NFL State of the Union - Young QBs

By Mike De Marco
Love of Sports Correspondent

When I was a kid growing up, I was blessed to have witnessed possibly the best quarterback class of all time.

My first ever NFL experience came when I was seven-years-old and I had the pleasure of watching John Elway of the Denver Broncos win his first ever playoff game - a win over the New England Patriots.

That was way back in 1985. From then until about the mid to late-’90s, the NFL was absolutely stacked with premier signal callers: Elway, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Brett Favre, Troy Aikman and Steve Young, to name just a few. Are there any from that group you wouldn’t have wanted behind center for your team? This group was the elite, as all but Marino and Kelly managed at least one Super Bowl championship - Kelly still made it to the show four times.

My fascination with that era doesn’t stop there; behind these elite there were still many second-tier quarterbacks that were capable of winning any game at any time: Phil Simms, Boomer Esiason, Randall Cunningham, Warren Moon, Jim Everett, Bobby Hebert, Chris Miller, Wade Wilson, Mark Rypien, Neil O’Donnell, Ken O’Brien, Bernie Kosar - the list could go on.

My point is, even though these quarterbacks weren’t premier, they were still very good players who won on a consistent basis. Rypien and Simms have Super Bowl rings of their own to show off.

Every one of these quarterbacks, aside from Favre, has since retired. Over the last eight seasons or so, the NFL’s made two quarterbacks the face of the league: Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. I feel the NFL did right by having these guys plastered everywhere that is the NFL, but also feel the league needed a huge shot in the arm in terms of quarterbacking talent.

Was that all the NFL had to offer? Were there only two premier passers in football? Truth is, yes; there were only two premiere passers in the league. You could argue that Favre was and still is elite, but the league used him up during the mid ‘90s, and though there were many other quarterbacks who have won Super Bowls, not many of them had star power.

Brad Johnson? Trent Dilfer? Yeah right!

So, we languished as we watched the way football was played and realized you no longer had to have the standout QB to win championships. Welcome to the salary cap era.

Over the last few years, I’ve noticed a change at the quarterback spot. Yes, Manning and Brady are still here, and they should be for a few more years at least. But take a look around the league, and you’ll notice the position is once again full of star power. Tony Romo’s become as popular as any player in football - both on and off the field - and Carson Palmer’s capable of out-dueling any passer in football, he just needs a better team.

Drew Brees, anyone? He’s on pace to smash Marino’s single-season record for passing yards.

Let’s talk about the class of 2005, where three signal callers were selected in the first 11 spots. Both Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger have won Super Bowls, and Philip Rivers has developed into one of the game’s better passers, seemingly on the brink of stardom.

The following draft, three more quarterbacks were drafted with the first 11 selections. Though two of the three are currently serving as backups (Matt Leinart and Vince Young), they’ll surely be the face of their franchises for years to come. The third? Jay Cutler; he’s already had people comparing him to the last Bronco great, Elway.

Even rookies are getting their names out there. Have you watched Matt Ryan play? This guy has Atlanta all but forgetting Michael Vick. The league’s flush with excellent quarterbacks and they’re all very young, which means they’ll be around for a very long time. So, I can sit back and watch all the great quarterbacking I want, just like when I was a kid.