Please. No. Anything but that. I'm begging you.

I don't think I can deal with a summer full of people calling for Jonathan Crompton to be named Tennessee's starting quarterback.

Last week, while appearing on a radio show, a caller asked if there's any hope that Crompton might replace Erik Ainge in 2007. Several callers have asked the same thing on my television show.

Let me start by saying this is NOT an anti-Crompton column. If I wrote "the Vols are great" 20 times in a column, then included, "but Saturday's game could be tough," I'd get 10 e-mails calling me a Vol-hater. Please don't practice selective reading,

This isn't anti-Crompton at all. He appears to have all the makings of a good college quarterback. He's big, strong, mobile and he was a 5-star, blue-chip, "must-have," "can't-miss," "don't-you-even-doubt-it-for-a-second" recruit.

But when Ainge bounced back from a terrible 2006 season to have one of the best seasons ever for a UT passer, it should have put the Crompton in '07 talk to bed.

Ainge completed 67 percent of his throws last year. The team went 9-2 in games in which he got the majority of snaps. Every ex-jock broadcaster who covered a UT game bragged about his arm and his decision-making.

Crompton completed just 47 percent of his passes. And UT was 0-2 in games in which he got the majority of the snaps (although the Vols wouldn't have beaten Arkansas with Ainge or Joe Montana at quarterback).

Crompton's numbers aren't the end statement on his playing career any more than Ainge's 2005 numbers were the end statement on his. But this simple check of the facts does show that there's no tangible reason for fans to want Crompton over Ainge now.

Then why is this still a topic of conversation? Three reasons, I think.

First, the backup quarterback spot is the most popular position in sports. If an offense fails for any reason, the starting QB gets the blame. His backup waits in the wings with all the promise, hope, possibility and wonder of a newborn babe.

Of course, that's often nonsense.

Take a look at the NFL this past season. After six games, the Dallas Cowboys dumped their starter, the big-armed, slow-footed Drew Bledsoe, to put in Tony Romo.

The fans and media were crying for Romo like teenage girls at a 1964 Beatles concert. And Romo delivered; for about five weeks. Then opposing coaches learned how to defend him, just as they'd done with Bledsoe.

Romo may go on to be a great quarterback, but in 2006, the Cowboys record with Bledsoe was 3-3. With Romo it was 6-5. Not exactly night and day.

Same thing in Denver. It was said that the Broncos couldn't win the Super Bowl with Jake Plummer at quarterback. So the switch was made to ex-Vanderbilt star Jay Cutler.

Fans and talking heads rejoiced. The Broncos? Well, they didn't even make the playoffs, much less the Super Bowl. The backup wasn't the quick fix after all.

So Ainge has the "everybody loves the backup" thing working against him. But he also wasn't the first choice of many Vol fans when he arrived on campus. That's reason No. 2.

Many wanted Brent Schaeffer to lead the Vols in 2004. He was mobile (there's that word again) a more highly touted recruit, and he was EXCITING! One serial caller went so far as to call him "the most dynamic player in college football."

If you consider fumbles and interceptions "dynamic," then yes, he's quite dynamic.

For those who wanted Schaeffer in '04, Ainge can never look good to them. It would mean admitting a mistake. So in 2005, the former Schaeffer-backers became Rick Clausen-backers. Now they're Crompton-backers. Anybody but Ainge.

It happened to Peyton Manning, too. I guarantee you that those Vol fans who still blame Manning for three Florida losses are the same fans who booed him as a freshman, wanting the more mobile Brandon Stewart at QB. "Told ya Manning wasn't any good."

Finally, reason No. 3: mobility.

UT fans have been looking for the next Heath Shuler since Shuler turned pro. Stewart was a Shuler-type, Manning was a boring, ol' dropback passer. Tee Martin was Shuleresque and dang popular because of it.

Now it's Crompton's turn. Could he be the next Heath Shuler? (Shuler, it should be pointed out, was actually the next Condredge Holloway, who started Knoxville's love affair with running QBs more than 30 years ago.)

When Crompton dropped his shoulder pad and plowed over a Cal defensive back during mop-up duty in the season opener, fans had their answer. The A-1 recruit from Shuler's neck of the Carolina woods was a sure-fire runner just like ol' No. 21!

Ainge? Well, all he can do is throw the ball. Well enough to be on most Heisman watch lists in 2007. Well enough to be an early draft pick in the 2008 NFL draft according to analysts who've watched him.

So instead of worrying about who's going to be throwing passes next year, perhaps these rabble-rousers should worry about something more pressing like who's going to be CATCHING passes next year.

John Pennington hosts The Hall's Salvage Sports Source on Sunday at 11 a.m. on WATE.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.