What to do with a rookie quarterback? That’s always a hot button topic. Start or sit? Protect them or throw them into the fire. If you over-expose them to the NFL game, you may scar them beyond repair. But if they are so easily influenced, were they ever really “the guy” to begin with?
There are no easy answers. But NFL Network’s Bucky Brooks supports the idea of teams tossing their rookies into the fray — including the Dolphins with Tua Tagovailoa — from the jump. Why? His argument is centered around three key points.
You don’t learn from the sideline
This argument aligns with the point made by Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians — you don’t learn by holding the clipboard. Instead, as the starter a quarterback commands not only all of the game day reps but also all of the practice reps. Those repetitions are essential to acclimating to the speed of the NFL, according to Brooks. And you only get them once you become “the man” in the backfield.
The transition to the NFL has never been easier
Speaking of acclimating to the speed of the game, Brooks refers to the current NFL landscape as the “golden era” of NFL quarterbacks due to the vast collection of college concepts in the game today. “Spread and shred”, as Brooks words it, allows young quarterbacks to assimilate to life as an NFL quarterback easier than ever before — mainly because they have had so much exposure to spacing concepts. The NFL was late to the game, but that will benefit the Miami Dolphins now that they’ve secured one of the more consistent and effective RPO passers in recent memory to pass through the NFL Draft process.
Economically responsible to get snaps on a rookie deal
Rookie quarterbacks are cheap. And to spend a year of paying a quarterback to not play, especially when a second contract will feature seven or eight times the annual average salary, is leaving a valuable year of development in a prime Super Bowl winning window on the table. The Dolphins won’t be one to compete for a championship in 2020 — that still feels a way off. But the groundwork set in 2020 could help see a deep postseason run materialize a year quicker than we would if Tagovailoa sits out his rookie year. That is, of course, according to Brooks’ point of view.