When the Miami Dolphins signed Josh McCown to a 2 year 6.25 Million dollar contract I just about stood up and applauded. However applauding the Dolphins would get me weird looks from my friends and associates, so I passed. Much as I really liked Cleo Lemon and thought he should have been given a chance to lead this team for a season, I could think of no better replacement than Josh McCown. I know, you must be thinking that I'm crazy given that this is the same Josh McCown who couldn't win the starting job in Arizona and who played more receiver than QB in Oakland. But I really feel McCown is one of those QB's who will have a resurgence under a new regime in Miami. And here is why...
Josh McCown suffered from poor coaching in his early years in the NFL. For all that I like Dennis Green, he never really brought a young QB up and into prominence. When he was hired in Minnesota, he rotated QB's in Sean Salisbury and Rich Gannon before dropping Gannon (who would have an MVP season a decade years later) and bringing in fromer Bear Jim McMahon. After McMahon proved too old to get the job done, Green traded a pair of picks to Houston for Warren Moon. Moon's 1995 season in Minny was statistically his 2nd best season of his career, but the Vikings couldn't break over .500. Brad Johnson came next, and was the only QB on this list actually drafted by the Vikings, but even he was sent away when former Eagle, Randall Cunningham stepped in and overperformed. When Cunningham struggled, in went Jeff George, who was allowed to walk despite winning 8 games. And that leaves us with first round QB Daunte Culpepper.
The evolution of Culpepper is more difficult to track. He did step up and have an amasing 2nd season, putting in 33 touchdowns and taking the Vikings to the NFC Championship (a feat not copied until Big Ben took the Steelers to a Super Bowl in his second season). Todd Bouman and Spergon Wynn were his backups, neither are players of any note today. But how much of Culpepper's success was thanks to Green, and how much of it was thanks to one of the best receiver duo's in NFL history with Chris Carter and Randy Moss? History would say Carter-Moss. But after 2001 Green was gone, and the team went on, but in Arizona the scene repeated itself.
In Arizona, Dave McGinnis (remember him?!) was fired and replaced with Green. McGinnis had played McCown
sparingly in his first two seasons in Arizona. Josh McCown was 'ok' in 2004, obviously not enough to impress Green, who went and signed Kurt Warner. Warner and McCown then got to play the rotating door game that was familiar to the Vikings (And is still happening in Arizona, now with Lienart-Warner.) The end result of this was McCown being useless and ending up in Detroit, where Jon Kitna was clearly the starting QB. Then we get to the Oakland year. McCown was named starting QB to protect JaMarcus Russell, and to care-take a team who lost its #1 receiver, and whose number #2 receiver wanted out as well. Despite all the problems with this Oakland team, McCown was respectable, and kept Oakland in the game for much of the season.
Now in Miami, McCown will have a decent set of receivers (Ginn, Derek Hagan) and a solid run-game. But more important he is playing for a coach whose strength is Offensive Line, something McCown has never had. With a decent O-line built around him, a strong run game to support him, and the guiding hand of a smart front office, watch for McCown to rebound. It is clear that McCown is not the future of the Dolphins (with 2 first day QB's behind him in John Beck and Chad Henne) but I fully expect McCown to beat out Beck before the start of the season, and then be a tutor and backup for Henne. And who knows, maybe the confidence and experience of this new team will make McCown the next Sage Rosenfels, a highly touted backup.
