Youth Being Served at Quarterback

Added on Dec 03, 2012 by Scott in

NFL

Ten of the 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL are age 30 or older. Ten. Pro football is and always will be a young man’s game, but experience usually wins out when it comes to signal-callers. However, a swift youth movement has embraced the league in recent years as more and more rookies are being rushed into action whether they are ready or not. And by the looks of things, this trend isn’t likely to reverse anytime soon.

The immediate success of Cam Newton, Andy Dalton, Robert Griffin III, Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson, combined with the lower rookie wage scale, has made it easier and cheaper for general managers to roll the dice. The days of wasting heaps of cash on the likes of Tim Couch, Matt Leinart and JaMarcus Russell are gone.

If Jake Locker, Christian Ponder, Ryan Tannehill and Brandon Weeden fall on their faces, their respective teams will just brush their hands off and return to the drawing board. The theory of letting a quarterback sit and learn for a couple of years no longer applies. Personnel departments are day traders, not long-term investors.

Which is why the failure of Blaine Gabbert isn’t leading to widespread panic in Jacksonville. They can take dead aim at another quarterback in the 2013 draft, or simply roll with 27-year-old Chad Henne. Striking out on Gabbert still stalls the franchise for years, but there’s always another top prospect waiting in the wings.

Of course this by no means devalues the position. The reality is finding an elite Hall of Fame quarterback is incredibly difficult. Take Arizona for example. Since Kurt Warner retired in 2009, the Cardinals have yet to find a serviceable replacement. Derek Anderson, Ron Bartel, Kevin Kolb, John Skelton and Ryan Lindley have all proven themselves unworthy.

It should come as little surprise that five of those ten over 30 quarterbacks are guiding playoff contenders in 2012. Tom Brady and Eli Manning are doing what they do. Matt Schaub helms perhaps the league’s best team. Ben Roethlisberger is returning from injury just in time to salvage the Steelers season. And Peyton Manning has single-handedly transformed Denver into a Super Bowl favorite.

That said, rookies Luck and Wilson, and second-year Colin Kaepernick are leading their respective teams toward playoff berths while still learning the ropes. Greg McElroy might take over for Mark Sanchez. Nick Foles has supplanted Michael Vick. Brady Quinn is being given another life in Kansas City.

Growing pains be damned. Youth has been served at quarterback in the NFL. For better or worse.