On the fast track

Quarterbacks are thrown into the NFL fire more quickly

Not long ago, one job was for experienced men only. No rookies needed to apply. That position was NFL quarterback. You remember the drill: Get drafted (sometimes high), grab a clipboard and a baseball cap, and lock in for a long apprenticeship. It was as if playing QB in the NFL was akin to becoming a silversmith in Colonial America. Wait until the master craftsman gives you the job ... or dies.

Sure, exceptions abounded. Troy Aikman was handed the starting job with the horrible late-'80s Cowboys and guided the floundering franchise all the way to two Super Bowls. But more often than not, quarterbacks waited, and the powers that run NFL franchises drafted (and traded) for a distant future.

No more. In NFL Week 1, no fewer than six first- or second-year quarterbacks were tossed the keys to their respective franchises. Two of them, second-year Drew Brees of the Chargers and rookie David Carr of the expansion Texans, got wins. Second-year Michael Vick of the Falcons was electrifying in defeat. The Cowboys' Quincy Carter struggled behind a bad offensive line. In Detroit, rookie Joey Harrington will be fighting second-year Mike McMahon for the job (although the Lions have other options).

It seems the period of apprenticeship has been reduced, or in some cases eliminated altogether. When you're ready, you're ready. But why?

I spent some time with Brees at Chargers training camp in July. I had gotten to know him when he was tearing up the Big Ten at Purdue, and now here he was fighting Doug Flutie for the Chargers job. So I asked him about the speed of the NFL game, why everyone claims it's so tough for a college QB to catch on and catch up.

Here's what he said: "When I went to college I worried about the speed of playing in college, compared to high school. But then I got there, practiced and played, and the speed of the college game just became the normal speed. Same thing when I got to San Diego. Now NFL speed just seems normal. Don't get me wrong -- it's different and faster. When I was in college I used to go home and some friends would put on a high school tape [Brees' team won the Texas large-school state title, so this is not two-hand touch], and I'm like, 'Wow, it's so slow.' I haven't watched a college tape lately, but I'm sure it will be the same way. You just get used to what you're playing."

That's one factor, but here's another: Good quarterbacks have prepared for the expected adjustments as they've made their way up through the ranks. Brees played in a wide-open offense in high school, which readied him for college. Purdue's spread offensive helped him learn to read NFL defenses. The best young quarterbacks have been reading safeties and linebackers since junior high. Now they just do it more quickly. Long gone are the days when a college quarterback who reaches the NFL is only accustomed to throwing one-receiver patterns.

Vick, on the other hand, was not a polished thrower when he came out of Virginia Tech two years ago. But he was the most phenomenally gifted athlete I have ever seen take a snap. When Vick played in the Sugar Bowl in 1999, pundits questioned how he would handle Florida State's defensive team speed; he handled it by personally causing two Seminoles linebackers to blow out their ACLs trying to stay with him. Now he's doing the same thing in the NFL. Skills like Vick's move up the ladder, from level to level.

Carr's, too. You see the rope that Jermaine Lewis dropped Monday night on a post route? Go ahead and tell me Carr's arm needs seasoning.

This accelerated curve is nothing new in other sports. You've got high school kids all over the NBA draft, and hockey and baseball have been selecting teenagers for years. Credit creatine. Credit television. Credit evolution. Young athletes are maturing faster -- physically and intellectually -- than their predecessors. They're ready sooner. Quarterbacks, too.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Tim Layden is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Click here to send him a question or comment.

 

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