This offseason, two of the better teams in the NFL, the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks, made some quarterback acquisitions that left fans scratching their heads. The 49ers traded for Blaine Gabbert of the Jaguars, and the Seahawks traded for Terrelle Pryor of the Raiders. Both quarterbacks lost their starting jobs to at-best average quarterbacks in 2013, and both San Francisco and Seattle already have entrenched starters at the quarterback position. So why did these teams make these trades?

Terrelle Pryor actually had a few games in 2013 in which he performed well. In the season opener against the Colts, Pryor recorded 217 passing yards and 112 rushing yards, although he did only throw 1 touchdown to 2 interceptions. His best game of 2013 came in Week 5, when he led the Raiders to a victory over San Diego. In that game, Pryor had 221 passing yards and 2 touchdowns to 0 interceptions. But these performances did not make for Pryor’s season as a whole, as he posted a dismal touchdown to interception ratio of 7 to 11 and an overall passer rating of 69.1.

In his 3 years playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Blaine Gabbert had very few good games. DVOA ratings, which measure not just stats but also how quarterbacks perform in specific yardage situations, rank Gabbert’s career performance as worse than those of quintessential  draft busts  David Carr, Ryan Leaf, and Jamarcus Russell.

To be fair, the 49ers and the Seahawks didn’t give up too much for these young quarterbacks. The 49ers traded a 6^th round selection for Gabbert, and the Seahawks only gave up a 7^th round selection for Pryor. Fans of these teams will say that both of these quarterbacks are young with plenty of time to improve; both Gabbert and Pryor are just 24 years old.

But these late round picks could have been put to better use on players available in this year’s draft who have not yet proven to be ineffective in the NFL. Like Gabbert, Pittsburgh’s Tom Savage has the prototypical build and big arm you look for in franchise quarterback. Unfortunately, also like Gabbert, Savage has problems with his decision making and pocket awareness.

A player that should be available in the bottom of the 2014 draft comparable to Pryor is Virginia Tech’s Logan Thomas. Like Pryor, Thomas’s size (6’ 6”, 260 lbs.) and speed (4.61 s forty yard dash) make him a formidable duel-threat quarterback. Thomas also has a howitzer for an arm; the only problem is his accuracy is often atrocious. If his passing skills can be coached up, Thomas will make an excellent NFL quarterback.

Only time will tell is if was a wise decision for these west coast teams to opt for relatively young, unsuccessful quarterbacks rather than rolling the dice on developing some flawed but talented rookies.