The latest NFL draft was highlighted by a handful of highly-touted quarterbacks. LSU's Joe Burrow, Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa, and Oregon's Justin Herbert were all drafted in the top six last April. The teams that drafted them will certainly give them an early opportunity to shine, but not everyone is in favor of this. Just ask Warren Moon.
As NBC Sports reported, he's not fully on-board with young QBs starting off the bat.
“I never think any rookie quarterback is ready to start right away, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t gonna be put on the field right away especially for a top-10 pick,” Moon said about the NFL rookie class, via Tyler Dragon of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert are all going to be expected to play somewhere in that first year, if not Day 1.
“I think it’s always better for a young quarterback to sit back and look and learn. Learn the process before he’s just put out there. I think it makes the transition a little bit easier, just to see how the veteran quarterback who will be the starter.”
The Cincinnati Bengals don't seem to think the same way. It's basically a certainty that Burrow will start for Cincinnati on day one. The situations are a little bit different for Tagovailoa and Herbert respectively. Both of their teams have veteran signal-callers in Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tyrod Taylor still in the clubhouse.
Moon believes that one way to help a young QB start sooner is having a strong supporting cast, just as Ben Roethlisberger and Matt Ryan did early in their careers.
But it'll be a surprise to most if we don't see all three NFL rookie quarterbacks getting some early burn. Each of their teams certainly have high hopes that they'll be ready.
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