Quote:But do we know that Rodgers really needed time to develop? Granted, he didn't really beat out Favre his first few years in Green Bay but I have my doubts that Johnny Unitas himself would have beaten out Favre at that point. He was simply too much of a fan favorite at that point.

 

The rather sad state of affairs of the Quarterback in the NFL is that either the player has it, or he doesn't; there's really no time or opportunity to truly develop a Quarterback's skills. The best teacher is experience, but not every good student is a fast learner. Most every other spot on the field is able to 'learn on the go' due to rotation and roster depth. Not so much at Quarterback. When you roll the guy out on the field he is expected to be a winner and the learning curve has pretty much ended with the preseason games.

 

This perspective, more than anything else, screams for the generation of a developmental league where every team can farm out QB's and Pass Catchers and have them play against real competition in order to hone their abilities. The more I think about it, the more I think the League is doing itself a disservice by not having this feature.

 

GB did it right.  Draft your next QB before your current QB is done.  If he sits, great.  It certainly won't hurt his development, so he'll get to come along slow regardless of whether that's necessary.  It can only help.

 

The larger point being, he's there when you need him and you're not stuck selecting from a bare cupboard when it's time to draft one.  If that's your situation (like ours has been for a decade it feels) then you're setting yourself up for failure.  QBs have the highest bust rate in the first two rounds, but that's also where the good ones are found.  You're stuck with a coin toss to decide your team's fate.

 

The solution is to keep drafting and developing, even if you have a Manning or Brady.  Having the QB hit takes a share of luck.  Having that QB hit exactly when you need it to hit is putting additional risk on the pick that doesn't need to be there.  Again, that's setting up for failure.

 

As far as a developmental league, I understand the point but I don't see the feasibility.  NFLE was as much marketing as it was development and it bled cash.  They only way the NFL would back another developmental league is if it could again expand markets but without losing money.  Not sure the diminishing returns of going for the closest and likely most frugal options would be worth it (Mexico, Canada.)  With the folding of all sub markets, there's no interest in subpar football in the US.

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