While Rex Grossman inking a one-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons will, no doubt, be quickly forgotten unless and until long-time Falcons starter Matt Ryan suffers some type of unexpected injury, it's a signing that says a lot for the players already in Atlanta and currently slotted behind Ryan on the Falcon depth chart. Per a recent report from Dianna Marie Russini of ESPN, Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan targeted Grossman as his "No. 1" choice to back up Ryan after nearly a full offseason's worth of hand-wringing over the play of TJ Yates and Sean Renfree.
Grossman, now 35, hasn't taken a regular season or playoff snap in the NFL since the 2011 season when he saw 13 games of action as a member of the Washington Redskins. He also hasn't been on an NFL roster during the regular season since 2013, though he was with the Cleveland Browns during training camp last year. Fans of the Falcons have to wonder just what it is Shanahan sees in Grossman, dealing with an injury along with his lack of recent experience, other than familiarity. Shanahan was the offensive coordinator in Washington when Grossman was enjoying his final go-round as an NFL starter.
Under Shanahan with the Redskins in 2011 Grossman managed 265 completions for 3,151 yards, 16 touchdowns, 20 interceptions and eight fumbles. So, basically, par for the course for the big-armed signal-caller throughout his career. Even when he was the starter for a Chicago Bears team that reached the Super Bowl, Grossman was always a boom-or-bust type. In 2006, the only season he ever started a full slate of 16 games, Grossman three for 3,193 yards along with 23 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. He also fumbled nine times.
If Shanahan really believes Grossman is the right veteran to back up Ryan, that does not bode well for Yates or Renfree. While neither Yates nor Renfree, former fifth and seventh-round picks respectively, has ever inspired much in the way of confidence, it's certainly telling that Shanahan doesn't even trust them to keep the space behind Ryan warm. Yates, as a rookie in 2011 for the Houston Texans provided a glimmer of hope for his NFL future when he appeared in six regular season games and two postseason contests in place of an injured Matt Schaub. He played well, completing 61.2 percent of his passes during the year and adding 28 completions, for 343 yards in the playoffs. Unfortunately, he was never able to build off that early promise and eventually wound up signing with the Falcons just prior to last season after two more years spent backing up in Houston.
Renfree, in his third NFL season out of Duke, has yet to throw a pass at the NFL level. With Grossman's signing, it sounds like he may never get that opportunity, at least not with the Falcons.
While Falcons fans will simply continue to hope that Matty Ice stays healthy and the backup quarterback situation does not again become pertinent at some point during the season, it's got to be troubling to know that Shanahan hand-picked a player who hasn't taken a snap in three years because the guys already on the roster weren't getting it done.