The Sports Rumors

What’s the Deal with NFL Quarterbacks?

I instant messaged a friend of mine last night as I watched the Colts-Jaguars game and asked him to name me his top ten NFL teams, and to do so quickly. The reason I asked was because in the past years, you could name off the top 12, if not 15 teams within 30 seconds. Now, once you get past the first three or four, there is so much room for disagreement and debate, and not the good kind. When you’re arguing whether Jacksonville or Detroit should be ranked in the top 10, something is off. During this conversation, I saw David Garrard get hit and twist his ankle in a pretty nasty way. First thought that came to mind was “Well they don’t have Leftwich anymore so I wonder who their back up is”. Turns out, it was an undrafted quarterback named Quinn Gray. He threw one of the most miserable interceptions I’ve ever seen moments later. That led me to think, could the reason for the unusual extreme amount of mediocrity in the NFL be due to the lack of legitimate quarterbacks?

So I sat and thought about who the good, great, and exceptional quarterbacks in the league were. I had no problem coming up with the exceptional ones; Brady and Manning. The next quarterback that came to mind, who would be considered “great”, was Carson Palmer. Then came the “good” quarterbacks. That’s when it hit me. There are not a lot of good ones. McNabb? He’s getting worse every year. Eli? Not there yet. Brett Favre? Yeah he’s great THIS season, wasn’t the previous few. Are we at the point where Tony Romo is the next best thing after Brady, Manning, and Palmer?

I looked up all the starting quarterbacks in the league and out of 32 teams, 10 teams have a quarterback under the age of 26. These are the young kids, the future of the NFL one would think. Noteable names or teams include Vince Young, Alex Smith, Matt Leinart Jason Campbell, and Ben Roethlisberger. That’s a nice nucleus of young guys, I think most would agree. However, its important to note that Smith, Leinart and Campbell have yet to produce for an entire NFL season. They are still being lauded for their potential.

The next age segment I looked at was ages 26-30. These are the guys who have been in the league for a few years, have learned offensive systems and should have those “young qb” mistakes out of their systems. These guys should be the ones who are leading their teams to the playoffs, and the one’s who are closer to age 30 should be leading their teams towards the Super Bowl. Noteable names included Eli Manning, Palmer, Romo, Brady, Brees, Bulger, and McNabb. That’s a solid group of guys who have many pro bowls between them. But here’s where the problem lies (of course with the exception of Brady). These guys aren’t winning the way they are supposed to. Four of the seven have losing records. Palmer, Brees, Bulger and McNabb, all former pro bowlers, have a combined record of 6-19 thus far. Three of those four teams, the Bengals, Saints, and Eagles should have been in the playoffs contending for the Super Bowl. But they’re not. And that is the problem with the league. The quarterbacks who are expected to do big things are simply not.

The final group of guys I looked at were the 31 and over. Noteable names were Manning, Favre, and Garcia. The older guys have either reached the Super Bowl in the past few years or are just teachers for the next generation of quarterbacks. Matt Hasselbeck seems to have missed the boat on his chance and in a year or two, don’t be surprised if he’s not with the team or if they draft a young stud out of college. Steve McNair has lost his health, as has Trent Green. This group is made up of has-beens (with the exception of Manning).

What I basically got at after reading all about these quarterbacks is that the NFL is facing a situation that it hasn’t faced in a long time; not since the 1960s. The quarterback position is as thin as it’s ever been. Some say that expansion should be blamed; too many teams, not enough talent. That could be one reason. The other reason could be young quarterbacks drafted high out of college simply don’t have enough time to develop. With the constant barrage of media coverage, fan pressure, coaches being pressured by ownership to start the young guys, maybe the time that quarterbacks needed to develop has been shortened too much. It is no wonder that so many first round quarterbacks flop, whereas undrafted or late drafted quarterbacks seem to come out of nowhere after studying and learning for three or four years. Look at the difference between Tony Romo’s development and that of Eli Manning’s. Look at Tom Brady’s comfort level when he started for the Pats years ago and compare it with the meltdown Phillip Rivers had a couple of weeks back.

I don’t have a remedy for the problem, but I would recommend for teams to not give into the pressures of drunk fans and their booing or what journalists have to say; and instead, give the quarterbacks time to learn and become comfortable before they are thrown to the dogs. Maybe we’ll see improvements and a higher level of play in the league.

I put together a list of QB’s and what category they’d fall under as far as appeal goes.

The Marilyn Monroe’s – The legendary QB’s that will be talked about years after they’ve been gone. Legends never die, and neither will these two.

1. Peyton Manning
2. Tom Brady

The Halle Barry’s – Carry themselves with class and elegance, while always producing the very best product when asked. You don’t have to worry about drugs, parties, or “making it rain” with the Halle Barry’s.

1. Carson Palmer
2. Brett Favre

The Angelina Jolie’s – So strange and so weird. Very unconventional. Yet, we can’t seem to get enough.

1. Vince Young
2. Jeff Garcia
3. Jon Kitna

The Nicole Kidman’s – Lots of hype and solid production for years, but just not what they used to be. Time has taken its toll.

1. Donovan McNabb

The Reese Witherspoon’s – Never considered the very best but worked hard and are loved in their respective towns. Not an Oscar winner, but you’ll pay to go to see them in theatre.

1. Drew Brees
2. Marc Bulger
3. Ben Roethlisberger
4. Tony Romo
5. Derek Anderson

The Scarlett Johannson’s – The young, most googled ones in the league. They have all the potential in the world and their fans are in love with them. Will they stay on course and produce for years to come? No one knows.

1. Matt Leinart
2. Matt Schuab
3. Trent Edwards
4. Alex Smith
5. Jason Campbell
6. Eli Manning
7. Jay Cutler
8. Phillip Rivers

The Drew Barrymore’s – Very up and down. Some years were great while others were complete flops. They’ve got some baggage with them now too so they’re not your first pick when you’re strolling through Blockbuster.

1. Steve McNair
2. Trent Green
3. Chad Pennington
4. Jake Delhomme
5. Matt Hasselbeck
6. Brian Griese

The Britney Spears’ – They’ve lost it. They may break the top 50 charts every now and again but they are too big of a distraction otherwise. They whine and moan about everything, don’t listen, and aren’t good for the team.

1. Byron Leftwich
2. Daunte Culpepper

The Star Jones’ – You don’t want to look. It’s not a pretty picture.

1. Tavaris Jackson
2. Damon Huard

The Barbara Walters’ – Boring as hell.

1. David Garrard

The Lindsay Lohan’s – Let’s find the most possible ways that we can get in trouble…and then triple that.

1. Michael Vick