A How-To Guide for Bringing Along Rookie QBs in the NFL

As an NFL general manager who's just spent a high draft pick on a rookie quarterback, you have an employee who's going to make you look like a genius for the next 15 years or make you look like an idiot and get you fired in three.

Congratulations!

Whether it's the former or the latter depends partly on the work you and your staff have done in evaluating that player's college tape, All-Star Game performances and pre-draft workouts.

Much of a rookie quarterback's success, though, is determined by how you bring him along.

Here's a handy guide to getting the most out of your young signal-caller.

Step 1: Match the Player to the Coach

When you and your staff were doing all that scouting, film-watching, grading, interviewing and debating, you'd better have involved your coach and offensive coordinator.

There's no such thing as a can't-miss prospect, and quarterbacks so talented they'll excel regardless of system are vanishingly rare. The better prospect isn't always the better player; getting the "best" prospect is not nearly as important as getting the player who is most right.

Step 2: Sit or Play?

From the instant a quarterback is drafted, the debate rages on local sports talk radio and team message boards: Should he sit, or should he play?

The old-school football cavemen say rookie quarterbacks' butts should never leave the bench during their first season, regardless of how good they are or how bad the team is. The new-school football video-game crowd thinks if a quarterback doesn't set the world on fire as a rookie, he never will.

The truth isn't somewhere in the middle. The truth is, the right approach differs for every quarterback and every team.

If you've got an elite veteran quarterback, you've got your choice made for you: You can't bench your starter for a rookie.

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