Reid Kerr

This is truly the year of the quarterback.

And I mean that in all of the worst possible ways.

I sincerely hope you didn’t watch the Thursday night game this week, where a disappointing number one pick got outplayed by an undrafted Division II quarterback, who was only starting because another disappointing first round pick was injured. But that’s pretty indicative of the way things are going in the NFL these days.

If your favorite team has a quarterback who is still safe and starting at this point in the year, even if you don’t like them, you should still count your lucky stars. So far this season, we’ve had 46 different starting quarterbacks in the league. Ten rookies have already started games, which hasn’t happened in the Super Bowl era.

As a side note, that’s where I start keeping records. If something hasn’t happened since the fifties when you carved your own helmet out of a cow and you could smoke in the huddle, I don’t count it.

Teams are absolutely desperate for quarterbacking. One of the biggest stories of the year so far has been a backup quarterback winning games with two different teams in consecutive weeks, one of which he had to practice his snap count cadence on the sidelines during the game. It makes for a great story, but ideally, you shouldn’t meet your quarterback for the first time in the huddle while he’s wearing a name tag.

Some of it is from injuries, and that’s why I don’t mind the emphasis on roughing the passer penalties. I admit, they’re pretty weak sometimes, but if that’s the price we have to pay to prevent a Zack Wilson-Aidan O’Connell matchup in prime time, I’m willing to do it.

And yes, that’s about to happen. This Sunday night will be a good time for me to skip the game and reconnect with my family, and possibly learn some of their names.

Some of these guys will be successful. The top three quarterback picks from this year’s draft so far are a probable bust, a definite hit, and an injured guy who might work out. That seems to be pretty close to the usual average. But until things get straightened out, we get household names like Tommy DeVito, Clayton Tune, and Jaren Hall as starters.

And we can just hope none of those games wind up as the only options on our televisions.

Time for my week 10 picks. Last week, I went 5-1 and 4-2 against the Vegas spread. In my defense, I forgot and picked the Jets to win, in spite of what I clearly swore in my grandfather’s eulogy. Lesson learned there. I’m now 33-22 on the season, and 29-22-3 against Vegas overall. As always, these are for the purposes of comedic discussion only. No wagering.

NY Giants (+17) at Dallas: This is the largest point spread of the season so far, and it definitely should be. The Giants are starting rookie free agent Tommy DeVito. Or maybe it’s Danny DeVito. I’ll admit, I haven’t done a whole lot of research in this one.

Pick: Cowboys to win but not cover, winning by 16 or fewer points.

Houston (+6.5) at Cincinnati: Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud has looked awesome this season. Unfortunately, Joe Burrow is already the poster boy for awesome.

Pick: Bengals to win but not cover, winning by six or fewer points.

Colts (-2.5) vs. New England (in Frankfurt): I’m not sure if this overseas game was scheduled, so much as it was deported.

Pick: Colts to win and cover, winning by three or more.

NY Jets (+1) at Las Vegas: Some concepts are just outdated, like phone books, or paying for things with checks, or that Josh McDaniels is capable of being a head football coach.

Pick: Jets to win it outright.

Atlanta (-2) at Arizona: Last week, Arizona had 58 total yards. The Raiders of the 70’s used to gain that much on a fumble.

Pick: Falcons to win and cover, winning by three or more.

Green Bay (+3.5) at Pittsburgh: The Steelers have been outgained in every game this year, outscored by 30 points, and are still 5-3. Mike Tomlin is the guy I would call if I needed a motivational speech. Or even if I just needed to get my car out of a ditch, which he could probably accomplish just by yelling at it.

Pick: Steelers to win but not cover, winning by three or fewer.

I’ll also take the 49ers over the Jaguars, Ravens over Browns, and potatoes over stuffing. Good luck, everybody.

Reid Kerr is getting in shape for the holidays, which means he just bought larger pants. You can always tweet questions, comments, and angry messages to him at @reidaboutit.