6 QBs Mike McCarthy has developed before Trey Lance
Mike McCarthy might have inherited Dak Prescott as an entrenched starting quarterback, but he’s had a role in the development of several other quarterbacks who hadn’t yet ascended. The Dallas Cowboys have acquired third-year quarterback Trey Lance via a trade with the San Francisco 49ers and it’s a move that appears all upside, little risk for the Cowboys.
Lance comes with two years remaining on his rookie contract, and if he shows any semblance of development over the course of the season, Dallas has the ability to place the fifth-year option on him. Of course there’s a long way to go from a career QBR under 40 to that, but the head coach of the Cowboys has had some interesting results in developing quarterbacks since his early days as an offensive coordinator.
Steve Bono
Sep 29, 1996; San Diego, CA, USA; FILE PHOTO; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Steve Bono (13) in action against the San Diego Chargers at Jack Murphy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Brouillet-USA TODAY NETWORK
Bono was a journeyman quarterback across the league for nine years before he finally got the opportunity to be a full-time starter. That came in 1995, McCarthy’s first year as quarterbacks coach. All he and Bono did together was lead the club to a four-game win improvement over the previous season and earn a 13-3 record.
Bono threw for over 3,100 yards and had a 4.0:1.9 intereption ratio and made the only Pro Bowl season of his career. Bono returned to earth the following season, throwing for more picks than scores and wasn’t to be heard from again, but for one year McCarthy’s tutelage turned him into a viable starter.
Aaron Brooks
John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports © 2005 John David Mercer
Brooks was McCarthy’s QB in his first hurrah as a play caller and offensive coordinator. The University of Virginia product started five games as a 24-year old rookie in 2000, going 3-2.
Brooks’ best season came in 2003 when he threw for 24 scores against just eight interceptions, leading the NFL in INT % at just 1.5%. In his five seasons with McCarthy as his OC he led 16 game-winning comebacks, including a league-high five in 2004.
Alex Smith
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
McCarthy and Smith didn’t get much time together, as the coach was the OC for just one season in SF, Smith’s rookie campaign of 2005. His season went as most rookie’s did back then, a 1 TD, 11 INT season and he didn’t find much success until he was in the league for a half decade.
Aaron Rodgers
(Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
McCarthy then jumped over to the other first-round QB of the 2005 draft. Rodgers didn’t start as a rookie and spent two more years on the bench learning behind Brett Favre. When McCarthy finally was able to insert Rodgers into the starting lineup the offense didn’t miss a beat, finishing No. 5 in both points and yardage, although the team limped to a 6-10 record.
Rodgers’ first season getting starter snaps and he through for over 4,000 yards, and the rest is history. Now, how much credit does McCarthy get for Rodgers development? Not much if you ask Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar, who thinks Dallas is one of the worst landing spots for Lance to u-turn his career.
Matt Flynn
Green Bay Packers quarterback Matt Flynn (10)
One of the wildest QB stories of this millenium was when the Seattle Seahawks signed Matt Flynn in free agency. A seventh-round pick in 2008, Flynn sat on the bench behind Rodgers for basically his entire rookie contract. But in his final season in Green Bay he appeared in five games with one start and threw six touchdowns on just 49 attempts.
The Seahawks rewarded Flynn with a three-year $19 million deal the following offseason. How’d that go? Flynn never started a game for Seattle and was back in Green Bay as Rodgers’ backup the following season.
Cooper Rush
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush (10)
Rush might be a bus driver for the Cowboys, but fans should not overlook just how bad the club had been with backups under center during the Tony Romo era. Dallas was 1-11 without Romo in 2015 and were 1-13 overall under Jason Garrett. McCarthy lost Dak Prescott early in 2020 and the backups went 4-7.
But Rush, an afterthought who couldn’t even stick on a bad Giants roster at his previous stop, returned to Dallas under McCarthy and went 1-0 in 2021 and 4-1 in 2022. Rush.
