With Tebow and Leinart out of the league, I'm not aware of many (any?) lefty NFL QBs these days. Lefties have an advantage in other sports like baseball, tennis, and basketball so will often gravitate towards those areas. I've always felt that it was harder to make it as a lefty QB. Football is more about chemistry. Right tackle becomes the blind side. Handoffs, quick slants, and routine plays take more repetitions to get on same page with teammates. On the other hand, when a team goes all in on a left QB and builds a team around him, maybe it's a slight advantage since defenses are not used to the rarity. I think we'll still see a few lefty QBs in the future but will be even less than we've seen in the past.
Mike Vick. In the past, the best lefty QBs have been Young, Esiason, Stabler, Brunell and Zorn. And in reality that's pretty much it. Scott Mitchell had 1 good year and signed a huge contract and was a complete bust with Detroit back in the 90s.
Kellen Moore (a lefty and Heisman finalist) looked damn good the one preseason game of his I watched (and he made the Lions’ 53-man roster). as for other prominent lefties, Pat White (a Heisman finalist) made the 53 man roster this year..Matt Leinart won a Heisman and made it for 7 years in the NFL, Tebow won a Heisman, Vick (a Heisman finalist) has people excited about him still... also this was interesting: Super Bowl XXI MVP Phil Simms, a right-handed quarterback, raised a left-handed quarterback Chris Simms (who made it 8 years in the NFL). “There’s no conspiracy against left-handed quarterbacks or anything,” says the elder Simms. "They’re just all playing baseball...They’re all pitchers, making much more money in a different sport. It starts at a young age, too. Once the coaches see a lefty with a big arm, they turn him into a pitcher" “(But) if a guy can play quarterback, teams don’t care if he throws with his left hand, his right hand, or both hands." Former NFL scout John Middlekauff on lefty QBs vs righties: “Honestly, it's not even something we pay attention to,” says the longtime Eagles scout. “Personally, I think it's totally random. ... I don't think it's something scouts, general managers, or even coaches think about.”
I thought about Vick after my post. He's on my fantasy team for the 1st time ever this year and I'm starting him over Cutler this week. I've heard Kellen Moore has really improved since last year and has a future in the league. If Stafford were to get injured and the Lions' coaches consider Kellen Moore and their other QB (assuming righty) as equals, wouldn't it be a little easier to make the transition to another righty? Maybe I'm over thinking it. With so many lefty Presidents and other "natural born" leaders, it seems like there would be more lefty QBs.
the 90-10 right-handed to left-handed ratio has remained the same in humans for more than 5,000 years so if there are 80 QBs in the NFL (2.5 per team), 10 percent of that would be 8...and like Simms said, a kid who can throw hard with his left hand is going to be steered toward baseball, so it should be even lower than 8 as for making a transition from a righty QB to a lefty, I don't see how that would cause any issues. for example, i'd want my best OT protecting my QB's blindslide, so I'd move him from LT to RT, and i've never heard of a LT than can't play RT just as well
Never had Cutler on a team so maybe I haven't learned my lesson yet. Wanted to stock up on RBs/WRs in my league so took Cutler and Vick late. Hoping the Bears new offense will be much improved with Cutler finding Marshall and Jeffrey often in the red zone. Forte takes a short screen to the house more than most RBs. I've been thinking about adding a 3rd QB given the questions with Vick and Cutler. Tannehill, Ponder, and E.J. Manual are all available. Which one has the most upside this year? Tannehill has a deep threat now. Ponder has a running game and two potentially explosive WRs (Jennings and Patterson). Our league give 5 bonus points for 50 yds rushing (for QBs). Does Manual have those kind of wheels?
I saw EJ Manuel in the preseason games and in college, I picked him up as my backup to RG3 since I think he's going to have a solid year.
In re: baseball, you pretty much have to play 1B, outfield, or be a pitcher if you're left-handed. Lefties at 2B, SS, or 3B are extremely rare because the orientation of the diamond strongly favors righties when fielding and throwing to first. Everything is to the fielder's left, which means a lefty would have to completely reorient his body after fielding the ball (Mattingly actually played a few games at 2B and 3B as a lefty, but he's Donnie motherfucking Baseball). With catching, a left-handed catcher's throws down to second will almost always conflict with the hitter since most guys bat righty.
