McGee, why not? It's not that Jerry Jones will possibly be the owner and general manager of one of the worst teams in the NFL thanks to lackluster play and the season-ending injury to Tony Romo. He has to contend with empty seats.
Empty seats do not make money. Empty seats do not help with advertisers. Empty seats do not get primetime games on Sunday nights.
The Cowboys can get either A) good or B) interesting.
Sure, the Cowboys could get better. Then again, if they could get better, they might have tried that tactic in week 2.
However, it'd be real easy to get real interesting to the local yokels.
Start Stephen McGee.
You're starter is out. No matter what Roy Williams said, the back-up is worse. Even if Jon Kitna is halfways decent, he's not leading you out of a 1-5 hole, one that no other NFL team has ever climbed out of to reach the playoffs.
It's a dead end season. Why not add some spark?
McGee was a 2008 draftee from Texas A&M University where his supposed fantastic arm (at least in high school) was underutilized under Dennis Franchione, who turned him into a running option quarterback when every other offense in college football was running the spread.
McGee's a third-round pick, who was allegedly on the bubble this pre-season. Not because he was awful (since he hasn't thrown a professional pass, it's tough to tell), but due to roster maneuvering.
McGee made the team. He's here. Let's find out if he has anything.
There is no upside to playing Kitna. He's at the tail-end of his career. He's not getting another full-time starting job. He's probably out of the league in a year or two. We know what we got in Kitna -- an older version of the mediocre quarterback of 10 years ago.
With McGee, there's local interest (a Texas kid who went to A&M) and there's the element of the unknown. What if down deep in this kid's brain is the next starting quarterback? What if he's good? What if he's good enough to be the back-up next season? Or for the next 10 years? What if he's Jason Garrett -- smart, capable and totally useful?
What if he wins a couple of games and makes it interesting?
There's one way to find out. Start him.
While we're here, let's throw all these kids into the fire. Brian and Jason Williams. Sean Lee. Victor Butler. Danny McCray. Sam Young. Kevin Ogletree. Josh Brent. Barry Church. Akwasi Owusu-Ansah.
I'm not saying they deserve to start over Keith Brooking, Jay Ratliff or Marc Columbo. But is the ability between Orlando Scandrick and Owusu-Ansah that great? Is Alan Ball that much better than Church or McCray?
Get these kids some reps and see what you have hidden deep on the roster. If they suck, then we know what to do with them when contracts expire.
