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Rick Gosselin: A perfect place to groom young QBs
07:02 PM CDT on Thursday, October 21, 2004
The NFL must find a way to develop young quarterbacks.
NFL Europe isn't the answer. It hasn't been the answer since 1998, when Kurt Warner returned from overseas. NFL teams are reluctant to send their best prospects to Europe. Teams would rather have them stay home and participate in an off-season program, where they can learn an NFL offense and develop a rapport with teammates.
The Canadian Football League has never sent more than a trickle of quarterbacks south of the border, and NFL coaches are reluctant to play young quarterbacks coming out of college. Young quarterbacks make mistakes – and mistakes get you beat. Get beat enough and you get fired.
That's why you see aging quarterbacks such as Vinny Testaverde, Jeff Garcia and Warner recycled every year. In a win-now league, a veteran passer is a safety net for a coach. A young passer is a trap door.
Also Online
'05 preliminary nominees (from Pro Football Hall of Fame site)
"Most coaching staffs just don't get the time to develop that kid," Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said.
Young quarterbacks need time. Time to watch. Time to listen. Time to learn. Time to develop. Time to mature. It took Brad Johnson five years to become an NFL starter, Jake Delhomme four years and Marc Bulger three. Johnson and Delhomme have quarterbacked in the last two Super Bowls, and Johnson and Bulger have taken snaps in the Pro Bowl. Quarterback proficiency doesn't happen overnight.
There is an obvious solution, but thus far only a few teams are taking advantage of it. The NFL expanded the practice rosters in 2004 from five to eight players. When the NFL competition committee pitched that increase in size, it was with the quarterback position in mind.
"Before we voted on it, I said if I had a practice squad back then (1995), I'd have kept Kurt Warner," Holmgren said. "I wouldn't have released him [at Green Bay]. I had all young guys, but here was a big, strong, good-looking guy. Keep him. Keep him around and see what happens."
Warner was fresh out of Northern Iowa and wasn't ready for the NFL. So he played in the Arena Football League for three seasons and NFL Europe for another before signing with the St. Louis Rams in 1998.
Playing in those two minor leagues gave Warner a chance to throw hundreds of passes in game conditions. That gave him a chance to develop, and he developed into a two-time NFL MVP.
With the expanded practice rosters in 2004, NFL teams could afford the luxury of keeping a fourth quarterback around for developmental purposes. You never know when a great one is going to come along.
In 2000, before the expanded practice roster, the New England Patriots took the unusual step of keeping four quarterbacks on their 53-man roster. Drew Bledsoe started, veteran John Friesz served as the backup and former Heisman finalist Michael Bishop was third string.
Late-round draft pick Tom Brady was the fourth quarterback the Patriots kept for developmental purposes. He was a 14-game inactive that season.
Develop? That's an understatement. Brady developed into one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL in a short period of time. He has directed the Patriots to two Super Bowls in the last three years.
By keeping him around, Brady was able to experience all that the veteran Pro Bowler Bledsoe experienced that season except play.
Brady sat in the meeting room and watched the same game tapes. He stood on the practice field and heard the same coaching. He also kept active throwing passes on the scout team. The learning experience was invaluable in his development.
Former Pitt quarterback Rod Rutherford is getting that same opportunity at Carolina this fall, as is former Stanford quarterback Chris Lewis at Arizona. They are the only two rookie quarterbacks on NFL practice rosters.
"This gives me another year under my belt, like a redshirt year," said Rutherford, a two-year starter at Pitt and an All-Big East selection in 2003. "It's an opportunity to see everything and be involved in everything.
"You're not going to be complete until you get into the games. But you can definitely learn and get a feel for the game by being around it, hearing everything, seeing everything and getting those opportunities to perform in practice."
A quarterback can't do it in games until he does it in practice. The expanded practice roster will give more quarterbacks a chance. Rutherford and Lewis are the first wave. More will follow.
