Tagged As: football, NFL, Sports, quarterback, matt ryan

There once was a time when quarterbacks only threw for 300 yards in a losing effort because they had to try and cover as much ground as possible quickly. Now, the league demands that quarterbacks be able to surpass the 300 mark just to get a win. Peyton Manning is leading the NFL with 318 passing yards per game and his team is 7-0. In fact, the 10 quarterbacks averaging more than 250 passing yards a game are all on teams with winning records and five of those are on teams that are at least tied for the lead in their division.

Comparatively, of the 12 teams that do not have a quarterback that averages more than 200 yards a game, 11 have losing records and six of those teams reside in last place. This is a development that may have been beaten to death, but is a drastic change in the way football is played. Suddenly, general managers have to take stock in the reality that they need a quarterback and that most great quarterbacks are drafted, not picked up through free agency.

The teams that need protégés are the teams that are going to be drafting the likes of Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, and perhaps Tim Tebow (always be wary of Florida quarterbacks) and will be willing to start them right away. This is a new development, as ESPN’s Len Pasquarelli points out. Through the last 10 drafts 131 quarterbacks have been drafted, with just 26 in the first round. In the entire 10-year spread only eight of those 131 quarterbacks have started opening day. Four of those eight have come within the last two years.

I do not see this as a comment on the increased preparedness of college programs. Sure Boston College may have an NFL-style offense that can prepare a player like Matt Ryan for an immediate impact in the NFL (though I often winder if his career takes the same road if he does not hit Michael Jenkins for a 62-yard touchdown pass right down the seam on his first professional pass from scrimmage), but I see this recent influx of young starters as a signal of the general managers lack of awareness.

The league has been changing the rules for years to better protect the quarterback. They now allow a pansy quarterback slide and anything remotely looking like a real hit on the quarterback is flagged as roughing the passer.

Everyone knew that fans liked touchdowns and the NFL did its best to ensure that the player most capable of delivering a touchdown in less than 10 seconds has its full backing. Now, the league leaders are teams like the New Orleans Saints with Drew Brees and an offense built around his ability to pass to all levels. Same goes for Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. It is almost more important for the running backs on these teams to have decent hands than the quickness to find the hole between the tackles (in five years Reggie Bush will be the prototypical running back, not Adrian Peterson).

Suddenly, the general managers acceptance of the desert quarterback landscape earlier this century (which was financially motivated I suspect) is biting them in the butt. Heck, even the Chicago Bears finally actually went out and got a gunslinger instead of toting the party line of giving Rex Grossman one more year to prove himself (though this happened after his contract ran out of course).

Pasquarelli points out that owners are in a hurry to see a return on their investment, but I am not sure this is a greater influence than the waves of general managers in football that have simply come late to the party. Change is difficult to accept for people in everyday life, but in the sports realm it seems even more difficult to accept, especially in a professional that recycles so many failed executives.

So look for a few more years of rookie quarterbacks taking the stop behind center right away before the league has enough talent and talent that needs a second chance (after starting too soon) to return to the old days when rookie quarterbacks took a seat on the bench for two seasons.

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