By Mike Corasaniti
Have you felt old yet watching football yet this year?
Rookie quarterbacks (with ages ranging from 22 to 28) made a splash at the start of this season when five of them earned the starting spots for their respective teams.
Washington’s Robert Griffin III, Indianapolis’ Andrew Luck, Seattle’s Russell Wilson, Cleveland’s Brandon Weeden and Miami’s Ryan Tannehill gave us a mixed bag of performances across the board; some of them giving weary fans hope for years to come, some of them leaving fans more confused than they were just a few weeks ago.
But two weekends into the 2012 season, what grade has each youngster earned for his performances so far? Let’s take a look.
Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks
In a sense, you could say that Wilson has been the most consistent over his first two starts this season. He has not been impeccable, but he’s been about as solid as you can realistically expect from a rookie QB (remember, we have been spoiled recently with Griffin, Luck and Newton).
Two touchdowns, one interception, 300 yards and a solid win under his belt does not look too bad for the Badger moving forward.
Unfortunately for him, with two notable backup quarterbacks, there is added pressure for him to do a little better than 150 yards a game. Because of that, Wilson will also be a very interesting one to watch in the coming weeks.
Grade: C+
Ryan Tannehill, Miami Dolphins
Ryan Tannehill’s first performance was nothing that he will want to remember years down the road. No touchdowns, three interceptions, and a quarterback rating of about three...let’s just say he was happy to bounce back this Sunday.
One passing touchdown, one rushing touchdown, and a more respectable QBR (not to mention a little help from Reggie Bush) made Tannehill’s curtain call a lot more pleasant to watch.
Hopefully things with Matt Moore will work out in Miami, because when Tannehill’s on, he’s a pretty solid rookie signal-caller.
Grade: C-
Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts
His weird neck-beard aside, Luck has put up some pretty impressive numbers himself (ignoring those three interceptions in his debut).
Any time someone can say they threw for more than 500 yards over their first two professional games, that is nothing to sneeze at, but Luck will have to get a little more comfortable in Indianapolis if he wants to capitalize on his seemingly endless potential. Granted, they will rely greatly on his surrounding teammates, which does not necessarily mean great things for the No. 1 draft pick’s first season in the pros.
Grade: B-
Brandon Weeden, Cleveland Browns
The ageless wonder was another one that improved greatly upon his disappointing Week 1 debut. Though still winless, Weeden put up a very strong 70 percent completion rate with two touchdowns against the Bengals to make up some for his four interceptions against the Eagles the previous week.
In my opinion, Weeden will be the most interesting rookie QB to watch, as it seems like he can really go either way (as evidenced by his first two starts). Let’s hope things will stray to the better side for Weeden this week against Buffalo.
Grade: C
Robert Griffin III, Washington Redskins
Easily the cream of the crop so far, Bob Griffin made the most noise of any on opening weekend with his 320-yard, two-touchdown performance (good enough for a QBR of almost 94). He was slightly less impressive in Sunday’s loss to St. Louis, but slightly less impressive was still pretty darn good.
If Griffin can keep up stats anything close to his current averages (70-plus percent completion rating, 250-plus passing yards per game) than he is going to have to move his Heisman over on the shelf to make room for a nice Rookie of the Year trophy.
Grade: A-
This article can be seen on Bleacher Report
Have you felt old yet watching football yet this year?
Rookie quarterbacks (with ages ranging from 22 to 28) made a splash at the start of this season when five of them earned the starting spots for their respective teams.
Washington’s Robert Griffin III, Indianapolis’ Andrew Luck, Seattle’s Russell Wilson, Cleveland’s Brandon Weeden and Miami’s Ryan Tannehill gave us a mixed bag of performances across the board; some of them giving weary fans hope for years to come, some of them leaving fans more confused than they were just a few weeks ago.
But two weekends into the 2012 season, what grade has each youngster earned for his performances so far? Let’s take a look.
Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks
In a sense, you could say that Wilson has been the most consistent over his first two starts this season. He has not been impeccable, but he’s been about as solid as you can realistically expect from a rookie QB (remember, we have been spoiled recently with Griffin, Luck and Newton).
Two touchdowns, one interception, 300 yards and a solid win under his belt does not look too bad for the Badger moving forward.
Unfortunately for him, with two notable backup quarterbacks, there is added pressure for him to do a little better than 150 yards a game. Because of that, Wilson will also be a very interesting one to watch in the coming weeks.
Grade: C+
Ryan Tannehill, Miami Dolphins
Ryan Tannehill’s first performance was nothing that he will want to remember years down the road. No touchdowns, three interceptions, and a quarterback rating of about three...let’s just say he was happy to bounce back this Sunday.
One passing touchdown, one rushing touchdown, and a more respectable QBR (not to mention a little help from Reggie Bush) made Tannehill’s curtain call a lot more pleasant to watch.
Hopefully things with Matt Moore will work out in Miami, because when Tannehill’s on, he’s a pretty solid rookie signal-caller.
Grade: C-
Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts
His weird neck-beard aside, Luck has put up some pretty impressive numbers himself (ignoring those three interceptions in his debut).
Any time someone can say they threw for more than 500 yards over their first two professional games, that is nothing to sneeze at, but Luck will have to get a little more comfortable in Indianapolis if he wants to capitalize on his seemingly endless potential. Granted, they will rely greatly on his surrounding teammates, which does not necessarily mean great things for the No. 1 draft pick’s first season in the pros.
Grade: B-
Brandon Weeden, Cleveland Browns
The ageless wonder was another one that improved greatly upon his disappointing Week 1 debut. Though still winless, Weeden put up a very strong 70 percent completion rate with two touchdowns against the Bengals to make up some for his four interceptions against the Eagles the previous week.
In my opinion, Weeden will be the most interesting rookie QB to watch, as it seems like he can really go either way (as evidenced by his first two starts). Let’s hope things will stray to the better side for Weeden this week against Buffalo.
Grade: C
Robert Griffin III, Washington Redskins
Easily the cream of the crop so far, Bob Griffin made the most noise of any on opening weekend with his 320-yard, two-touchdown performance (good enough for a QBR of almost 94). He was slightly less impressive in Sunday’s loss to St. Louis, but slightly less impressive was still pretty darn good.
If Griffin can keep up stats anything close to his current averages (70-plus percent completion rating, 250-plus passing yards per game) than he is going to have to move his Heisman over on the shelf to make room for a nice Rookie of the Year trophy.
Grade: A-
This article can be seen on Bleacher Report