THE QB REVOLUTION
A BEVY OF YOUNG, TALENTED QUARTERBACKS ARE READY TO BECOME THE NEW FACES OF THE NFL
Brady. Brees. Manning. Roethsliberger. These veteran quarterbacks have been the faces of the NFL for more than a decade, but there’s a new crop of youngsters across the league ready to take their place.
WINDS of change are blowing through the NFL.
The faces of the league are about to change, with the likes of Tom Brady sometime soon to be replaced by younger upand-coming quarterbacks.
Brady is only one of a group of star quarterbacks who have dominated the better part of the past two decades and are closing in on the end of their respective prolific careers.
The question is this: Which quarterbacks assume the mantle from the likes of Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning and Philip Rivers?
No, none of those players is done yet. Rodgers, in fact, just signed a contract extension for more than $100 million guaranteed.
Brady, Rodgers, Brees, Roethlisberger, Rivers, Manning, Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan — arguably the top veteran quarterbacks of the most recent era — have combined for 12 Super Bowl titles, 971 wins and 2,759 touchdown passes.
That’s a lot of production to replace, but there are young guns in waiting.
Enter Carson Wentz, Marcus Mariota, Jared Goff, Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, Mitchell Trubisky and potentially the 2018 class including Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Josh Rosen, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson.
“It’s a rebirth,’’ former Jets quarterback and current CBS studio NFL analyst Boomer Esiason said. “I love it. Almost every team knows who their guy is or believes they know who their guy is. Some of these veterans are on their last legs. The question is how many more years do they have in them? Is this Tom Brady’s swan song? Would he retire after winning the Super Bowl? I don’t think so, but ...
“You’ve got Mahomes, [Andrew] Luck is back [for the Colts from injury], [Oakland’s Derek] Carr has [head coach] Jon Gruden now, Deshaun Watson is back [from injury], there’s Mayfield, Allen, Rosen, Darnold. There are young guys all over the league.’’
Brady, a five-time Super Bowl champion with New England, is 41. Brees, who has won one title with New Orleans, is 39. Roethlisberger, a two-time champ with Pittsburgh, is 36 — as is Rivers. Manning, two-time Super Bowl winner and MVP, is 37. Rodgers, who has won a Super Bowl for Green Bay, is 34. Flacco, who is being pushed by Jackson in Baltimore and has a Super Bowl win, is 33 as is Ryan, who got to one Super Bowl for Atlanta.
When the Chiefs traded veteran incumbent Alex Smith to the Redskins, they handed Mahomes the keys to the kingdom. Trubisky, a rookie in 2017, was handed the starting job in Chicago.
Watson had a great start as a rookie in 2017, going 3-3 as a starter with 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions for the Texans before tearing his ACL. Wentz was en route to an MVP season for the Eagles last year before suffering a knee injury late in the year at which time he was 11-2 with 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
The reality, though, is none of these young quarterbacks has won anything of substance yet.
Mahomes played only one game at the end of last season. Trubisky was 4-8 as the starter his rookie year. Goff is 11-11 as a starter.
“I love Pat Mahomes,’’ Esiason said. “He’s got the quarterback body, he’s got the mentality. He may make some mistakes this year and throw some interceptions, but he’s going to be letting it rip. He has no fear.
“When I met him two years ago before the draft, I was so taken by his whole demeanor — like I was with Sam Darnold when I met him. I was like, ‘Wow, these kids are so far ahead of where I was.’ These kids are advanced and terrific athletes. I think we are in a rebirth of sorts, with lot of young vibrant quarterbacks.’’
Bill Cowher, the former Steelers coach and current CBS studio analyst, said there’s “no question’’ a changing of the guard is taking place with NFL quarterbacks, but he sounded confident the young stars will eventually take over the mantle from the likes of Brady, Brees, Rodgers and company.
“We’re always going to have star quarterbacks,’’ Cowher said. “The league is richer than it’s ever been. I like Mahomes a lot. It’s natural for him. Every time he throws an interception people are like, ‘Oh,’ but he’s going to make plays that haven’t be tried in Kansas City [with the more conservative Smith at quarterback].’’
Former Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, now a game analyst for CBS, said that if Watson had not gotten hurt last year, there would be a lot more focus on him as a top quarterback in the league.
“If he’d have had a full season last year he’d be the guy you’d be talking about right now as the ‘next guy,’ ’’ Romo said. “I think he’ll come back and be very productive. I think Sam Darnold is going be an outstanding football player. There are a lot of fun storylines with quarterbacks this year.’’