The NFL is a league built around the quarterback position. An offense with the ability to chuck it around the field makes for a better, more exciting product and for this to happen it takes high-level throws.
When you look at the position big picture the league is nearing a point where they need an influx of young talent.
Check what the age of these QBs will be when this upcoming season comes to an end:
- Carson Palmer 36
- Matt Ryan 30
- Tony Romo 35
- Peyton Manning 39
- Aaron Rodgers 32
- Tom Brady 38
- Drew Brees 37
- Eli Manning 35
- Ben Roethlisberger 33
- Philip Rivers 34
- Joe Flacco 31
The average age of those 11 signal callers is going to be 34.5. 11 of the current 17 players I’d consider franchise quarterbacks are over the age of 30. There’s only six between the ages of 25 and 30.
The list:
- Cam Newton 26
- Matthew Stafford 27
- Andrew Luck 26
- Ryan Tannehill 27
- Colin Kaepernick 28
- Russell Wilson 27
The situation is even more dire if you operate under the idea Stafford, Tannehill and Kaepernick are only average players. I’ll give all three the benefit of the doubt.
It’s inevitable that some in the first group of above 30 are going to retire sometime in the near future. I looked at 20 reasonably modern time quarterbacks and the average age they called it quits was 37.
- Joe Montana 38
- Dan Marino 38
- Steve Young 38
- Troy Aikman 34
- Brett Favre 41
- Donovan McNabb 35
- Randall Cunningham 38
- John Elway 38
- Boomer Easison 36
- Jim Kelly 36
- Jim Everett 34
- Phil Simms 38
- Ken Anderson 37
- Kurt Warner 38
- Steve McNair 34
- Rich Gannon 39
- Len Dawson 40
- Terry Bradshaw 35
- Jim Harbaugh 37
- Dan Fouts 36
These quarterbacks all retired for a variety of reasons — some were forced out, others declined and called it quits or injuries caused a premature end. The same will happen to the current group of 30-year-olds as they slowly filter out of the league. The question is where are the replacements?
This is why I propose the five most important players in the NFL this season are Minnesota Vikings second year QB Teddy Bridgewater (23 again when season ends), Jacksonville Jaguars second year QB Blake Bortles (24), Oakland Raiders second year QB Derek Carr (24), Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie QB Jameis Winston (22) and Tennessee Titans rookie QB Marcus Mariota (22).
If by a miracle all five of them pan out over the next three years that would give you a reasonably decent group added to Newton, Luck, Wilson and whoever else out of the 25-30 group you consider talented enough to add. In any realistic scenario that won’t happen leaving it as a smaller crew.
The NFL desperately needs Bridgewater, Bortles, Carr, Winston and Mariota to perform at level that shows they have a quality future in the league. Without good quarterback play the quality of the league overall decreases. College football gets away with this because of the creativeness of the coaches. In the NFL this isn’t the case, whether it because of logistics of that type of play being successful or just flat out stubbornness.
Speaking of college, there’s no guarantee reinforcements are on the way. Cbssports.com has four projected first round picks in the 2016 draft with Connor Cook, Jared Goff, Cardale Jones and Christian Hackenburg. None of those are sure thing type prospects or even Winston/Mariota level good. The next hyped up talent might be UCLA freshman Josh Rosen.
How does the NFL evolve if a 1/3 third of their teams five to seven years from now can’t put a reasonably decent quarterback on the field? I don’t have the answer to that and if their lucky Bridgewater, Bortles, Carr, Winston and Mariota prevent us from finding out.
