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Ricky Stanzi still buried on depth chart for Chiefs

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Chiefs' head coach Romeo Crennel isn't planning on seeing what he has in rookie quarterback Ricky Stanzi just yet.

Jake Roth-US PRESSWIRE

The Kansas City Chiefs are tied for the league's worst record with the Jacksonville Jaguars and are prime candidates for the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming draft. At this point in the season, they are playing for nothing other than pride. They only have three games left, one against a beatable Raiders team and the other two against the surprising Colts and division-leading Broncos. At this point in the season, most coaches would be finding out what their younger players have to offer. That's not going to be the case in Kansas City, though.

The Chiefs have three quarterbacks on the roster: Matt Cassel, Brady Quinn and rookie Ricky Stanzi. Cassel and Quinn have both played and have both been pretty terrible. Cassel's last game was in Week 11 against the Bengals. Through the first 11 weeks of the season, he completed 161 of 277 passes for 1,796 yards, six touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Quinn has completed 77 of 127 passes for 794 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions.

This is when most would think that Stanzi would get his shot. After all, what do the Chiefs have to lose? Apparently they have three more games to lose. Head coach Romeo Crennel will be playing the quarterback that he believes gives the Chiefs the best chance to win, and right now that doesn't seem like it's Stanzi.

"That depends on several things. That depends on injuries for one. Depends on how we try to finish up for two. I don't know that we'll just throw him out there to see what we have. If we feel like he's the best guy or that he gives us the best chance, then that's his best chance."

Stanzi, a fifth-round pick out of Iowa, hasn't taken a snap in the regular season. But in the preseason, he completed 9-of-18 passes for an interception and no touchdowns. At this point in such a terrible season, you would think that most coaches would experiment a little, even if that meant throwing a rookie quarterback into the fray. However, no team aims to finish the season dead last, and if Stanzi isn't going to be as good as Cassel or Quinn, his time may not come this season.

The real question is: can Stanzi be much worse?

The Chiefs are set for kickoff in Oakland against the 3-10 Raiders on Sunday at 3:25 CST. The Raiders defeated the Chiefs by a score of 26-16 in Week 8.