How Good Can Young NFL Quarterbacks Really Be?

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

A star quarterback is a mythic figure - a master of the most-skilled of skilled positions in football. He's the player linemen protect so that he can coolly toss passes, despite an onslaught of pass rushers. When his receivers are all covered, he runs. When the opposing team's formation looks certain to thwart the play he's about to call, he shrewdly calls a different one.

This is why quarterbacks are lionized. And this is why so much attention turns to Cleveland on Sunday, where a lion cub is about to get his first start - rookie Johnny Manziel. How good can young quarterbacks really be in the National Football League? Well, we're going to ask former NFL quarterback Joe Theismann. Welcome to the program once again.

JOE THEISMANN: Thank you, Robert. I appreciate it.

SIEGEL: Manziel was a college superstar. Can we expect him to pilot the Browns brilliantly against Cincinnati, or does he still need a lot of seasoning?

THEISMANN: I think it's a double-edged sword, Robert, because from his perspective, he brings a dimension to the game that people have had trouble with, and that's his ability to run the football and scramble and make plays. From a Cincinnati Bengals standpoint, they aren't quite sure exactly what he is going to do.

SIEGEL: Well, let me ask you about some young quarterbacks. Washington's Robert Griffin III had a great rookie season. Then, injury and erratic play since then has sent him to the bench. Seattle's Russell Wilson has been brilliant and Indianapolis' Andrew Luck has seemed to hit the ground running.

What's the received wisdom about starting young kids or making them sit on the bench for a few years before they get the starting role?

THEISMANN: The economics used to dictate that you had to play them. Like, for example, Sam Bradford, who got a 78-million-dollar contract of which 58 was guaranteed. You want to pay for that pound of flesh. So now you want to see what it can do. In this day and age, it's a little bit different with the rookie salary cap. It's not as much a cap as you would normally get under other circumstances.

SIEGEL: Did, say, Green Bay sit Aaron Rodgers on the bench in part because Brett Favre was the guy people were paying to see and tuning in to see? Did Indianapolis and Washington start those rookies because their franchises really just - they needed something - they needed to energize their fans a bit?

THEISMANN: Yeah, they did. Washington, since I got hurt 29 years ago, has had, I believe, 31 different starting quarterbacks over that period of time. So Washington was and is searching for anyone to be able to create stability at the position.

Here's the problem if you're drafted very high in the NFL draft as a rookie quarterback. You're probably going to a very bad football team that needs more than just you. And that, I believe, is the greatest contributor why we see high draft choices struggle when they come into the National Football League and have to move around maybe to one or two teams. Remember Jim Plunkett. When Jim came out of school he was drafted by the New England Patriots - their number one pick - and wound up enjoying his success as a quarterback in the National Football League as an Oakland raider and winning two world championships.

SIEGEL: So (laughter) - so we should remember when we say high first-round draft pick, we're saying - choice of weak football team is what we're really saying.

THEISMANN: It really is. Now, to run the conversation back full cycle to Johnny Manziel, Robert, he was drafted very late by the Cleveland Browns. He has had a chance to sit now for 13 weeks behind Brian Hoyer. I think that opportunity for him to sit has been extremely beneficial from a maturity standpoint, from an educational standpoint.

SIEGEL: Well, Joe Theismann, thanks for talking quarterbacks with us.

THEISMANN: Thanks for asking.

SIEGEL: Joe Theismann himself was a great pro quarterback. You are a Super Bowl champion, aren't you? In the...

THEISMANN: Yeah, I had one of those rings. And they're very lovely, too, by the way, Robert. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.