Tribal Warfare
09-01-2008, 11:18 PM
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/chiefs/story/777314.html
Youth movement: New faces taking over at quarterback as teams look for talent
By RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star
Ron Jaworski worries about the state of the quarterback position in the NFL.
When the regular season begins Thursday, 13 of the 32 teams will start a different quarterback from the one who started opening day in 2007, including two rookies.
“I think it looks bleak for the future of the quarterback position right now,” said Jaworski, who played the position in the NFL for 15 years and is lead analyst for ESPN’s “Monday Night Football.”
Most alarming about the changeovers at quarterback is six of the opening-day starters have yet to win an NFL start, including the Chiefs’ Brodie Croyle, who’s 0-6.
“If you look at the instability of the quarterback position, it leads to instability throughout the league,” Jaworski said. “The teams who have a guy they can count on week in and week out, those are the teams who will have the best opportunity to win on a consistent level.”
Among the quarterbacks seeking their first career wins, J.T. O’Sullivan, with his seventh team in six years, will make his first career start for San Francisco; and Aaron Rodgers, who was Brett Favre’s understudy for three years, will make his first starting debut for Green Bay.
Also, JaMarcus Russell, the first overall pick in the 2007 draft, will make his second career start for Oakland; Atlanta is going with rookie Matt Ryan, the third overall pick of the 2008 draft; and Baltimore is starting Joe Flacco, the 18th pick in the draft.
There have been changes among veterans, too, starting with Favre’s trade to the Jets and Chad Pennington’s move to Miami; Chicago’s benching Rex Grossman in favor of Kyle Orton; and Kurt Warner overtaking former first-round pick and Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart.
“I’m very much concerned about the development of quarterbacks in the NFL,” Jaworski said. “I don’t see them coming out of the collegiate level. You’re seeing the spread option becoming the predominant offense, not developing quarterbacks for the pro game because they’re not reading coverage or reading defenses and limited in the game plan and playbook.
“I don’t remember it being like this.”
Former Baltimore Ravens coach Brian Billick, now an analyst for CBS Sports, harkens back to 2000 when his club won the Super Bowl with journeyman Trent Dilfer and one of the best defenses in NFL history.
“One of the reasons we were as successful as we were at the time was there was a bit of a void,” Billick said. “Guys like Troy Aikman, Dan Marino, Steve Young and John Elway were transitioning out, and people like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, who we didn’t know much about, were just starting to show up.
“Even though we clearly have some dominant quarterbacks, we’re about to hit the next wave. Who that is, your guess is as good as mine. But we’re clearly in one of those cycles.”
The inability to develop a franchise quarterback eventually led to Billick’s demise as the Ravens’ coach after the 2007 season. Baltimore drafted Kyle Boller in the first round of the 2003 draft, and he has been a bust. They tried veteran Steve McNair for two years, but his career was on fumes.
“You don’t like to do it, I don’t care who you are,” Billick said of starting rookie quarterbacks. “I don’t care what your track record is, I don’t care how many games you’ve won or lost, that’s a 50-50 crapshoot at best.”
Gil Brandt, the former Dallas Cowboys personnel executive and now an analyst for NFL.com, said: “People have decided rather than go with a (Daunte) Culpepper or (Kerry) Collins, they’re saying, ‘If we’re going to lose, we’re going to lose with a young guy and teach him how to play.’
“You’ve got to hope your defense plays well, gets some turnovers and you run the ball well.”
That was the case in Pittsburgh when Ben Roethlisberger went 14-1 as a rookie in 2004 and led the Steelers to a Super Bowl win in his second year. Also, Brady came out of nowhere in 2001 and took New England to a Super Bowl title in his second season.
But Eli Manning, the Super Bowl MVP last season for the Giants, went 1-6 as a rookie in 2004, and Peyton Manning, the Super Bowl MVP two years ago, went 3-13 as a rookie in 1998.
“I still love the Bill Parcells line about young quarterbacks,” Jaworski said.
“You find out about them when they throw three interceptions, have been sacked five times and lost by 21 points. On Wednesday (at practice), he’s got to come back into the huddle and feel good about himself.
“But ultimately, you can’t hide your quarterback. You’re going to have to ask him to make plays to win the football game. If it’s third and 10, or if it’s late in the game where you have to go downfield, he is going to have to make a play.”
Zero for six
Six NFL quarterbacks will be trying for their first career victory as a starter in week one.
