Rookie roll call
Quarterbacks were the talk of the draft, but where do they stand now ahead of training camp?
ENGLEWOOD, COLO. Considering how much of the spring was spent on debates about Jared Goff vs. Carson Wentz and how two teams, the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles, made major trades to draft the quarterbacks with the first two picks, training camp kicks off in late July with very little buzz about the NFL’s top rookie passers.
Goff, the No. 1 overall pick by the Rams, likely will wind up as the starter for Los Angeles. But the job has not been awarded to him.
The other first-rounders, Wentz, who went to the Eagles with the second pick, and Paxton Lynch, drafted by the Denver Broncos at No. 26, will start camp as their teams’ respective No. 3 quarterbacks and could wind up inactive when regular-season games begin.
It’s a marked change from 2015, when the top two picks, Jameis Winston of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Marcus Mariota of the Tennessee Titans, were Week 1 starters. In 2014, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Blake Bortles and Minnesota Vikings’ Teddy Bridgewater became starters by the end of September and Derek Carr, the Oakland Raiders’ second-round pick, started all 16 games.
Recently retired quarterback Peyton Manning was a big advocate for rookies playing, while coaches and NFL executives point to Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers as proof waiting is the way to go.
Come the end of 2016, it will be an interesting case study on which path was better for these rookies. Will Goff flourish with Los Angeles while quarterbacking a team with a stud running back and a stout defense? Will Wentz and Lynch push their way up their teams’ depth charts, and, if not, will they put themselves into position to start in 2017?
“I think everyone is going to tell you something different. Back in the day guys sat and watched. And then guys like John Elway and stuff were all of a sudden thrown into the fire. Now, I think there are all sorts of ways to do it,” Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s our job as coaches to watch how things develop out here and how much we think he can handle and how far he can come, and we’ll see.”
For Wentz and Lynch, as well as other rookie quarterbacks not directly in line to start, such as Christian Hackenberg with the New York Jets or Connor Cook with Oakland, there are plenty of ways to make this season count, starting with training camp, San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers told USA TODAY Sports.
Rivers, the No. 4 pick in the 2004 draft, spent two seasons as Drew Brees’ backup before becoming San Diego’s starter in 2006.
“I do think that, while I didn’t like it, I do think I benefited from it,” Rivers said. “That first year, though, was really valuable just to learn how to be a pro. I got to see how the week goes, what a long season it is, how emotionally how to handle those things. But at the same time, I also felt like I wanted to start Week 1. I don’t know how it would have turned out differently had I played. I am appreciative of the time off, so it depends on the situation and the guy.”
Here’s a look at where each of this year’s first-round quarterbacks stands. JARED GOFF As the No. 1 overall draft pick of a franchise that just moved into one of the country’s largest media markets, Goff should prepare for a rookie season in the spotlight, no matter how much the Rams are trying to slow play his ascension.
Goff spent much of his time in offseason practices behind Case Keenum on the depth chart, yet it feels like only a matter of time when, and not if, he’ll take over as starter. (Nick Foles, meanwhile, remains on the roster but skipped offseason practices after the Rams picked Goff.)
It’s now up to head coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead to decide exactly when that moment will come.
“If you throw someone in the fire and he’s not ready, I think con No. 1 is it might hurt your team,” Snead told USA TODAY Sports in June. “Also, it may hurt the confidence of the player if you throw him to the wolves. But there is going to be an element whenever you roll him out, and there’s going to be butterflies. The only way to get rid of butterflies is to play.”
So far the Rams like what they see from Goff’s demeanor and believe he has the personality to handle the glare that will come in Los Angeles. It will certainly help if the Rams can lend him plenty of support, especially while playing in the difficult NFC West.
“He knows he can pass the football. With real confidence at the core, it makes him a good guy, humble guy, and a poised guy under pressure,” Snead said. “He was the face of the franchise at Cal, which was a big school in a big conference, in a big state. He’s used to that role. This doesn’t faze him.” CARSON WENTZ Perhaps the most telling thing about Wentz’s offseason with the Eagles was the biggest headline he generated came not from the field but from his viral social media post about getting locked inside a convenience store bathroom.
That seems to suit the Eagles just fine.
Now that veteran starter Sam Bradford appears to have recovered from any hurt feelings suffered when Philadelphia traded up to draft Wentz, the Eagles are set with their depth chart of Bradford, Chase Daniel (who followed new head coach Doug Pederson from the Kansas City Chiefs) and then Wentz.
Pederson told reporters last month that, barring injury to Bradford or Daniel, Wentz would not even be active on game day come September. But he said Monday that he still wants Wentz to receive plenty of snaps in training camp and be “starter ready.”
When Wentz does step into the huddle, he’ll need to show Pederson he’s making progress as he transitions to an NFL offense.
“You want (Wentz) to be in a position where, if there’s an injury or somebody goes down, you plug him in and you don’t have any worries,” Pederson told reporters Monday after rookies and select veterans reported to training camp.
“You’re fully confident in his ability to take over. Because backup quarterbacks need to be ready to go in an instant.” PAXTON LYNCH Lynch, whom the Broncos traded up five spots to draft out of the University of Memphis, will start training camp in Denver as part of a three-man quarterback competition, but he’s clearly behind veteran Mark Sanchez and second-year quarterback Trevor Siemian.
Sanchez took the first-team reps, followed by Siemian, during mandatory minicamp and the final set of voluntary practices in June. That likely will be the same plan when training camp begins, though Kubiak said each quarterback will get an equal number of snaps.
“The young kid is only behind them because of knowledge, more than anything, because he’s definitely extremely talented. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens. We’re going to split the reps right down the middle and continue to let them compete,” Kubiak told USA TODAY Sports. “My best-case scenario for (Lynch) is for him to be the best player he can be, and that’s my job as a coach. Boy is he gifted, and he has had some great days out there and he has had some rookie days out there. So I think we’re right on schedule with what we’re doing as coaches to get him in the best possible position we can. We’re going to play him a lot in the preseason, and it’ll be up to him. We’ll see.”
Lynch understands he has a steep learning curve in adjusting to Kubiak’s offense, after playing in a no-huddle, spread offense. He has spent much of his time this spring and summer working on taking snaps from under center and focusing on his footwork and timing, as well as trying to learn his first extensive playbook.
“When you’re out there thinking about what the play is and where you’re throwing there, the footwork is kind of at the back of your mind with what you’ve got to do, and you just kind of do it,” Lynch told USA TODAY Sports. “When you get to the point where you know the offense and you don’t have to think about it, you can start thinking about other stuff, your footwork and stuff like that. Whenever I get a better grasp on the offense, my footwork will come along with that.”