The NFL's history is littered with ‘busts', players drafted with great expectations who fail to live up to them, sometimes in spectacularly disastrous ways. But when it comes to quarterbacks, in particular, Troy Aikman, who very well may have landed in the bust category had things gone a little differently, is placing the bulk of the blame on the men who own the teams.
Aikman, the No. 1 overall pick by the Dallas Cowboys in the 1989 draft, threw twice as many interceptions as he did touchdowns as a rookie. His second year, he improved — he only threw nearly twice as many interceptions as touchdowns. He lost all 11 starts of his first season in the NFL, and he missed the final few games of his second season due to injury as Dallas missed the playoffs for the fifth year in a row.
While there was legitimate improvement for Aikman from Year 1 to Year 2, it certainly was not a foregone conclusion that he would become the Pro Football Hall of Famer and multiple-time Super Bowl champion-winning quarterback that he ultimately became.
That's why, Aikman says, it's vital that young quarterbacks in the NFL get drafted by a team with the right owner, who hires the right people: the general manager, the head coach, and the offensive coordinator.
“A lot of times these owners don’t even know what they should be looking for in a coach,” Aikman said, via The Athletic's Zak Keefer. “And if you don’t have the right head coach and the right offensive coordinator, you’re not giving the quarterback a real chance.”
Fortunately for Aikman, particularly early on, he had stability in the form of legendary head coach Jimmy Johnson and, eventually, offensive coordinator Norv Turner. After Johnson's acrimonious departure due to his relationship with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, Dallas had three head coaches over the final seven years of Aikman's career.
Over the years, greater and greater focus has been placed on the importance of owners, many of whom have a worrisome track record with quarterbacks.
The Cleveland Browns, for example, have had 40 different players start at quarterback since 1999 despite having three owners (Al Lerner, Randy Lerner, and current owner Jimmy Haslam) over that time period. It should come as no surprise, too, that the Browns have had 10 full-time head coaches (12, including interim coaches) since 1999.
This year, there will certainly be extra attention paid to how the Tennessee Titans, New York Giants, and New Orleans Saints develop the quarterbacks they selected within the first 40 picks of this year's draft, including No. 1 overall selection Cam Ward.
