Why wait? It's Dilfer's job anyway Gary Shelton, The St.Petersburg Times, published 26 September 1994 Gee, Sam. What took you so long? By the time the new sheriff hit town - and it was 3:15 p.m., Eastern, for those of you keeping score at home - this was the only question that mattered. Even on the NFL's most questionable team, where the offense is in remedial school and the defense is falling apart, everything else could wait behind the tall kid with the big arm. Trent Dilfer, quarterback, walked through the door and into the NFL Sunday afternoon. Already, he looked as if he belonged. No, Dilfer did not make the numbers on the scoreboard spin. No, he did not throw for 300 yards. No, he did not lead the Bucs from behind to win. What Dilfer did was look tall and strong in the pocket. What he did was show there are fastballs in his arm. What he did was take a horrible fall afternoon and provide a tiny glimpse of optimism. What he did was open the Great Quarterback Debate, 1994 edition. Five completions in 10 attempts, and we have a controversy. Seventy-three yards through the air, and no points, and we have talk soup. With this team, this is all it takes. The offense has now gone six quarters without a touchdown. Take away the victory over the Colts - who are, of course, the Colts - and it has one touchdown in three games. So when Dilfer hit his first three passes and led the team to within inches of a touchdown before being betrayed by poor play-calling from the bench, it was time to call the confetti shop. Already, it has begun. Craig Erickson or Dilfer? Dilfer or Erickson? On this team, where the offense may be the worst in the NFL in generations and the defense is suddenly without Hardy Nickerson, what else are you going to talk about? Of course, not everyone was entirely impressed by Dilfer's debut. There was one player, for instance, who thought Dilfer was nervous, unpoised. This player talked about how Dilfer could have made sharper throws and crisper reads, about how he failed to get into the end zone when he scrambled near the goal. The player, you should know, was Dilfer. "I'm disappointed with myself," Dilfer said. "I was very, very average. I got a little shellshocked out there. I got tunnel vision a couple of times. I wasn't very poised. I'm paid a lot of money to make plays, but I didn't make plays. There is one thing I will promise you. I'll get better. The next time I play, I'll be better than I was today." Dilfer measured his words as his spoke, careful not to criticize, not to fuel the inevitable debate. But as he spoke, a semicircle of reporters in front of him, a telling thing occurred. A hand snaked into a nearby locker and grabbed a pair of slacks. It was Craig Erickson, who then moved out of the way to dress. Which begs the question: Is it time for Erickson to move out of the way as the starting quarterback? Maybe. "We may get back and study that film and see how things are going and go another week where both of them are going to play but Craig starts," coach Sam Wyche said. "And we may go the other way. Who knows?" The safe move is to start Erickson again, turning to Dilfer when things go sour, as they inevitably do with this team. There have been a lot of quarterbacks spoiled by playing them too quickly, and the Bucs fear the message that changing quarterbacks so soon would send across the locker room. But the safe thing isn't always best. If Dilfer is ready, and Wyche says he "absolutely" is, then why not give him a shot? He is bigger than Erickson, his arm is livelier, and Sunday, he was the better of the two. Erickson completed seven passes in three quarters; Dilfer completed five in one. Erickson was hesitant, hanging onto the ball too long, suddenly error-prone. In the red zone, he was 0-for-4 with an interception and a sack. Besides, if two quarterbacks are going to play, isn't it better to have the veteran pitching in relief? Face it: This is Dilfer's job. If not this week, the next, maybe the week after that. But as soon as he gives this team its best chance to win, it is his. Which leads us to another question. Why wait?