How to set a Quarterback up for success

I found an article written by Scott Wright’s Draftcountdown.com on October 16th to be rather insightful. Although I respectfully disagree on a few points, Scott pointed out what factors should be in place to prevent a young quarterback from becoming a bust. Although his list of factors is slightly different than mine, I would like to highlight what I believe are the keys to success. The most necessary pieces that must be in place include: a solid offensive line, a stout defense, and a patient coaching staff that will allow time for their QB to develop. And to reinforce these elements, I highly suggest you watch this video posted on NFL.com that summarizes my point.

Before I continue, I want to say that my favorite team, the Lions, have the first pick in the draft. And, I’m scared they might be foolish enough to draft a quarterback first. I mean they haven’t exactly proven they are  good at working the draft!

But for now, I want to point out that the Lions have none of these pieces in place. Also, I might add that what they should do and what they will do are often entirely different.

The first element is a solid offensive line. The Lions allowed a total of 52 sacks during the regular season, ranking second worst in the NFL. As a unit, the line doesn’t play with enough aggression to dominate the line of scrimmage, it lacks a true anchor, and it has suffered too many injuries.  And the only reason they didn’t finish last in the league in rushing is a result of Kevin Smith’s good rookie year.

The second element needed is a good defense. The Ravens, Patriots, and Vikings (all ranked top 10 defenses) all helped their young quarterbacks out by keeping game scores low. Instead of putting games on the shoulders of a inexperienced player, these teams only expected them not to lose the games.

Because they were the league’s worst defense (remember the Thanksgiving game against the titans), the Lions were forced to play risky football to stay on pace with their opponents. As a result, they couldn’t run enough, had to throw deep too often, and turned the ball over too frequently. Any attempt to implement a conservative run based offense (which I happen to like) failed miserably because the defensive philosophy was not built to complement it.

The final element I want to address is the coaching staff. Teams absolutely cannot rush the development of their quarterbacks or else they might get a bust like Alex Smith from the 49ers. Allowing a year to learn the playbook and to adjust to the speed of the pro game are almost necessary these days, unless you are one the rare few like Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, or Peyton Manning, who happened to be ready to make the transition from very early on.

Unless a franchise solidifies these 3 elements before drafting a 1st round quarterback, they are taking a risk that I wouldn’t be willing to make. The cost of failure is too high in a day and age where top picks demand so much guaranteed money. And in the Lions’ case, why shell out that kind of money so their quarterback of the future can ride the bench while they attempt to accumulate the necessary pieces to help him?

Next time: 2009  quarterback prospects at a glance