Game Thread: DRAFT DAY BITCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[shopson67]

To me, the reality of the QB position is if the player isn't ready to play, the team shouldn't play him. I do understand that the thinking of playing them right away and let them learn on the job, but that idea has ruined a lot more rookie QBs that it helped. Marino was basically the first rookie that was actually ready to start right away, mostly because he had the mental game down and didn't have the athletic skills that a lot of the current QBs have. Just because he was ready and some guys that came after him actually understood the demands of the position doesn't mean they all get it right away. Take a look at how many guys just take off from the pocket when they don't know what they see, that tends to give them very bad habits that they continue to fall back on instead of actually learning how to play QB in the NFL. It's probably the most demanding position in sports, and if they need to learn it to be ready, you give them the time to learn it. If it takes 1 or 2 years, then you give them the 1 or 2 years to learn it. If they're ready right away, you send them out, if they're not it's a fools errand to start them because the fans, owners or media thinks you should "see what you have". Seen that too many times to count, and I'm not saying all the guys that busted out because they were played too early ever would've amounted to anything, but that thinking sure as hell didn't help them either.

It depends on the surrounding talent as much as the rookie QB. Marino lasted deeper into the 1st round, which means he wasn't joining a bottom feeder roster. Teams at the top of the draft with their own picks typically don't have much to surround their QB with to start.

There aren't a lot of reps for backups to learn with during the season, so the value of sitting and learning may be somewhat overrated. A team tayloring their offense to the QB's strengths would shorten the adjustment period as well. Throwing a one-read RPO type QB into a complicated offense immediately is going to put that prospect seriously behind the 8 ball.

 

[Clayton]

Seen that too many times to count, and I'm not saying all the guys that busted out because they were played too early ever would've amounted to anything, but that thinking sure as hell didn't help them either.

The old rule of thumb I've always heard is that QBs improve a lot from year 1 to year 2. If your plan as a team is to sit a guy a year then I almost never have a problem with that if thats your plan. Obviously sometimes things change and you might have a Hall of Famer blocking the young QBs way but thats a good problem. Obviously Maye doesn't have that problem.