In a copycat league, it’s not surprising to see some teams wanting to mimic the Kansas City Chiefs plan of succession at quarterback.
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so the Kansas City Chiefs should feel honored that another team like the New York Giants is keen on copying its recent quarterback transition.
Paul Schwartz of the New York Post says the Giants are looking at their own aging starter at quarterback in Eli Manning and asking him to play the role of mentor/starter in this coming year on the field—the same sort of role that Alex Smith plays for the Chiefs in 2017.
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The National Football League is a copycat league, to be sure, which means other teams are likely going to begin to slow down the timelines regarding rookie quarterbacks given just how successful Patrick Mahomes was in his first full year in the league. Mahomes, who is on the verge of likely being named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player later this week, sat for a full season behind Smith before being positioned as the face of the franchise.
There are a few real concerns about other teams’ attempts to implement such a plan, however. On the surface, it looks as if any team with a veteran at quarterback could conceivably pick a rookie, give him a clipboard and tell him he’s got a while to learn the ropes. Sounds simple enough, but there’s a reason why most first-year quarterbacks are kicked out of the nest and told to fly as soon as possible.
1. Not Enough Time
Most teams involved in some sort of quarterback transition haven’t been given the sort of promised longevity needed to actually implement the plan. The Cleveland Browns have had 14 different starting quarterbacks in the brief time that Jimmy Haslam has owned the franchise. The reason being: no coach has been guaranteed enough time to actually put into place any sort of long-term plan.
Even on times less dysfunctional than the Browns, there’s simply not enough patience on the part of owners to normalize this succession plan. Look at the Baltimore Ravens, a perfect franchise to have done the same this year. Joe Flacco was the veteran quarterback in place with a long-term head coach in John Harbaugh with a first-round quarterback prospect in Lamar Jackson waiting in the wings. Halfway through this season, Harbaugh was reportedly going to be let go and throwing Jackson in near season’s end is actually what saved his job.
On this side of it all, Harbaugh has a new four-year contract extension. If the Ravens themselves fall prey to such reactive decisions based on the immediate circumstances, then how can other teams hold off playing a quarterback on the bench when he’s clearly the better option.
2. Not Enough Credibility
The Chiefs plan of succession needed absolutely everybody to be on the same page over the long haul. Alex Smith had to be okay playing out his final year in Kansas City despite playing very well and being a team leader and community hero during his tenure with the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes had to be okay to sit while every one of his peers was given immediate opportunities. Every teammate had to back the plan without any drama, and a coaching staff had to oversee the entire thing and hold it all together.
Few coaches in the NFL have the actual credibility to make this sort of plan work, but Andy Reid is one of them. When Tom Brady decides to call it quits, you can believe that Bill Belichick could do the same, if he so desired. Maybe Sean Payton will exhibit the same qualities when Brees gives the New Orleans Saints a heads-up on his retirement plans.
For a coach who had already handled the re-entry of Michael Vick and the death of his own son in Philadelphia along with a number of colorful and charismatic players as a head coach, Reid had to consider working with Smith, Mahomes and a year-long transition as a relative cakewalk.
3. Not Enough Talent
Perhaps the most important point of any of this is that the talent has to be there in the first place. Alex Smith had the Chiefs winning just over 10 games/year on average. Mahomes was waiting as a future NFL MVP in the wings. Andy Reid and company wanted to make sure Mahomes was ready because there was a talented man to honor on his way out and plenty more talent to prep on his way in.
Eli Manning has gone 8-23 as a starter over the last two years, and Dave Gettleman decided to draft a running back rather than his pick of any quarterback other than Baker Mayfield just one year ago. Suddenly now he wants to put in a plan of succession. Why wait another year when Manning is going to be 38? It makes no sense.
The reality is that the right planets have to be aligned—an owner willing to wait, a coach with credibility and a willing mentor who is still plenty talented on his own—in order to pull off what the Chiefs just did. Other teams can try, but if they fail, it won’t be because the model doesn’t work. It will be another dysfunctional leader trying to simply copy what he’s seen others do.