Congratulations, your favorite football team just selected a rookie quarterback in the first round of the NFL Draft!
After years of mediocre quarterback play, your team finally has its savior and prodigal son. The man to lift a trophy that removes every single problem from the past.
The expectations for this 20-something-year-old quarterback couldn’t be higher. This rookie quarterback is expected to compete immediately, no questions asked. If he doesn’t perform? Tough luck. He’ll be replaced as quickly as he was selected.
Rookie signal-callers paint the unfortunate reality of football.
People place lofty expectations on rookie quarterbacks because they have to. Coaches and general managers have to win to keep their jobs, so the young arm they’ve attached themselves to has to save them.
When you buy into a young quarterback without a minute of professional experience, the expectations will be high, and fans will follow suit.
Few rookie quarterbacks find immediate success, though. And fewer see individual success translate to team success.
Since the NFL’s inception, 14 rookies have started a playoff game, and only ten have won a single game. Last season, Brock Purdy became one of the few to win two games (leading the 49ers to the NFC Conference Championship) and the first rookie quarterback to win a playoff game since Russell Wilson in 2012.
If the Vikings are going to select a quarterback in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, they need to place realistic expectations on that first year. What will those expectations be, though, and can past top draft picks prove anything?