Armchair Quarterback: Rookies may need time to mature
Each year teams around the NFL go into the draft wide eyed, hoping to pluck that next John Elway, Emmit Smith or even (late rounder) Terrell Davis from the new crop.
This year was no different; however, some of the cherries of this year’s draft may not ripen for at least another year.
Specifically, big time quarterbacks Carson Palmer of USC (first overall to the Bengals) and Byron Leftwich of Marshall (seventh overall to the Jaguars) will likely be riding the pines their rookie seasons. These two rookies have mountains of potential as future stars; however, lessons have been learned over the years about throwing a rookie quarterback to the wolves their first season in.
Generally, nothing good ever happens playing a rookie on a bad team. First of all, due to their limited experience in the much faster game of professional ball, they tend to make mistakes, thereby damaging their confidence for later seasons. Second, the threat of injury is always there since bad teams almost always have poor offensive lines.
Just look at last year, the Texans put David Carr in the mix right off the bat while the Lions sent Joey Harrington out to the wolves. Sure, they performed okay, but, in the case of Carr, he took more sacks than any quarterback in the league. Early impacts like that can come back to haunt a quarterback later in his career. Then you can also go back and look at folks like Ryan Leaf, Akili Smith and Heath Shuler. All of them were thrown to the wolves early on and all ended up failing in the long run.
Quarterback more than any other position is like a good wine, it needs time to mature and age. Both Leftwich and Palmer do have the luxury of having mediocre quarterbacks to spell them during the rookie seasons, John Kitna in Cincinnati and Mark Brunell in Jacksonville. However, they are one hit away from being thrust under center since neither team has a strong back up, meaning the gold chip rookies could get pressed into service given an injury to the starters.
While we will likely have to wait to see these two big prospects, there will be some immediate impact rookies I believe, a couple from just up the road in Knoxville. Specifically Jason Witten (TE from Tennessee drafted in the third round by the Cowboys) and Kelley Washington (WR from Tennessee drafted third round by the Bengals) may have decent years. Last year we saw Daunte Stallworth tear it up with the Saints in his rookie seasons.
I especially see Witten having a banner rookie season since he’ll be playing with a rebuilding Cowboy squad under Bill Parcells who is known for using tight ends in the passing game (i.e. Mark Bavaro with the Giants years ago). Add this to a questionable receiving corps and the possibility of a young Chad Hutchinson having to learn the Cowboy offense on the fly and you’ve got a perfect safety valve in a guy who has soft hands and pretty good yards after the catch skills.
Washington is more of a mystery given his neck injury. Had he joined his teammate Stallworth in coming out a year before (prior to his neck injury), he could have been a first round pick. If, in fact, his neck is healthy, Washington will end up being the steal of the draft.
He has potential this year seeing there really aren’t many targets in Cincinnati. His potential mushrooms next year when Carson Palmer takes the reins.
Other impact rookies to look for this year include wideouts Charles Rogers of the Lions, Bryant Johnson of Cardinals and Taylor Jacobs of Redskins.
Unlike other positions, wide receiver is a position where a rookie has a better chance of making an impact immediately.