Kellen Clemens

Clemens re-signed with the Chargers on a one-year deal this offseason after spending the last two seasons as Philip Rivers' primary backup, hardly a pressing job considering Rivers has made every start since 2006. He'll compete with Zach Mettenberger for the No. 2 role on the depth chart, but could find himself in free agency should he lose his grasp on the backup spot.

Clemens only had three pass attempts in 2014. That wasn’t much of a surprise because the backup quarterback job in San Diego is hardly a pressing need when considering Philip Rivers hasn’t missed a regular season game since taking over the starting gig in 2006. Still, Clemens would probably be a serviceable option if he was forced into limited action. In his most productive season, he passed for 1,654 yards with 8 touchdowns in the nine games he started for the Rams in 2013.

Clemens steps into the role of backup to Philip Rivers in San Diego and figures to be a capable option if Rivers were to miss any time. Clemens threw for eight touchdowns and 1,673 yards while starting nine games for the Rams in 2013.

With Sam Bradford fully entrenched in the starting quarterback position, Clemens is in St. Louis for insurance purposes should Bradford go down.

Clemens is expected to start the season as the No. 2 quarterback behind starter Sam Bradford.

Will compete for the backup quarterback role. If he stays at third on the depth chart the Redskins may cut him and opt to go with a rookie with some upside.

The Jets had high hopes for Clemens when they drafted him in 2006, but he's failed to develop - some might say he never got much of a chance - and now they've moved forward with Mark Sanchez. With Mark Brunell also in New York entering 2010, Clemens is not guaranteed to make the club.

The Jets were the big story on Draft Day with the major move up to draft Mark Sanchez, USC’s golden boy and now the first face of the franchise since Joe Namath left town in 1977. Clemens sat all of last year behind Brett Farve and struggled not too surprisingly in his one extended look as a starter during 2007. But Clemens flashed no game-breaking ability during that half season. And that’s something that most future studs at the position give you at least a taste of during that lengthy a look. Heck, even Browning Nagle and Glen Foley did that as Jet starters, and those guys didn’t even turn out to be any good. So there’s only a small chance Clemens becomes an unexpected star like Drew Brees did after the Chargers were about to hand the reins over to Philip Rivers in 2004. Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer was the Chargers QB coach that year and thus is likely to give Clemens a serious look this summer. But Clemens didn’t show anything during pre-draft minicamps, leading to the drafting of Sanchez, so the window is rapidly closing. Sanchez’s odds are better than a figurative coin flip, perhaps climb all the way up to 60/40. Also, the Jets are likely to play a ground-oriented, defensive-minded game where there are few chances taken no matter who’s at QB. And the receiving corps is not strong enough to aid the passer, as Jerricho Cotchery is a solid No. 2 possession type, not capable of being the focal point of the passing attack.

Another in the seemingly endless string of QB slashes this year. And as a wise coach once said, “When you have two QBs, you don’t really have any.” That certainly seems to be true in the Jets' case. Clemens was groomed as the heir apparent and had a four-star recommendation from QB guru Ron Jaworski of ESPN. But he struggled after ascending to the starting role in the midst of a sorry Jets season. The one bright spot for Clemens was an 8.6 YPA on first-down throws. The Jets didn’t do nearly enough of that last year, especially in the first half of games. Throwing on first down late when you're desperate doesn't count. The deep stuff wasn't there, and he was just 4-for-39 on red-zone throws – below average across all three tiers, including just 3-for-15 inside the five. After committing $200 million on free agents this offseason, the Jets clearly are in win-now mode, shocking for a four-win team. That means Pennington has a chance to wrestle the starting job back from Clemens, who will need to show tremendous strides in training camp to hold him off. Pennington was about average throughout the red zone in converting throws. The problem was that the Jets were very run oriented there and will only be more so in 2008 after spending those many millions fortifying their offensive line. The plus side is that the offense should be able to venture into the red zone more frequently, and Pennington (or whoever starts) shouldn’t be dumped as frequently – once every 10 attempts for Pennington (very bad) and, even worse, once every nine for Clemens.

He's had a great summer, and Chad Pennington hasn't. When does the Kellen Clemens era start in New Jersey? We think it could be at some point in the middle of the 2007 season. Clip and save.

He's very likely the Jets quarterback of the future, but let's give the rookie some time; Clemens played in a spread offense at Oregon, and the adjustment to the pro passing game is a significant thing for any first-year quarterback. If the Jets are nowhere close to playoff contention at the end of 2006, perhaps Clemens will get few audition games. He figures to start the season as New York's No. 3 on the depth chart.