E-mail rgosselin@***BANNED-URL***
07:02 PM CDT on Thursday, October 21, 2004
The NFL must find a way to develop young quarterbacks.
NFL Europe isn't the answer. It hasn't been the answer since 1998, when Kurt Warner returned from overseas. NFL teams are reluctant to send their best prospects to Europe. Teams would rather have them stay home and participate in an off-season program, where they can learn an NFL offense and develop a rapport with teammates.
The Canadian Football League has never sent more than a trickle of quarterbacks south of the border, and NFL coaches are reluctant to play young quarterbacks coming out of college. Young quarterbacks make mistakes – and mistakes get you beat. Get beat enough and you get fired.
That's why you see aging quarterbacks such as Vinny Testaverde, Jeff Garcia and Warner recycled every year. In a win-now league, a veteran passer is a safety net for a coach. A young passer is a trap door.
Also Online
'05 preliminary nominees (from Pro Football Hall of Fame site)
"Most coaching staffs just don't get the time to develop that kid," Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said.
Young quarterbacks need time. Time to watch. Time to listen. Time to learn. Time to develop. Time to mature. It took Brad Johnson five years to become an NFL starter, Jake Delhomme four years and Marc Bulger three. Johnson and Delhomme have quarterbacked in the last two Super Bowls, and Johnson and Bulger have taken snaps in the Pro Bowl. Quarterback proficiency doesn't happen overnight.
There is an obvious solution, but thus far only a few teams are taking advantage of it. The NFL expanded the practice rosters in 2004 from five to eight players. When the NFL competition committee pitched that increase in size, it was with the quarterback position in mind.
"Before we voted on it, I said if I had a practice squad back then (1995), I'd have kept Kurt Warner," Holmgren said. "I wouldn't have released him [at Green Bay]. I had all young guys, but here was a big, strong, good-looking guy. Keep him. Keep him around and see what happens."
Warner was fresh out of Northern Iowa and wasn't ready for the NFL. So he played in the Arena Football League for three seasons and NFL Europe for another before signing with the St. Louis Rams in 1998.
Playing in those two minor leagues gave Warner a chance to throw hundreds of passes in game conditions. That gave him a chance to develop, and he developed into a two-time NFL MVP.
With the expanded practice rosters in 2004, NFL teams could afford the luxury of keeping a fourth quarterback around for developmental purposes. You never know when a great one is going to come along.
In 2000, before the expanded practice roster, the New England Patriots took the unusual step of keeping four quarterbacks on their 53-man roster. Drew Bledsoe started, veteran John Friesz served as the backup and former Heisman finalist Michael Bishop was third string.
Late-round draft pick Tom Brady was the fourth quarterback the Patriots kept for developmental purposes. He was a 14-game inactive that season.
Develop? That's an understatement. Brady developed into one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL in a short period of time. He has directed the Patriots to two Super Bowls in the last three years.
By keeping him around, Brady was able to experience all that the veteran Pro Bowler Bledsoe experienced that season except play.
Brady sat in the meeting room and watched the same game tapes. He stood on the practice field and heard the same coaching. He also kept active throwing passes on the scout team. The learning experience was invaluable in his development.
Former Pitt quarterback Rod Rutherford is getting that same opportunity at Carolina this fall, as is former Stanford quarterback Chris Lewis at Arizona. They are the only two rookie quarterbacks on NFL practice rosters.
"This gives me another year under my belt, like a redshirt year," said Rutherford, a two-year starter at Pitt and an All-Big East selection in 2003. "It's an opportunity to see everything and be involved in everything.
"You're not going to be complete until you get into the games. But you can definitely learn and get a feel for the game by being around it, hearing everything, seeing everything and getting those opportunities to perform in practice."
A quarterback can't do it in games until he does it in practice. The expanded practice roster will give more quarterbacks a chance. Rutherford and Lewis are the first wave. More will follow.
E-mail rgosselin@***BANNED-URL***