INDIANAPOLIS —
With the Indianapolis Colts’ chances of clinching the No. 1 pick in the 2012 National Football League draft getting closer with each succeeding loss, talk among fans and team observers invariably goes to the possibility of the team selecting Stanford junior quarterback Andrew Luck.
If the Colts were to take Luck and then pair him with Peyton Manning as teacher and heir apparent, the chances are pretty good that he probably wouldn’t see a lot of playing time for the first couple of years.
The tried-and-true thinking of many old-line NFL team executives is that it takes time for a young quarterback coming into the league to learn a new offensive system and to become better acclimated to the professional game.
Colts vice-chairman Bill Polian is a firm believer in that philosophy.
“If we were to take a rookie quarterback [in the 2012 draft] and if we were to play him, he would struggle. Remember, Peyton was 3-13 his rookie year. He did not really look like the quarterback that he became until, ironically, this time of year in Baltimore [in 1998] where we lost a shootout [38-31],” Polian said last week on his Monday night radio show.
“It’s going to take any rookie, whether it be [2011 first-round draft pick] Anthony Castonzo [at left offensive tackle] or anyone else, a good long time, one year to get their feet under them and really know what the National Football League is all about. Then you have an off-season program and the second year [and] now he’s ready to contribute.”
“No matter who we draft next year, there’s going to be a break in period for them. You won’t see the real quality of that player until a year later and in some cases, depending upon what the system is and how he fits. It takes time for young players to develop,” he added.
“Even if we were to draft a marquee player in the first round, no matter who it is, that guy’s not going to come in and contribute immediately, unless he were a running back. That’s the exception.”
That’s certainly one point of view.
But then you have three rookie quarterbacks starting in the NFL this year with varying degrees of success — Carolina’s Cam Newton, Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton and Jacksonville’s Blaine Gabbert. Dalton is the only one who has led their respective team to a winning record (the Bengals are third in the AFC North with a 7-6 record heading into today’s game with St. Louis).
Newton is 4-9 with the Panthers, although his individual statistics have been impressive. Gabbert’s Jaguars are 4-10 after a 41-14 loss to Atlanta on Thursday night.
Two other rookie quarterbacks have played relatively well in backup roles, Tennessee’s Jake Locker and Houston’s T.J. Yates. Locker could see increased playing time this afternoon against Indianapolis as veteran starter Matt Hasselbeck nurses a calf injury.
Yates, meanwhile, has taken over for the Texans down the stretch due to injuries sidelining starter Matt Schaub and top backup Matt Leinart. The Indianapolis native — whose father and grandfather both grew up in Anderson — will lead Houston into the postseason.
So what’s the right strategy when it comes to a rookie quarterback? Put the ball in their hands early in training camp and take your chances? Or have them sit behind a veteran for awhile and learn while watching from the sidelines?
“I just think it varies,” Colts coach Jim Caldwell said late last week. “I don’t think there is any one formula that you can just say, ‘hey, this is what occurs,’ because you have had several different examples of guys that have done extremely well and guys that have not done well. I just think that this is a pretty unique group of guys that have come in and done a very, very nice job this year.”
Colts
Polian shares thoughts on QB situation
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