Quote:
Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA
Which is probably the part that I don't necessarily buy into having much value when you get right down to it.
This article is from 2017 but there's 46 QBs that will be familiar to all of us, listing the number of games into their career where there first start came.
Most of the betters ones with sizable experience holding clipboards were blocked and many seem fair bets to have had the same basic career arc regardless while no amount of experience really seemed to help the ones that were destined for mediocrity or worse. |
That story isn't completely fair. Saying a guy like Cousins started in his 14th game makes the impression that he was a starter from then on. Cousins started one game (#14) his rookie season, just three in his second season and then five in his third. If you look at these 46, it seems pretty clear that the new normal is to draft a QB in the first round and play him by midseason his rookie year. The only real starting level guy who had to wait more than that in the past 10 years are Mahomes, Goff and Lamar Jackson. The other 23 first round QBs have all started significant games in year 1.
So, the point is it used to work well (Brady, Rodgers, Brees, Palmer, Rivers) - but teams just stopped doing that in 2010. Any QB you drafted in round 1 was immediately named a starter and thrown into the fire (regardless of readiness). Do we know that waiting helped Mahomes, Goff and Lamar? We can't prove it, but it is interesting that those are the only three who had to wait and all seem to be on the path for a good career. I just think there's so much pressure from the fan base to get their new high pick on the field that teams just don't have the patience to develop QBs anymore. And my questions was if that was really the best way?