Brodie Croyle Chiefs 0-6
Sunday
at Patriots
JaMarcus Russell Raiders 0-1
Monday
vs. Broncos
Joe Flacco Ravens 0-0
Sunday
vs. Bengals
Aaron Rodgers Packers 0-0
Monday
vs. Vikings
Matt Ryan Falcons 0-0
Sunday
vs. Lions
J.T. O’Sullivan 49ers 0-0
Sunday
vs. Cardinals
How they started
Six first-year starting quarterbacks, including the Chiefs’ Brodie Croyle and rookies Atlanta’s Matt Ryan and Baltimore’s Joe Flacco, will be looking for their first NFL victories this week. Croyle may be in his third season, but it’s interesting to compare how the last 10 Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks fared as rookies.
•Eli Manning, New York Giants: Started seven games as a rookie in 2004 and was 1-6. He completed 48.2 percent of his passes with nine interceptions.
•Peyton Manning, Indianapolis: Started all 16 games as a rookie and was 3-13. He completed 56.7 percent of his passes but threw 28 interceptions.
•Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh: Big Ben had the most successful rookie season of the modern era. He went 14-1 as a starter and broke Dan Marino’s records for a rookie for completion percentage (66.4) and passer-rating (98.1).
•Tom Brady, New England: He completed one of his three attempted passes in 2000 and showed little indication he would appear in four Super Bowls in the next seven years, winning three.
•Brad Johnson, Tampa Bay: He played in four games with Minnesota as a rookie in 1994. He didn’t become a starter until his third season.
•Trent Dilfer, Baltimore: He was 0-2 as a starter for Tampa Bay as a rookie in 1994. He started all 16 games in his second season and was 7-9.
•Kurt Warner, St. Louis: He completed four of 11 passes as a 27-year-old rookie in 1998 after stints in the Arena Football League and NFL Europe. He posted a 13-3 mark and was NFL and Super Bowl MVP in year two.
•John Elway, Denver: The future Hall of Famer was 4-6 as a rookie starter in 1983. He completed just 47.5 percent of his passes and threw 14 interceptions, but the Broncos made the playoffs.
•Brett Favre,Green Bay : He attempted only four passes as a rookie for the Falcons — two incomplete and two intercepted.
•Troy Aikman, Dallas: Another future Hall of Famer started 11 games as a rookie and went 0-11 for a Cowboys team that went 1-15. He threw nine touchdown passes and 18 interceptions.
Youth movement: New faces taking over at quarterback as teams look for talent
By RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star
Ron Jaworski worries about the state of the quarterback position in the NFL.
When the regular season begins Thursday, 13 of the 32 teams will start a different quarterback from the one who started opening day in 2007, including two rookies.
“I think it looks bleak for the future of the quarterback position right now,” said Jaworski, who played the position in the NFL for 15 years and is lead analyst for ESPN’s “Monday Night Football.”
Most alarming about the changeovers at quarterback is six of the opening-day starters have yet to win an NFL start, including the Chiefs’ Brodie Croyle, who’s 0-6.
“If you look at the instability of the quarterback position, it leads to instability throughout the league,” Jaworski said. “The teams who have a guy they can count on week in and week out, those are the teams who will have the best opportunity to win on a consistent level.”
Among the quarterbacks seeking their first career wins, J.T. O’Sullivan, with his seventh team in six years, will make his first career start for San Francisco; and Aaron Rodgers, who was Brett Favre’s understudy for three years, will make his first starting debut for Green Bay.
Also, JaMarcus Russell, the first overall pick in the 2007 draft, will make his second career start for Oakland; Atlanta is going with rookie Matt Ryan, the third overall pick of the 2008 draft; and Baltimore is starting Joe Flacco, the 18th pick in the draft.
There have been changes among veterans, too, starting with Favre’s trade to the Jets and Chad Pennington’s move to Miami; Chicago’s benching Rex Grossman in favor of Kyle Orton; and Kurt Warner overtaking former first-round pick and Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart.
“I’m very much concerned about the development of quarterbacks in the NFL,” Jaworski said. “I don’t see them coming out of the collegiate level. You’re seeing the spread option becoming the predominant offense, not developing quarterbacks for the pro game because they’re not reading coverage or reading defenses and limited in the game plan and playbook.
“I don’t remember it being like this.”
Former Baltimore Ravens coach Brian Billick, now an analyst for CBS Sports, harkens back to 2000 when his club won the Super Bowl with journeyman Trent Dilfer and one of the best defenses in NFL history.
“One of the reasons we were as successful as we were at the time was there was a bit of a void,” Billick said. “Guys like Troy Aikman, Dan Marino, Steve Young and John Elway were transitioning out, and people like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, who we didn’t know much about, were just starting to show up.
