Why You Can’t Let Young QBs Learn from the Bench

[Hammock Parties]

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/05/17/n...-practice-time

Every year we see NFL teams draft an unready quarterback in the first or second round, with the intention of having him learn from the bench as a rookie. The Bears (Mitchell Trubisky), the Texans (Deshaun Watson) and especially the Chiefs (Pat Mahomes) will toy with this idea in 2017. It’s a logical and admirable approach. Every team wants its guy to be like Aaron Rodgers emerging from Brett Favre’s shadow, turning an apprenticeship into stardom. The only problem: that never happens anymore.

Literally. It … does … not … happen. Since 2006, no team that drafted a quarterback in the first two rounds sat him for the entirety of his rookie season and then saw him become a long-term franchise quarterback. In fact, only two QBs in that time who sat out their entire rookie seasons have even gone on to start at least 48 games: Colin Kaepernick, with the 49ers, and Chad Henne, with the Dolphins.

The previous generation of quarterbacks saw a handful of highly drafted players sit and learn. The best examples were Carson Palmer in Cincinnati, Drew Brees in San Diego, Philip Rivers in San Diego, and, of course, Rodgers in Green Bay. There were also the unique cases of Tony Romo and Tom Brady, guys who were brought in to fill the back of the roster and wound up developing well enough to become quality starters once they took the field. (Incidentally, both permanently replaced Drew Bledsoe.)

But those quarterbacks were all drafted at least 12 years ago. No one has followed that path since.

What’s changed in those dozen years? You can start at everyone’s favorite place and blame the culture. The NFL is an impatient, win-now league more than ever! There’s some truth to that, plus the simple fact that teams who draft a quarterback in the early rounds usually do so because they didn’t have a good one to begin with. The Favre-led Packers selecting Rodgers is an extreme outlier. Many teams with highly drafted QBs don’t have a solid starter for him to sit behind.

But the bigger issue is time. In 2011, the current collective bargaining agreement significantly reduced practice hours, both during the season and and during the offseason. Naturally, it’s the backup players’ reps that disappear. There’s barely enough time for the first-teamers to practice.

Which means the only way to evaluate a QB and let him learn kinetically is to put him with your first team. And voila! There’s your new starting quarterback.

Eventually, something will give. Stylistically, the NFL and college games are drifting farther and farther apart. Incoming NFL quarterbacks are less prepared each year. With fewer chances for them to practice, young quarterbacks must continue to learn under the fire of live games. This diminishes the NFL’s product and can help ruin careers.

There is, however, one saving grace. The nature of today’s pass-happy NFL is prolonging quarterbacks’ careers. The days of repetitive deep dropback passes are practically over. Teams now regularly throw the ball quickly after the snap. Quicker, shorter passes place a greater emphasis on the intellectual side of quarterbacking and less on the physical side.

A quarterback no longer has to consistently throw the ball as far or hold it as long. Instead, he’s reading the defense more before the snap, which is how he’s able to throw so quickly after it. (This is how most college offenses operate, but they’re executing many of those quick throws differently than what you see in the NFL. In college, the hash marks are spaced farther apart, which allows for wider formations. The wider side of these formations create more defined, almost indefensible quick throws. Everything becomes easier for the quarterback.)

Look at all the thirtysomething quarterbacks who are still performing at their highest levels:

Tom Brady, almost 40
Drew Brees, 38
Carson Palmer, 37
Eli Manning, 36
Philip Rivers, 35
Ben Roethlisberger, 35

Peyton Manning threw for 5,477 yards at age 37 and, after finally getting pushed up against the ropes by Father Time, still won a Super Bowl at age 39.

The NFL no longer gives young quarterbacks enough time to develop, but at least more stars at this position are staying around a little longer. At some point, of course, new quarterbacks will be needed. Hopefully in the next CBA teams can get back to practicing more. Developing QBs from the bench needs to be a real option rather than the pipedream that it has become.

[threebag]

All it takes is be a Quaterback and get drafted first round... BOOM profit/CP

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by threebag02

All it takes is be a Quaterback and get drafted first round... BOOM profit/CP

Finally; he gets it.

[Red Dawg]

Can't sit a QB for a year, what a joke. Mahomes will sit and learn and then be a stud.

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by Tuckdaddy

Can't sit a QB for a year, what a joke. Mahomes will sit and learn and then be a stud.

Or he could get some playing time toward the end of the season and gain some valuable playing experience to learn from and still be a stud or better stud for it.

