Is it better for rookie quarterbacks to sit or play right away? Tom Brady, widely regarded as the greatest quarterback of all time, feels that the former is the best route for a promising young quarterback.
Brady, who spent just over a year watching Drew Bledsoe before taking the reins of the Patriots offense back in 2001, alluded to Jordan Love when discussing the benefits of sitting before playing. It also helped, Brady noted, that Love got a front-row seat to watch one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time do his thing before getting his chance to lead the Packers offense.
"He had Aaron Rodgers to watch," Brady said on "The Herd with Colin Cowherd." "That's the best type of training, in my opinion. Watch someone else do it at a very high level, and then try to emulate them with your own personality.
"Maybe a little bit of a (misconception) with the draft is that these players can come in and all of a sudden become this great, professional player before they've really had the training and the development."
It's hard to argue with Brady's take given the success Love had last year, his full season as Green Bay's starting quarterback. He threw a whopping 32 touchdowns against just 11 picks while leading the Packers to a surprising playoff berth.
Love upped the ante in the playoffs, compiling a near-perfect passer rating while leading Green Bay to a shocking upset over the Cowboys in the wild-card round.
Like Love, Rodgers also got a chance to watch a future Hall of Fame quarterback do his thing before getting his opportunity to start. From 2005-07, Rodgers served as Brett Favre's understudy. He witnessed arguably Favre's best season as a Packer in 2007 that ended one game shy of the Super Bowl.
Brady, Love and Rodgers are just three examples of quarterbacks who got the chance to watch a successful veteran quarterback during their initial years in pro football. Patrick Mahomes spent his rookie season watching former No. 1 overall pick Alex Smith before getting his opportunity to start in 2018. Philip Rivers, a future Hall of Fame quarterback in his own right, watched fellow future gold jacket owner Drew Brees run the Chargers offense before taking over during his second season.
Conversely, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen and C.J. Stroud are examples of current quarterbacks who were immediately thrown into the proverbial fire. It may not have been their ideal situations, but all three quarterbacks blossomed into cornerstone players for their respective franchises.
Along with his thoughts on Love, Brady's comments on young players is also noteworthy. While rookies oftentimes come into the NFL with tons of hype, they are largely unfinished products who have to get acclimated to playing with and against the world's greatest players.