“Even though we clearly have some dominant quarterbacks, we’re about to hit the next wave. Who that is, your guess is as good as mine. But we’re clearly in one of those cycles.”
The inability to develop a franchise quarterback eventually led to Billick’s demise as the Ravens’ coach after the 2007 season. Baltimore drafted Kyle Boller in the first round of the 2003 draft, and he has been a bust. They tried veteran Steve McNair for two years, but his career was on fumes.
“You don’t like to do it, I don’t care who you are,” Billick said of starting rookie quarterbacks. “I don’t care what your track record is, I don’t care how many games you’ve won or lost, that’s a 50-50 crapshoot at best.”
Gil Brandt, the former Dallas Cowboys personnel executive and now an analyst for NFL.com, said: “People have decided rather than go with a (Daunte) Culpepper or (Kerry) Collins, they’re saying, ‘If we’re going to lose, we’re going to lose with a young guy and teach him how to play.’
“You’ve got to hope your defense plays well, gets some turnovers and you run the ball well.”
That was the case in Pittsburgh when Ben Roethlisberger went 14-1 as a rookie in 2004 and led the Steelers to a Super Bowl win in his second year. Also, Brady came out of nowhere in 2001 and took New England to a Super Bowl title in his second season.
But Eli Manning, the Super Bowl MVP last season for the Giants, went 1-6 as a rookie in 2004, and Peyton Manning, the Super Bowl MVP two years ago, went 3-13 as a rookie in 1998.
“I still love the Bill Parcells line about young quarterbacks,” Jaworski said.
“You find out about them when they throw three interceptions, have been sacked five times and lost by 21 points. On Wednesday (at practice), he’s got to come back into the huddle and feel good about himself.
“But ultimately, you can’t hide your quarterback. You’re going to have to ask him to make plays to win the football game. If it’s third and 10, or if it’s late in the game where you have to go downfield, he is going to have to make a play.”
Zero for six
Six NFL quarterbacks will be trying for their first career victory as a starter in week one.
Brodie Croyle Chiefs 0-6
Sunday
at Patriots
JaMarcus Russell Raiders 0-1
Monday
vs. Broncos
Joe Flacco Ravens 0-0
Sunday
vs. Bengals
Aaron Rodgers Packers 0-0
Monday
vs. Vikings
Matt Ryan Falcons 0-0
Sunday
vs. Lions
J.T. O’Sullivan 49ers 0-0
Sunday
vs. Cardinals
How they started
Six first-year starting quarterbacks, including the Chiefs’ Brodie Croyle and rookies Atlanta’s Matt Ryan and Baltimore’s Joe Flacco, will be looking for their first NFL victories this week. Croyle may be in his third season, but it’s interesting to compare how the last 10 Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks fared as rookies.
•Eli Manning, New York Giants: Started seven games as a rookie in 2004 and was 1-6. He completed 48.2 percent of his passes with nine interceptions.
•Peyton Manning, Indianapolis: Started all 16 games as a rookie and was 3-13. He completed 56.7 percent of his passes but threw 28 interceptions.
•Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh: Big Ben had the most successful rookie season of the modern era. He went 14-1 as a starter and broke Dan Marino’s records for a rookie for completion percentage (66.4) and passer-rating (98.1).
•Tom Brady, New England: He completed one of his three attempted passes in 2000 and showed little indication he would appear in four Super Bowls in the next seven years, winning three.
•Brad Johnson, Tampa Bay: He played in four games with Minnesota as a rookie in 1994. He didn’t become a starter until his third season.
•Trent Dilfer, Baltimore: He was 0-2 as a starter for Tampa Bay as a rookie in 1994. He started all 16 games in his second season and was 7-9.
•Kurt Warner, St. Louis: He completed four of 11 passes as a 27-year-old rookie in 1998 after stints in the Arena Football League and NFL Europe. He posted a 13-3 mark and was NFL and Super Bowl MVP in year two.
•John Elway, Denver: The future Hall of Famer was 4-6 as a rookie starter in 1983. He completed just 47.5 percent of his passes and threw 14 interceptions, but the Broncos made the playoffs.
•Brett Favre,Green Bay : He attempted only four passes as a rookie for the Falcons — two incomplete and two intercepted.
•Troy Aikman, Dallas: Another future Hall of Famer started 11 games as a rookie and went 0-11 for a Cowboys team that went 1-15. He threw nine touchdown passes and 18 interceptions.