Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - The NFL regular season is about to kick
off, so let's take a shot at answering some key questions involving the
sport's most glamorous position - the quarterback.
HOW WILL EACH OF THE ROOKIE STARTING QUARTERBACKS FARE?
Indianapolis' Andrew Luck, Washington's Robert Griffin III, Miami's Ryan
Tannehill, Cleveland's Brandon Weeden and Seattle's Russell Wilson will open
their rookie seasons in their team's respective starting lineup.
Luck, the No. 1 overall draft pick last April, looked poised and polished
during the exhibition season. The Colts don't have nearly enough talent on
defense to contend for a playoff spot, but he should present a significant
upgrade over 2011 Indianapolis quarterbacks Curtis Painter, Dan Orlovsky and
Kerry Collins. Six wins should be a realistic target for the Colts, and Luck
appears well on his way to becoming the franchise quarterback the team hopes
he can be.
Griffin is in a better position to win right now than Luck, since the Redskins
have a more complete roster. Last year, when Rex Grossman was the primary
quarterback, Washington beat the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants
twice.
The strength of the NFC East will make it tough for Washington to contend, but
Griffin has looked excellent in the preseason. He seems to have good chemistry
with top wide receiver Pierre Garcon and should be productive right away in
Mike Shanahan's system.
Tannehill is probably in the toughest position of all the rookie starting
quarterbacks. When the Dolphins dealt Brandon Marshall during the offseason,
it made the club's wide receiver group the thinnest in the league.
The Dolphins are in a rebuilding phase and will need to show patience with
Tannehill. He looked good during the preseason but is still a bit raw, as he
played wide receiver at Texas A&M prior to taking over the quarterback job
midway through his junior season. Tannehill is a great athlete, though, and
chances seem strong that he will have a fine pro career. It's likely that
there will be more downs than ups in 2012, though.
Weeden was awarded the starting job over Colt McCoy very early in Cleveland's
camp, and he was mediocre during the exhibition season. Adding the talented
Josh Gordon in this year's supplemental draft upgraded the Browns' receiving
corps, but it's still one of the weakest in the league.
The best thing that could happen for Weeden would be quick healing by rookie
running back Trent Richardson. The Browns have a good defense, and Richardson
should be able to enable Cleveland's offense to control the ball. Weeden will
probably be at the helm of a rather conservative offense, and he'll need to
avoid the kinds of mistakes and turnovers that frequently plague rookie
quarterbacks.
Weeden's strong arm will represent an upgrade over McCoy. It's just hard to
envision the Browns escaping the basement in an AFC North Division that also
features Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Cincinnati.
The Seahawks' Wilson is the biggest surprise starter among the rookie
quarterbacks. Only drafted in the third round because of his 5-foot-10 frame,
he played superbly in the preseason and earned the starting job over free-
agent acquisition Matt Flynn.
Seattle head coach Pete Carroll is a big believer in having an open
competition for all starting positions, and Wilson took advantage of the
opportunity. He completed 40-of-63 passes for five touchdowns and one
interception, while running for 150 yards on 10 carries.
The league sometimes isn't kind to short-statured quarterbacks, but one would
suppose the Seahawks will be able to devise game plans that will best utilize
Wilson's considerable skills. If things don't go well early, Seattle will
still be able to turn to Flynn, so the youngster's leash could be somewhat
short. Wilson's upside can't be denied, though, and with an underrated young
defense and solid Marshawn Lynch-led running game, the Seahawks could be a
surprise playoff contender.
HOW WILL THE JETS UTILIZE TIM TEBOW?
Tebow is the most popular figure in pro football, but Mark Sanchez remains the
starting quarterback of the New York Jets.
Sanchez played exclusively with the No. 1 offense during the preseason, with
Tebow seeing almost all of his action with backups in the second half of
games.
Rex Ryan and the Jets coaching staff have been secretive about how Tebow will
be integrated into the attack, but the best guess is that he'll be inserted
into the lineup for a half-dozen or so plays per game, primarily to run the
Wildcat formation. He'll probably be on the field during plenty of third-and-
short situations, as well as goal-to-go spots. It wouldn't be surprising at
all if Tebow ended up leading the team in rushing touchdowns.
The big question will be whether the Jets eventually decide to give Tebow a
shot at the starting gig. though there's virtually no chance of that happening
in September barring an injury to Sanchez. Realistically, anyone who watches
the two quarterbacks without wearing Tebow-tinted glasses would have to admit
that Sanchez is the far superior passer and better all-around quarterback.
