Just two weeks into his reign as the Arizona Cardinals head coach, Ken Whisenhunt was talking about making radical moves. He had inherited a young, potential laden quarterback in Southern California playboy Matt Leinart. After an impressive rookie campaign, he had struggled to understand the new offense.
Wisenhunt started putting in two-time Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner in late in the half, and late in games. He had even admitted that he liked Warner running the two-minute and four minute offenses better than Leinart. Suddenly, there were reminders everywhere that Wisenhunt didn’t draft the young gun, and that he had no ties to him. If Leinart didn’t go down with an injury, some suggested that he wouldn’t even be starting by midseason.
The current state of the NFL is that teams can’t wait for their players to develop. Young players have three to four years to make their impact, and if they don’t they are gone. However, Teams need to realize that quarterbacks are a different animal.
We’ve seen it over and over again. Teams do everything they can to sabotage their signal callers. The make their offensive coordinators the scapegoats when the offense goes through the inevitable growing pains. They put them behind patchwork offensive lines. They give them no weapons and expect them to resurrect offenses all by themselves.
It doesn’t work that way. Very few quarterbacks in the NFL history have been good enough to make bad offenses good on their own. Remember, Peyton Manning has Marvin Harrison. Tom Brady didn’t go 16-0 without Randy Moss. Not to mention both those guys have rock solid offensive line.
So, here are the rules for teams who are looking to draft Matt Ryan or Andre Woodson.
First off, you have to know where your team is going. Everyone knows that the Atlanta Falcons are not in a position to compete next year. This means that if they take a QB, they could start him on day one if they felt he was ready. As long as he doesn’t get too beat up, the experience never hurts a young player. However, The Baltimore Ravens will likely attempt to ride their defense into the playoffs again next season. If that’s the case, then the team is better off keeping Steve McNair or Kyle Boller to start than throwing a rookie into the fire.
Second, don’t expect a new quarterback to solve every offensive woe you have. The Texans used their first ever pick on David Carr, who was a very naturally talented quarterback. Over the next four years, Carr would get sacked roughly 70 times a season, and became so worried in the pocket, that he used to anticipate the sack before it ever happened. Carr was ruined by his surroundings. Don’t let hat happen to another first round pick. When you install a new quarterback, make sure he has some semblance of an offensive line. Give him a decent receiver to throw the football to. Give him a defense that can keep him in games. Give a kid some help.
Next, you have to understand that almost no young quarterback goes into a season and starting throwing touchdowns. There has to be a certain level of understanding. That doesn’t mean that a team should start firing it’s offensive staff as scapegoats either. Alex Smith of the 49ers is a perfect case study in this. He’s had four different co-coordinators in four years: Mike McCarthy was hired by the Packers, Norv Turner was lured away by the Chargers, Jim Hostler was fired, and now Mike Martz will take over. A lot of his struggles before getting hurt this season can be traced to not knowing the offense. He’s never taken the leap because he never got comfortable in a system.
Lastly, make sure that the quarterback that you’re selecting fits. So many teams make the quarterback the centerpiece and then try to build around them. The problem is that it handcuffs what your offensive coordinator likes to do. Imagine for a second that the Patriots need a quarterback because Tom Brady decided to run away and join a commune with Gisele. We all can dream. Anyway, since the Pats like to throw the ball down the field so often, it wouldn’t make much sense for them to draft a weak arm quarterback like Colt Brennan. General Managers need to understand their personnel before making a decision that will impact the team for years to come.
All of these reasons sure sound like common sense don’t they? That’s because it is. However, for so long it’s been a assumed that a top ranked signal caller is the first step to turning a team around. It’s not. It’s not anymore valuable than any other step that needs to be taken along the way.
When it comes down to it, Wisenhunt is going to need Leinart. The surfer with the million dollar smile holds the key to Wisenhunt stay employed. Since Warner will eventually have to retire, and the team has so much money is already invested in Leinart, Wisenhunt is so much easier to get rid off.
So here’s an idea for the young head coach: Stop fighting your franchise quarterback. Embrace him. Nurture him. You’ll both be around a lot longer if you do.