BY JULIAN MACKOOL, SPORTS STAFFER
Watching the NFL season this year has made me question the value of the Quarterback. Since the NFL has been around the position that’s always gotten the most attention, Quarterback has been the most important. In the last 23 years, the Quarterback has won the Most Valuable Player award 19 times. However, many of quarterbacks who had success weren’t highly talented this year but are good game managers.
A game manager is when a Quarterback doesn’t do anything that amazing, but he doesn’t lose the game for the team or do anything terrible. Some of quarterbacks who classify as game managers are Brock Purdy, Jared Goff, Tua Tagovailoa, Baker Mayfield, and Dak Prescott. All these Quarterbacks were in the top 9 in yards and top 7 in touchdowns, and all made the playoffs, and one made the Super Bowl. All these Quarterback have many great players around them that have made them successful this year, and the reason for that is the Quarterbacks who are game managers aren’t paid that highly, and only one of them is in the top ten of highest paid Quarterbacks and that’s Dak Prescott who’s ten.
For more detail, I will use Brock Purdy as an example. Brock Purdy was the last player drafted in the 2022 draft last year and going into the season; no one thought he would see the field, not even Brock Purdy. But when both starting quarterbacks got hurt, he was the starter, and he went 8-1 and was one game away from the Super Bowl, and he got hurt in the first quarter.
A year later, in 2023, he lost only five games and is now in the Superbowl with two elite wide receivers, the best running back, the top 2 tight ends, a great offensive line, and a top 5 head coach. He can have the players around him because his salary is 879,000, whereas an average quarterback makes 5 to 7 million
n. So, having the money to build around has played a massive part in his success and the other quarterbacks in the league I named.
There is no doubt that a good quarterback is needed to win games and even Super Bowls, but the keyword is good, so maybe instead, paying a quarterback over 40 million isn’t the move anymore because of the challenge of building around him. So, instead, perhaps try to pay a quarterback under 20 million. It will help teams have success. A Quarterback can only be good with outstanding talent around it, and that is what all these quarterbacks have in common: low salaries, but they are good at winning games, and they have success in the NFL because teams have the money to have a good team.
mackooj23@bonaventure.edu
Leave a Reply