Vetting Matt Flynn

By Adam Cancryn

A (mostly) factual analysis of free agent quarterback Matt Flynn.

There are questions galore this NFL offseason, what with Peyton Manning's neck and the fight for the No. 2 draft pick and the Cleveland Browns wondering what do to with a problem like RGIII. But perhaps the biggest mystery of these next few months is Matt Flynn, the mild-mannered backup quarterback turned one-game wonder turned coveted free agent.

We do know a few things about the 26-year-old Texas native. He backed up noted sleep apnea victim JaMarcus Russell for two years at LSU before taking over and leading the Tigers to a national championship. He got drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the seventh round. Once there, Flynn showed the natural ability to hold a clipboard without losing that pesky pen that goes with it, competently directed the second-team offense, and was also lauded for the firm but comforting back pats he gave star quarterback Aaron Rodgers on the sideline.*

Flynn even got on the field a few times during regular season games, and managed not to throw up, line up behind the left guard, or generally embarrass himself, which is always a plus.

Then, after Rodgers went down with a concussion late in the 2010-11 season, Flynn got his first start against the then 11-2 New England Patriots. He promptly threw for 251 yards and three touchdowns in a gem of a performance that was improbably overshadowed by the most entertaining play in football — a 313-pound lineman rumbling 71 yards to set up the winning score.

No doubt scarred by that image, Flynn would undergo therapy and be unable to start another game until Jan. 1, 2012. Facing his fears head on, he tossed six touchdowns en route to a 45-41 win over the Detroit Lions and prominent fat linemen Ndamukong Suh and Corey Williams.

With no contract in place and still miffed that State Farm picked that two-left-footed jigglypuff B.J. Raji over him as their next Discount Double Check spokesman, Flynn secured his release and hit the open market.

That is all we know about the second-hottest free agent, more or less (likely less). And as far as potential multimillion-dollar investments go, that's not nearly enough, even for the NFL. There's not even any film of him hugging an old professor for analysts and coaches to study.

That leaves quarterback-starved franchises in a tough spot. On the one hand, Flynn has all the markings of a good NFL signal-caller. He's just 26, a decade younger than the stiff-necked Manning, yet still has the seasoning that draft picks like Robert Griffin III and Ryan Tannehill lack. In his limited playing time, Flynn has certainly proved more than serviceable. His performance against Detroit was masterful, leading drive after successful drive with the touch and decision-making of a veteran. The teams in the hunt for a new quarterback (Redskins, Browns, Dolphins, among others) never saw one quarter that good last year, much less an entire game.

Yet even in a league built on small sample sizes, Flynn's resume is too small to properly evaluate. During those two impressive games over two years, he had one of the NFL's best passing offenses at his disposal, and came into them fresh at a time when everyone else was nearing the end of a grueling season. Anywhere Flynn ends up this year would be a drastic step down in terms of the talent around him, and he would be expected to elevate that mediocre team to new heights in his first full NFL season. Whether he can throw for 480 yards and six touchdowns while fleeing defenders and searching for a receiver the likes of Greg Little or Jabar Gaffney is questionable at best.

What we can be sure of is that in a league where the gap between the best of the best and absolute worst quarterbacks is increasingly pronounced, some team will end up plunking down the cash to acquire Flynn, even if it's purely out of fear of starting the year with Caleb Hanie under center and dealing with a derpfest of 'What about Brett Favre?!?!' from the online echo chamber.

It's a backward system, akin to paying $8 for a cheeseburger without first finding out if it's from McDonalds or Five Guys. But the only way we'll ever find out just how good Matt Flynn is, is if he takes the field and answers that question himself.

*Some of the statements made in this article may or may not be true.

Adam Cancryn is an editor and co-founder of Began in '96, and a connoisseur of semi-factual athlete biographies.