Franchise Quarterbacks

[Drift Reality]

Going into the Cowboys game I figured I'd offer a little food for thought on how so-called "franchise" quarterbacks are acquired.

Here is a list of the top-10 NFL quarterbacks by rating currently:

Drew Brees - Round 2 (32)
Philip Rivers - Round 1 (4)
Brett Favre - Round 2 (33)
Aaron Rodgers - Round 1 (24)
Peyton Manning - Round 1 (1)
Ben Roethlisberger - Round 1 (11)
Matt Schaub - Round 3 (90)
Tony Romo - Undrafted
Eli Manning - Round 1 (1)
Tom Brady - Round 6 (199)

The consistency is that each quarterback on this list was either A) drafted by a franchise who had a strong track record of team building and B) was in most cases given time to learn the trade before playing.

My point here is that franchise quarterbacks aren't drafted; they are cultivated. To get from point-A to point-B, a team needs to bring a talented quarterback into a situation where they are given the opportunity to learn a system and surrounded with blue chip talent. Under these conditions, talented quarterbacks can become "franchise quarterbacks."

It is a myth to believe that a team that doesn't have a solid foundation of talent will be able to draft a talented quarterback and expect them to succeed.

In other words, bringing in a Sam Bradford without giving him time to develop and surrounding him with talent would simply be a waste of a draft pick.

There is really no reason why Campbell shouldn't be brought back for the next two years. Other than Campbell there is not one scenario I can imagine where the Redskins are going to have success at the position.