In other pieces in this series, I have examined the idea that quarterbacks elevate teams and have found instead that even high-level talents need fairly robust support around them in order to succeed. In all of the conversations about finding a starting quarterback in the draft, however, one name casts a shadow over sober analysis. Numbers and charts and trends are only so meaningful, it is said, because if a team has a chance to get a true “blue chip” quarterback prospect—the next “Andrew Luck”—then the team has to take that chance.
Thus, while every year there are some NFL teams that seem to reach to fill their need at passer, that’s not the whole story.