The Kansas City Chiefs are banking that this will be the season that Brodie Croyle steps up and leads the offense.  Croyle has a good enough arm to make all of the throws needed to succeed in the NFL.  But, he is not the most mobile QB around and he was very injury prone in college.  Croyle will have to beat out Damon Huard for the starting job and if he can’t….the Chiefs will need to draft another QB of the future next April.  Croyle played in 9 games (6 starts) last season for the Chiefs and he completed 127 of 224 passes (56.7%) for 1,227 yards with 6 TD passes and 6 interceptions (69.9 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 7 times for 18 yards (2.6 ypc).  The Chiefs probably should have brought in another QB just in case Croyle has trouble.  You would have expected Herman Edwards to want more competition for Croyle this off season with his job probably on the line in 2008.  Croyle has now played in 11 games (6 starts) in his major league career and he has completed 130 of 231 passes (56.3%) for 1,250 yards with 6 TD passes and 8 interceptions (65.8 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 10 times for 15 yards (1.5 ypc).

Veteran Damon Huard just couldn’t recapture the magic touch he had in 2006 last year.  He lost the starting job to Brodie Croyle late last season and there have been whispers that the Chiefs like 2nd year QB Tyler Thigpen more than Huard now…..and that must be a joke.  Huard played in 11 games (10 starts) last season for the Chiefs and he completed 206 of 332 passes (62%) for 2,257 yards with 11 TD passes and 13 interceptions (76.8 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 9 times for -1 yard (-0.1 ypc).  Huard doesn’t have much left but he can still manage a game if called upon.  He has now played in 59 games (24 starts) in his NFL career and he completed 524 of 865 passes (60.6%) for 5,826 yards with 31 TD passes and 22 interceptions (82.0 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 48 times for 135 yards (2.8 ypc).

2nd year man Tyler Thigpen will battle Damon Huard for the #2 QB job but the Chiefs would be smart to let him spend another season as the #3 man where he can watch and learn.  Thigpen played in 1 game (0 starts) for the Chiefs last season and he completed 2 of 6 passes (33.3%) for 41 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 interception (18.7 QB Rating).  He did not run the ball last season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  D