Quarterback progressions in the NFL

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John Unitas the Legend

Ever wonder why all these young quarterbacks get such mixed results when they go to the pros? Especially since many of them ran pro set type offenses in college, it would seem that they would be immediately ready. Well, check out the article by Chris Landry, starting with the following section:

A lot has been made of the appropriate time to play a young quarterback. How do you know when a rookie quarterback is ready to get the starting nod?

It truly is a case-by-case situation. There are three progressions to a quarterback’s development. source

In case you were wondering, John Unitas… did not even make it to the NFL right away.

Upon graduation, no one wanted him; he was finally drafted in the ninth round by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1955, then cut after training camp. He worked construction jobs and earned $15 a game playing for the semipro Bloomfield Rams. It earned him a shot the next year with the Baltimore Colts, and he made the most of it. source

That was 1956 John went through the progressions fast. Many of the great ones do, like Peyton Manning. In 1958, they won a world title. Keep in mind, this is just when the forward pass was becoming popular and defenses were not as complex as today.

NFL Football Fan Question Makes you realize that the old adage is close to true. It takes 5 years to make a quarterback in the NFL. Can you think of quarterbacks that were rushed into service and just prolonged their development?

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