A QB Controversy in Seattle?

Other than the starter, I'd put him first on the depth chart

I have read my share of speculation this offseason already about how Matt Flynn is going to help rejuvenate the Seahawks and make them relevant in the NFC.

None of these articles were written by Pete Carroll.

Recently the Seattle head coach announced that Tarvaris Jackson is the starter going into camp, which somehow was not followed by a laugh track.  I have already stated on this site that I don’t think that Flynn is the savior that a lot of people think he is, but this is a confusing statement by Pete.  It is well documented that Jackson is well liked in the locker room, but if this QB competition is at all close and they don’t go with Flynn it will most likely be a mistake.

Flynn is a mostly unknown commodity (two career starts) but Tarvaris isn’t.  We know he is inconsistent, which kind of seems like a nice way of saying “bad” in this instance, and we know that he hasn’t stayed healthy.  Even if Jackson plays at his very best this season, I don’t think a lot of people are going to be blown away by his ceiling.  Flynn on the other hand has the potential to be a franchise quarterback.  Despite his limited experience, he has sat behind and learned from Aaron Rodgers for a few seasons and has gotten rave reviews from scouts and management alike.  Skeptics would point out that Kevin Kolb had a very similar situation, but every quarterback is different.  Would the Seahawks rather win 8 games this year with Jackson (that was a generous estimate, by the way) and miss the playoffs or have Flynn go through some growing pains, and come back next year ready to make a serious run?

There is a very good chance that this statement from Pete is just lip service and he intends to go with Flynn barring a catastrophic offseason and pre-season performance, but he has put himself into a corner here.  If Jacksonplays slightly better than Flynn in a few pre-season games and doesn’t get the starting job, he is going to look bad in the locker room.  A lot of fans have a traditionalist idea that every position should be up for grabs, but this just seems like a situation where you say “we signed Flynn to be our guy, and now he’s our guy.”

In the end Seahawks fans probably don’t have anything to worry about, as my previous scenario involves Tarvaris Jackson actually playing well.

Note: Stay tuned this week for plenty of draft coverage!