[Dunerdr]

This is pretty ****ing stupid. Mostly because most teams draft g qbs in rods one and two are doing it because they don't have a starter caliber guy. Alex will literally have been that guy twice. Teams with Brees, rodgers, rivers and other guys who are good enough to keep an early pick on the bench are on teams with holes out the ass who aren't spending ones aND twos on qbs. What we did and what green bay did with rodgers is not the norm. Both are unique situations. Kc has a stacked team and no qb threat, gb had the man who could ride off into the sunset aNY minute. Why San Diego and new orleans aren't doing doing this is mind boggling.

[KChiefs1]

Originally Posted by Dunerdr

This is pretty ****ing stupid. Mostly because most teams draft g qbs in rods one and two are doing it because they don't have a starter caliber guy. Alex will literally have been that guy twice. Teams with Brees, rodgers, rivers and other guys who are good enough to keep an early pick on the bench are on teams with holes out the ass who aren't spending ones aND twos on qbs. What we did and what green bay did with rodgers is not the norm. Both are unique situations. Kc has a stacked team and no qb threat, gb had the man who could ride off into the sunset aNY minute. Why San Diego and new orleans aren't doing doing this is mind boggling.

I think NO wanted to but the Chiefs took their guy.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Kaepernick]

Bunk article. There are less examples of great QBs sitting a year because GMs and coaches are just a lot less patient than decades past when it was expected QBs would sit a year, even 2 years learning.

The article may be factual but correlation does not mean causation.

If Luck could have sat behind Peyton for a year, tell me he would not have been better off. I dare you.

[Rasputin]

Alex Smith sucked and got pummeled his rookie year maybe he wouldn't be so mediocre and scared to take shots down field had he sat a year or three.

He would have been better off sitting because he did not fair well.

[keg in kc]

Since the article doesn't provide the context of the names of the quarterbacks in question, much less the situations into which they were drafted, it's pretty difficult to have any kind of conversation about this.

Two oddities:

1) They use twelve years ago being a line of demarcation as far as success goes, but the CBA change only came 6 years ago. So what happened between 2005 and 2010?

2) They say that "Stylistically, the NFL and college games are drifting farther and farther apart". While that may have been true in the oughts, I'm not sure that's actually the case anymore. The NFL as a whole has absorbed a great deal of the spread game from the college ranks.

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Young QBs can learn from the bench when they have as many mechanical issues as Mahomes does. There's no reason to start him this year unless you have to. I'm a little more comfortable having him learn a new offense on the fly. I'm not comfortable having him carry bad habits on the field when they can easily be corrected with patience.

They've done said they are not worried about his mechanical issues. They don't think it's an issue. He is a player he makes plays with his arm and legs and does what he does.


He needs learn the playbook and be able to read defenses. He needs to learn how to call plays in the huddle and be aware of what the coaches are asking him to do. That's what they want from him. When he can grasp it he will get opportunity. The timeline isn't set in stone it's what people think is ideal for him as the way of thinking.

If he impresses the coaches in practice and preseason and Alex Smith fails to move the offense to propel the Chiefs to victory then we may see Patrick Mahomes II before next year.

His mechanics will be just his playing style.

[Rasputin]

I think it's case by case and individual response to adversity that leads to success or failure.

[Halfcan]

Originally Posted by Kaepernick

Bunk article. There are less examples of great QBs sitting a year because GMs and coaches are just a lot less patient than decades past when it was expected QBs would sit a year, even 2 years learning.

The article may be factual but correlation does not mean causation.

If Luck could have sat behind Peyton for a year, tell me he would not have been better off. I dare you.

A quick search came up with this..

"Luck had an absolutely fantastic season. He threw for 4,375 yards, 23 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. He took an Indianapolis Colts team that went 2-14 the year before to 11-5 and a playoff berth."

So how much better could he have been? Riding pine behind Manning did a world of good for Tevor Semen.

[ClevelandBronco]

One obvious upside: If the Chiefs start their rookie, at least they'd probably be able to figure out whether he's going to be a bust before draft day next year.

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by ClevelandBronco

One obvious upside: If the Chiefs start their rookie, at least they'd probably be able to figure out whether he's going to be a bust before draft day next year.

You don't have to play much your rookie year to be an obvious bust. See Paxton Lynch.

[ClevelandBronco]

Originally Posted by staylor26

You don't have to play much your rookie year to be an obvious bust. See Paxton Lynch.

Small sample, but he's probably going to disappoint. Most do.