The best place for Kellen Clemens...

...Ok, first off lets state the obvious, it's not with the NYJ.

He has zero chance to start unless Sanchez were to go down, and it's so hard for a back up, with little to no regular season playing experience, to step in and pull a Jeff Hostetler. The back up spot is best filled by a veteran who's prime has passed. He is in a no win situation here.

Clemens is 26 years old, he has started a grand total of 9 games in 4 full seasons with the Jets. He was a second round pick in a draft that yielded 3 high profile 1st round QB's. I would say that more often than not he would have been a late 1st rounder like Teabow or Josh Freeman. He had a successful career at Oregon and slipped in the draft because of a minor knee injury that hampered him in the combine.

He has a good arm and respectable speed for his position. He could have a lot of success in the NFL if he was able to get into an offensive system that would allow him to roll out of the pocket and make plays IMHO. He has good size for a QB and has shown nothing but class as the Jets perennial stepping stone. Pennington, Favre and Sanchez all beat him out, and he has always said the right thing and walked the line.

He has never had a fair shot to show what he could do. He played with a swiss cheese offensive line and a poor group of skilled players during his 8 starts in 2007. Peyton Manning would not have been able to win games with that squad. In a QB needy league a guy like Kellen should be in demand.

But, how needy is the league? There are maybe 12-13 established, experienced, proven winners at the QB position in this league. Maybe 5 could be referred to as elite. That leaves over half the NFL with unproven signal callers at the helm (the NYJ's being one of them). But how many teams provide an open opportunity for a QB like Clemens to come aboard and compete in a fair QB competition?

Teams like the Jets, Falcons, Ravens and Lions all have guys who are their unquestioned starters. They may not have resumes like Brady or Peyton yet, but they are "the guy" on their respective teams. I only see 3 teams where the starting spot is up for grabs... Buffalo, Cleveland and the 49ers. Even the Raiders traded for Jason Campbell, so that starting spot is wrapped up... at least for the first half of the season.

• The 49ers are starting to feel good about Alex Smith again (If Kellen had been in Smiths draft, 2005, he would have been a 1st rounder). Smith will start for them and he has a real chance of finally making it work in 2010. They are out.

• The Browns have an NBA squad sized QB depth chart, and Mangini was never high on Kellen anyways... so I don't see that as a solid landing spot for him, especially considering how little talent they have on the offensive side of the ball. A cashier position at a local supermarket may be more attractive than the Browns Starting QB spot right now.

• That leaves the Buffalo Bills. They have hitched their carriage to some low round draft picks like Brohm, Fitzpatrick, Edwards and Levi Brown, who I think was the guy who knocked up Sarah Palins daughter. Kellen would be just another face in the crowd in upstate NY.

Two other potential landing spots for him would be in Minnesota or Pittsburgh. I think he could beat Leftwich and Dixon out to start the first four games for the Steelers. Four good starts could raise his stock value dramatically. It could even give the Steelers the confidence they need to trade Big Ben and move on from that nightmare. Thats one hell of a long shot.

With the Vikings, if Favre is finished, Kellen would have a fighting chance against the other two losers who are on the Vikings QB depth chart. But, imagine for a moment a scenario where Kellen gets signed by the Vikings... works his way up the depth chart... looks like he is going to be the opening day starter... just to have Favre swoop in and pull the rug out from under him all over again. That would be painful.

If the Jets cut him, Kellen Clemens will have a hard time finding a fair chance to get his foot in the door and compete for a starting job. One final thought... how about The Indianapolis Colts? Peyton can't play forever, and if you are going to be someone's understudy... why not the greatest of all time? If nothing else, Kellen will have some sick stories to tell his grand kids about backing up couple of HOFer's.