FanPost

Quarter Backs Want To Be The Man.

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via i.cdn.turner.com

There is no position on an NFL team that receives as much attention as quarter back, and along with the kicker, punter and center it is a one man job for every team. Of course there are backups, but none of them want to warm the bench. When you are "The Man", and you stay healthy, your back up will be playing a frustrating role.

There have been many back ups who spent their entire careers in that role, and rarely saw the field during the regular season. Our own Gary Kubiak turned his back up role into a Head Coaching career, and his Texans are doing quite well.

Tl_nfl_texans_gary_kubiak_medium

via sportsradiointerviews.com Gary Kubiak, The Texans HC

It's a matter of record that certain talking heads are warning the Broncos that when Gary's team comes to town in week three this year, we had better play our best game of the year, or we will surely lose! It should be a lot of fun for John and Gary to get together on Sept. 23 at 2:15 PM MDT. It's nice that the game will be at Sports Authority Field at Mile High, and we know it will loud!

John-elway_medium

via i2.cdn.turner.com John Elway, The Executive

There isn't a Bronco fan who doesn't know the history of our quarter backs, or doesn't know who it is who holds all the team records at the position. John Elway took his starting role to great heights, and I think that we are all very fortunate that he is now continuing his football career as our top executive.

This study on the longevity of the quarter back position begins with the 1995 draft where Kerry Collins was selected as the 5th pick in the first round. Kerry officially ended his career on July 7, 2011, but the Indianapolis Colts convinced him to sign with them as insurance against Peyton Mannings injury, and he ended up starting the 2011 season for the Colts. A concussion ended his season and he was placed on injured reserve on October 25, 2011.

That leaves Peyton Manning, Charlie Batch & Matt Hasselbeck as the three longest tenured players at the position who currently remain on a roster. Selected in the 1st, 2nd, and 6th rounds, respectively, of the 1998 draft, these men are each preparing for their 15th campaign.

Peyton, the career starter, Charlie Batch, a back up most of his career, and Matt Hasselbeck, who after a slow start at Green Bay ended up starting for Seatle for 10 years, are pretty good examples of the different ways that careers for this position can go. It took an injury to bring Manning to Denver or you can bet he would have retired in Indiana. Sometimes injuries are good things!

This first table shows the rate at which QB's get cut in training camp based upon the round in which they are selected.

Round......Qty Selected.....CUT in Camp

1st....................32....................00
2nd...................14....................00
3rd....................18....................02 (11%)
4th....................21....................02 (10%)
5th....................17....................05 (29%)
6th....................27....................09 (33%)
7th....................31....................11 (35%)

It looks like the big cuts begin in the 5th round with these guys. There simply aren't enough starting jobs to go around!

This table shows the break down of this group based upon the number of years they've played. # still active is referring to the 2011 roster. (159 total players selected.)

Years Played......# of Players.....% of total

00 year........................29..................18%
01 year........................13..................08%
02 year........................12..................08%
03 year........................07..................04%
04 year........................11..................07%
05 year........................14..................09% (06 still active)
06 year........................18..................11% (08 still active)
07 year........................12..................08% (08 still active)
08 year........................12..................08% (06 still active)
09 year........................07..................04% (02 still active)
10 year........................05..................03% (02 still active)
11 year........................08..................05% (04 still active)
12 year........................02..................01% (02 still active)
13 year........................03..................02% (02 still active)
14 year........................03..................02% (03 still active)
15 year........................00..................00% (00 still active)
16 year........................01..................<1% (00 still active)
17 year........................01..................<1% (01 still active)

The 00 - 04 has 72 players, 45%, who are out of the league, and the 05 - 09 group of 63 players is another 40%. Thirty three (52%) of the players from the 5 - 9 year group are also gone. This nine year group (135 players) represents 85% of the total players drafted, which seems lower than most of the other groups, but we shall see that comparison soon.

Next is the AVGY (average number of years played) broken down based upon the round of the draft.

Round.....# Drafted......%@ 5+years.....%@ 8+years....%@ 11+years...........AVGY

1st.................32...............(27) 84%...........(17) 53%...........(07) 22%...........7.7 years (247 total years)
2nd................14...............(13) 93%..........(07) 50%...........(04) 29%............8.4 years (117 total years)
3rd.................18...............(13) 72%...........(04) 22%..........(04) 22%.............5.7 years (102 total years)
4th.................21...............(14) 67%...........(07) 33%..........(01) 05%.............5.4 years (114 total years)
5th.................17...............(05) 29%...........(02) 12%..........(01) 06%.............3.0 years (51 total years)
6th.................27...............(09) 33%...........(04) 15%..........(03) 11%.............3.5 years (95 total years)
7th.................31...............(07) 23%...........(02) 06%..........(01) 03%.............2.7 years (85 total years)

This is an eye opening study for QB's. The longer term QB's were found in the second round this time, rather than the first! I had to go back and check the figures three times before I could believe it, but it certainly tells me that a pick like Brock Oswieler in the second was a very good bet, especially due to his young age and coming in early to begin his education.

Should everything go according to plan, this new kid could end up having a 16 - 18 year career, all with the Broncos! I'm betting that pick will start looking pretty good around year ten to twelve, and with the tutors he has I'm thinking that we can begin to get ready for a good long set of runs at the coveted trophy, what with Manning kicking it off this year. I'm having a very difficult time being upset with our second pick over all this year!

Another interesting thing about the second round is the number of years in this 12 year draft that not a single QB was drafted in the second round. The years that were skipped are 2000, 02', 03', 04', & 05', and only one 2nd rounder was selected in 1996, 97', 98', & 99'.

The following is the complete list of QB's selected who've lasted at least 8 years, and were still on a roster during 2011 season. Thanks for checking out this series. The punters and kickers are next, and then I can compile all of this data from each position and see if it tells us anything of interest.

Of the twenty four players below, 19 started at least 1 game last year. However, 13 of the 24 are normally back up players.

YEAR / ROUND SELECTED / PLAYERS NAME / # of 2011 games started

1995 17y

1 Kerry Collins............................. 3 games

1996 16y

N/A

1997 15y

N/A

1998 14y

1 Peyton Manning........................ (Injured)
2 Charlie Batch.............................1 game
6 Matt Hasselbeck....................... 16 games

1999 13y

1 Donovan McNabb..................... 6 games
7 Chris Greisen............................ no starts

2000 12y

3 Chris Redman........................... no starts
6 Tom Brady................................ 16 games

2001 11y

1 Michael Vick............................. 13 games
2 Drew Brees............................... 16 games
4 Sage Rosenfels......................... no starts
5 A.J. Feeley................................ 3 games

2002 10y

1 David Carr................................. no starts
3 Josh McCown ...........................2 games

2003 9y

1 Carson Palmer...........................9 games
1 Byron Leftwich...........................(injured)
1 Kyle Boller.................................2 games
1 Rex Grossman..........................13 games
4 Seneca Wallace........................3 games

2004 8y

1 Eli Manning...............................16 games
1 Philip Rivers..............................16 games
1 Ben Roethlisberger...................15 games
1 J.P. Losman............................. 2 games
3 Matt Schaub.............................10 games
4 Luke McCown...........................2 games

This is a Fan-Created Comment on MileHighReport.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff of MHR.