I was just thinking about something I don't see much anymore,so I looked it up. I guess the Trib just had an article on what I have noticed in the NFL.

Where have all the LH QB's gone?


8/11 Trib article:

e question has Mark Brunell stumped, a riddle he's attempting to sound out on the fly. Where have all of his people gone?

No, we're not talking about middle-aged University of Washington alumni or former NFL players now doing commentary for ESPN. Folks from those castes are easy to find.

This discussion centers around left-handed quarterbacks. Or the obvious current shortage on the NFL level.

Brunell, a left-hander who spent 19 seasons with the Packers, Jaguars, Redskins, Saints and Jets, is curious about the topic but unable to guarantee an explanation.

"It's hard to say there is one major factor at play," he says. "But unfortunately, we're a dying breed. We need someone to relight and carry the torch for us. If we don't find that, we could become extinct here soon."

Here are the hard numbers worth exploring. With a multitude of studies approximating that 10 percent of the general population is left-handed, it would seem reasonable to assume the percentage of left-handed quarterbacks at all levels would fall in a similar range.

Yet with NFL training camps underway, out of the 120 quarterbacks currently under contract, only two (1.7 percent) are left-handers: Kellen Moore, a fourth-year backup with the Lions who has never thrown a regular-season pass; and Tim Tebow, signed by the Eagles in April as a gadget player after spending the last two seasons out of football.

Last season, 72 quarterbacks threw 17,845 passes during the regular season with only 121 coming from a lefty, all launched by Michael Vick with the Jets.

And over the last five years, 55 quarterbacks have been selected in the NFL draft. Not a single one has been a southpaw.

Is this collection of data strong enough to classify left-handed quarterbacks as an endangered species? Is it a telling trend, a confirmation of bias? Or is it simply coincidence?

After all, there never has been a surplus of left-handed quarterbacks in the NFL. Only a few dozen have ever become starters, and Steve Young registers as the only one enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, alongside 22 of his right-handed peers.

Former Georgia quarterback David Greene, a lefty who made 51 college starts from 2001-04, knows the viable theories that bounce around — that many coaches and offensive coordinators prefer to construct their systems and game plans for righties; that protecting a left-handed quarterback's blindside with a right tackle can present greater challenges; that receivers sometimes struggle with the spin on a lefty's passes. But Greene can't say any of that ever inhibited his climb, from his high school days in Georgia through his time excelling in the SEC to his brief professional bounce-around in which he never threw a pass for the Seahawks, Patriots, Chiefs and Colts.

Unfortunately, we're a dying breed. We need someone to relight and carry the torch for us. If we don't find that, we could become extinct here soon.
- Mark Brunell
"Right now," Green says, "I'd just guess that this is a low point in a cycle that will come back around eventually."

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."