NOW’S THE HARD PART
THE JETS LANDED AN ELITE QUARTERBACK PROSPECT. SO NOW WHAT? OPINIONS VARY ON SOLVING THE PUZZLE OF TRANSFORMING TOP DRAFT PICKS INTO FRANCHISE SAVIORS.
The Jets believe they have landed their quarterback of the future in Sam Darnold, but developing that top prospect into one of the game’s best signal callers is a riddle that not everyone has been able to solve.
F IVE NFL teams rolled the quarterback dice in April, selecting a signal-caller in the first round with the hope he will become their longtime starter, a potential All-Pro player and someone who could lead their team to a Super Bowl win.
For the Browns, Jets, Bills, Cardinals and Ravens, the selection of their quarterbackrback was the easy part. Now, it gets tricky. Now, they must figure out how to developelop that quarterback,k, something that teams get wrong all the time.
It is a question thathat confounds thehe NFL: What is the proper way to developlop a quarterback?k?
“There’s no rightih answer to this question,” former Redskins and Texans general manager Charley Casserly said. “There’s just opinions.”
In talking to former executives, general managers, coaches and quarterbacks, there were three major categories that came up when asking what the crucial factors are for a young quarterback’s success — when you play him, who you surround him with on the field and what kind of coaching he gets.
Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen and Lamar Jackson are the latest quarterbacks to enter the NFL laboratory. Between 1998 and 2017, there were 55 quarterbacks taken in the first round. Only four — Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan and Cam Newton — became All-Pro players. Five — Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, Rodgers and Joe Flacco — won Super Bowls.
It is a clear indication that there is no easy path to quarterback development. There are no easy answers. People can point to Aaron Rodgers when arguing quarterbacksbacks shoushould sit, but Jake LoLocker sat out, too. PeoplePe can say playing too soon ruined DavDavid Carr. Bu But Luck Andrew thrived immediately.
“There are no right rules,” said Joe Banner,ner, the lolongtime presidenpresident of the EaglEagles who was therthere when PhiladelphPhiladelphia drafted DDonovan MMcNabb.Nbb “Some people say, ‘Start a guy right away,’ and some people say, ‘You should sit.’ Every situation that you don’t evaluate individually I think it’s a mistake.”
Then, there is the question of just how big an effect the outside variables have on a quarterback. Would Peyton Manning have been Peyton Manning no matter what team he were on? Would anyone have been able to make JaMarcus Russell a great quarterback?
“I think certain guys make it no matter what,” said Mark Sanchez, who was picked No. 5 overall in 2009 by the Jets. “They are born to just make it. Other guys could be benefactors or victims of circumstance.”