What's the Right Way to do it? Sit a QB or Start Right Away?

We’ve surely all heard both sides of this argument by now. Is it better to let your young quarterback sit for a year and learn the offense or is it better to throw him right in the action and let him learn as he goes?

I believe we are about to have some great examples of both in the NFL.

After one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks of all-time went down with a knee injury and former USC backup and New England’s forgotten backup quarterback Matt Cassel came in the question has appeared again. How could New England’s backup QB have been a backup quarterback in college?

If you haven’t heard Cassel’s story by now it’s very interesting. He played behind two Heisman Trophy winners at Southern California; riding the bench as both Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart won college football’s biggest individual honor before his eyes.

Four years ago the Patriots drafted Cassel in the seventh round, a pick that went relatively unnoticed until now because Brady has started every single game since the Drew Bledsoe injury that opened the door to the “Tuck” rule, Adam Vinateri’s brilliance, and three Super Bowl titles for the Patriots.

So will sitting on the bench help him?

He kind of reminds me of Tony Romo. Romo is one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks and he sat for years on the bench while Drew Bledsoe led the immoble Dallas offense.  (It’s amazing how much Bledsoe is still affecting all this).

Meanwhile in Atlanta Matt Ryan stepped right in after being drafted #3 overall in the NFL Draft. His first pass was everything the Falcons could’ve ever hoped for, a touchdown pass to Michael Jenkins. Meanwhile tonight on Monday night football four young quarterbacks will all play.

Is it better to sit your young quarterbacks (Aaron Rodgers, Jay Cutler) or play them right away (JaMarcus Russell, Tavaris Jackson)? Both Jackson and Russell have had time to learn their offense but a lot less time than anyone first thought they would before they stepped in.

So will sitting benefit Cassel? I personally believe it will because he’s learned from the best of all-time.

A Quick NFL Draft Point:

Patriots did this the right way: This is important to me. New England drafted Cassel and groomed him to become the player he is today. Who knows how good he is but we do know that he is ready. Few teams actually do this the right way but New England did and that will benefit them for the rest of the year. I’m not saying Cassel will lead them on a Brady like Super Bowl run but I am saying that if anyone can lead New England to the playoffs then Cassel is probably the most prepared to do so.