Taking a Closer Look at Dallas Cowboy QB, Brandon Weeden

My purpose here is to get my fellow Cowboy fans and myself a little more familiar with Brandon Weeden, our new backup quarterback with the departure of Kyle Orton.  We all love bullet points just like we love our backup quarterbacks here in the NFL.  Without further adieu.. let’s get a closer look at Brandon Weeden.

• Brandon Weeden was an outstanding amateur athlete at Edmond Santa Fe High School in Oklahoma.  He actually only played 1 season of high school football.  His passion was baseball yet he was collegiate material in both.  After his senior year Brandon was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 2nd round of the MLB draft.  Weeden originally committed to play sports at Oklahoma State University but then decided to try his hand at pro baseball instead of immediately enrolling.  Brandon’s Major League career was fairly nondescript despite his fairly immense potential.  Weeden officially called it quits with baseball in 2006.

• Weeden enrolled at Oklahoma State to play football in 2007 and agreed to redshirt during his first season with the team.  The year after he only appeared in one game.  In 2009 the quarterback played in portions of 3 games.  Finally, in 2010 Brandon Weeden was named the starter for the Cowboys.  Unfortunately in week 2 of 2010 he suffered a severe thumb injury on his throwing hand.  Brandon offered this gem of a quote following a win over Troy after his 2 interceptions and 2 fumbles.

"Hurt thumb, no thumb, whatever, it doesn’t matter. I don’t care if I don’t have a thumb. You’ve got to take the snaps."

•  He would go on to throw 6 touchdown passes against Tulsa in a rout the next week.  The quarterback would go on  to finish his Junior season in Stillwater with 34 touchdowns and 13 interceptions for 2010-11.  The future was bright indeed and the best was yet to come for Oklahoma State and Brandon Weeden.

• Going into Weeden’s senior season he began to appear in mock drafts because of his stellar Junior year.  In Brandon led Oklahoma State to a Fiesta Bowl birth while piling up 37 touchdown passes against 13 interceptions as a senior in the 2011-12 season.  The quarterback only started for 2 seasons yet would end up as Oklahoma State’s career leader in season passing yards, game passing yards, season completed passes, and others.

•  Heading into the 2012 draft.  Teams had a huge concern with drafting Weeden.  His age.  The quarterback would be 29 years old at the time of the draft in April of 2012.  Weeden wasn’t concerned at all and had this to offer about the subject.

"“Such a big deal has been made of my age. I use it to my advantage. I think it’s a positive this year. I think it’s a positive for my future. It’s one of those deals, the way I look at it is, name one person who wouldn’t want to be in the position I am, and have the kind of path I’ve had?”"

• Renowned draft guru Mike Mayock had this to say about Weeden sneaking into the 1st round of the 2012 draft.

"They got their running back earlier, and now they got their QB. He can make all the throws. People are concerned about Weeden’s age at 28 years old, but you draft him because you expect him to compete this year. If he’s the more impressive guy in camp, then he will start over Colt McCoy."

• The Cleveland Browns bought into the Brandon Weeden hype and were excited heading into the 2012 NFL season with their new quarterback.  They had their guy who would lead them back to prominence in the NFL.  Well, this is what happened………

  Year Age Tm Pos No. G GS QBrec Cmp Att Cmp% Yds TD TD% Int Int% Lng 2012 29 CLE QB 3 15 15 5-10-0 297 517 57.4 3385 14 2.7 17 3.3 71 2013 30 CLE QB 3 8 5 0-5-0 141 267 52.8 1731 9 3.4 9 3.4 95 Career 23 20 5-15-0 438 784 55.9 5116 23 2.9 26 3.3 95

• The bottom line and moral of the story is this.  Brandon Weeden has been a very average and marginally effective as an NFL quarterback since being drafted.  There is a reason the hapless Cleveland Browns decided not to bring him back.  He has looked shaky at best during the preseason this year.  Perhaps Dallas should have tried harder to keep Kyle Orton who at least has more experience and has been a better NFL quarterback.  One thing is certain, the Cowboys WILL draft a quarterback in next years draft.

How do you all feel about Mr. Weeden?  Can he carry the flag if Romo gets hurt again or is Dallas doomed as soon as Tony comes up clutching his back?  Should Dallas look for another backup quarterback?

Let me know in the comments section and on Twitter.