not saying More is going to be the next Warner or Moon, but there's only one way to find out just how good your backup is: play him. Around the league this year we are seeing a lot of success from backup quarterbacks. Brock Osweiler is 3-0 for the Denver Broncos, Ryan Fitzpatrick is playing great, and Matt Hasselbeck, at the ripe age of 40, is 4-1 in place of Andrew Luck.
Is Moore the savior of the Cowboys franchise? Highly unlikely. But the reality is he can't be much worse than Cassel has been, and Moore is seven years younger. This is also the final year (unless Jerry Jones re-signs him) of Cassel's contract until he becomes an unrestricted free agent. The bottom line is there's no future in Cassel and Romo is having trouble staying healthy. It's time to see what Moore's got.
"If it comes to that I'll be ready. Obviously I feel like it's been a good week. It's been nice just getting reps simply. It's as simple as that. Just getting out there and playing," Moore said.
This could work out great for the Cowboys. Moore is only under contract for this season, but if they give him the starting role for the rest of the year, and they see something special, they could really get a bargain for a young quarterback. Again, Romo isn't getting any younger and his injuries are piling up.
At this point, what have the Cowboys got to lose? Maybe Moore is better.
Follow Damon Salvadore on Twitter @DamonSalvadore1
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