The coaching staff's loyalty to Sanchez could be tested, though, if the Jets
struggle during a tough early season schedule in which the first five games
are against Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Miami, San Francisco and Houston. Sanchez
might need to win at least two of those games, and he'll definitely need to
cut back significantly on the turnovers that plagued him last year.
If he does, the Jets' defense should enable them to win enough games and keep
the league's most popular player on the sideline most of the time. If Sanchez
does not, the coaches could determine that Tebow's ball-control, mistake-
avoiding style would give them the best opportunity to win.
WHICH QUARTERBACK WILL TAKE THE NEXT BIG STEP FORWARD?
Last year, Detroit's Matthew Stafford realized his potential and became a top-
five quarterback in the NFL. Two passers who could have a chance to join the
ranks of Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and Drew Brees among the NFL elite this year
could be Atlanta's Matt Ryan and Chicago's Jay Cutler.
Ryan had the best of his four NFL seasons last year, throwing for 4,177 yards,
29 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. The Falcons have been slowly transitioning
from a Michael Turner-led, ball-control offense to a more wide-open, downfield
passing attack.
The change demonstrates the Falcons' faith in Ryan and his excellent
receivers, led by budding star Julio Jones and reliable Roddy White. The new
offensive philosophy and Ryan's talent could possibly lead to 4,500-plus
passing yards and 35-40 touchdowns this year.
Of course, he'll need to start turning around his 0-3 postseason record if NFL
fans are to ever consider him truly elite, however.
Cutler is entering his seventh NFL season. The last three have been spent with
the Chicago Bears, who previously did little to upgrade their receiving corps
over that time. That all changed this offseason, when they dealt a pair of
third-round picks to Miami for Marshall, then drafted former South Carolina
standout Alshon Jeffery.
The Marshall acquisition was the key. He was Cutler's favorite target when the
veteran quarterback threw for a career-high 4,526 yards with the Denver
Broncos in 2008. Cutler was traded to the Bears after that season, and has
never surpassed 3,666 yards in any year since.
During his Chicago tenure, though, Cutler has been throwing to the likes of
Johnny Knox, Earl Bennett and Devin Hester. Now he has a legitimate No. 1
target, plus a young player with the potential to someday become one in
Jeffery. Cutler could be in line for what would be only his second career
4,000-yard season.
WHICH QUARTERBACK WILL BE FIRST TO LOSE HIS STARTING JOB?
This one seems easy. Since the Arizona Cardinals became the last team to
officially name a starting quarterback until John Skelton got the nod over
Kevin Kolb last Friday, the guess is that he won't have too long a leash.
Skelton performed well after taking over for an injured Kolb last season,
and it seemed to be his job to lose after enjoying the better of the play
through the Cardinals' first three preseason games. Kolb outplayed Skelton
considerably in the fourth game, however, making the decision even more
difficult for head coach Ken Whisenhunt.
Skelton eventually won out, but one would figure that the Cardinals'
considerable investment in Kolb (he signed a six-year, $65 million contract in
2011 and was paid a $7 million roster bonus in March) will eventually give him
another chance to regain the job.
WHICH QUARTERBACK WILL BE COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR, NON-PEYTON DIVISION?
As long as he gets through this season relatively healthy, new Denver
quarterback Peyton Manning figures to be a lock to win the NFL Comeback Player
of the Year Award. After all, the future Hall of Famer missed the entire 2011
season after undergoing multiple neck surgeries. Now the ex-Indianapolis Colts
star is expected to lead Denver's effort to repeat as AFC West champion.
So, for this exercise, let's not count Manning. The other quarterback who
figures to bounce back from a trying 2011 season is Tampa Bay's Josh Freeman.
Two years ago, Freeman threw 25 touchdowns and six interceptions in leading
the Buccaneers to a 10-6 record and close to the playoffs. He slipped
considerably last season, however, totaling 16 touchdowns and 22
interceptions.
Still only 24, Freeman will now have a legitimate No. 1 receiver in free-agent
signing Vincent Jackson, who will provide the deep threat Tampa Bay had
lacked. That should open things up for fellow wideout Mike Williams, who was
miscast as the Bucs' top target last year. Now Williams is unlikely to see any
double-teams.
Also, LaGarrette Blount was the Buccaneers' starting running back in 2011 and
caught just 15 passes. This year, first-round draft pick Doug Martin will take
over for Blount and provide much greater help in the passing game.
Tampa Bay is likely to feature a ground-heavy attack with Greg Schiano now at
the helm, but Freeman should be able to thrive in a more conservative offense
by avoiding the kinds of mistakes that plagued him last year.
The Sports Network