This Old Chief: The Road Less Traveled

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After the heartwarming and surprising effort by Tyler Thigpen yesterday I began thinking about the origin of NFL QBs. This was particularly emphasized by our well-documented prior failures in the draft. This was further emphasized by the success of the Lions and the Bengals remaining in front of us in the race for the first pick. So how did NFL teams get their starting QB?

Arizona Cardinals – Kurt Warner (Undrafted, Northern Iowa)
Atlanta Falcons – Matt Ryan (1st Round, Boston College)
Baltimore Ravens – Joe Flacco (1st Round, Delaware)
Buffalo Bills – Trent Edwards (3rd Round, Stanford)
Carolina Panthers – Jake Delhomme (Undrafted, Southwest Louisiana)
Chicago Bears – Kyle Orton (4th Round, Purdue)
Cincinnati Bengals – Carson Palmer (1st Round, USC)
Cleveland Browns – Derek Anderson (6th Round, Oregon State)
Dallas Cowboys – Tony Romo (Undrafted, Eastern Illinois)
Denver Broncos – Jay Cutler (1st Round, Vanderbilt)
Detroit Lions – (Dan Orlovsky – 5th Round, UCONN)
Green Bay Packers – Aaron Rodgers (1st Round, California)
Houston Texans – Matt Schaub (3rd Round, Virginia)
Indianapolis Colts – Peyton Manning (1st Round, Tennessee)
Jacksonville Jaguars – David Garrard (4th Round, East Carolina)
Kansas City Chiefs -Tyler Thigpen (7th Round, Coastal Carolina)
Miami Dolphins – Chad Pennington (1st Round, Marshall)
Minnesota Vikings – Gus Frerotte (7th Round, Tulsa)
New England Patriots – Matt Cassel (7th round, USC)
New Orleans Saints – Drew Brees (2nd Round, Purdue)
New York Giants – Eli Manning (1st Round, Mississippi)
New York Jets – Brett Favre (2nd Round, Southern Mississippi)
Oakland Raiders-JaMarcus Russell (1st Round, LSU)
Philadelphia Eagles – Donovan McNabb (1st Round, Syracuse)
Pittsburgh Steelers – Ben Roethlisberger (1st Round, Miami of Ohio)
San Diego Chargers – Phillip Rivers (1st Round, North Carolina State)
San Francisco 49ers – J.T. O’Sullivan (6th Round, UC Davis)
Seattle Seahawks – Matt Hasselbeck (6th Round, Boston College)
St. Louis Rams – Matt Bulger (6th Round, West Virginia)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Jeff Garcia (Free Agent, San Jose State)
Tennessee Titans – Kerry Collins (1st Round, Penn State)
Washington Redskins – Jason Campbell (1st Round, Auburn)

As you can see a variety of paths were taken to success. Less than half were first-round picks, but in general those first-round picks were picked early in the first round and saw early playing time. The free agents and later round QBs often were on several teams prior to finding success.

The poster boy for this is Kurt Warner. A former grocery clerk, this AFL all-star ultimately was persistent enough to reach NFL MVP status. Within two years of attaining this status he was again boucing around the NFL thought to be washed up. A trial as a starter for the New York Giants and then as a backup to Eli Manning. Ultimately, after being given up on by pundits everywhere he has led the lowly Arizona Cardinals to first place and a winning record. He has followed THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED. Here’s hoping that Tyler Thigpen can accomplish the same.

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Double D

Good stuff.

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Adam Best

Nice post, old man. It's really interesting to see how many first-rounders there are starting. If Culpepper comes back it will be one more, and with Tom Brady and Brady Quinn it could/should be another two after that. The only real other option is a winning lottery ticket (late-rounder or free agent) or drafting a second-rounder out of Purdue.

woody

I think it is odd that 4 days ago that big knock on Thiggy Smalls was that he WASNT accurate...and then he plays like that...I think it just proves the inconsistent play is all...and I half-way expect it to continue...

Tampa has a strong defense but it IS a very basic defense and that will be good for Thiggy....He does practice against a FORM of it everyday...

I hope he can get us in the draft position where it wont be a reach to take Maualuga or Laurinitis...You can say we need a pass rusher all you want but no one will even drop back for a pass attempt if they can just run all over us (and unless you are Eric Mangina) The first thing is first and that is to stop the run. We are gonna have to take care of what we can with young Free Agents, too...if we neglect that again Chiefs Nation should be pissed...

that is all...

Sudden

We know Thiggy has the physical tools: strong arm, ability to throw on the run, ability to throw accurately, and legs to evade the pass rush and turn busted plays into positive yards. What we need to see Thiggy do now is show that he can read the NFL coverage schemes, make smart decisions, and lead the other 10 guys on the field. He has proven that for one week, but now he must show consistency. I feel that Tyler Thigpen deserves a place on this roster next season, if only as our second stringer. But I am high on this kid's potential. If he can do the right things with this team in the remaining eight weeks and showcase what he is capable of, Tyler Thigpen could earn himself the starting job for 2009. I really hope he does. If we can avoid having to draft a QB high in the draft, we can fix the glaring defensive needs of MLB and Pass Rushing DE.