North Carolina Tar Heels: The Case for Mitch Trubisky
The North Carolina Tar Heels may not have to wait long to know the fate of last year’s starting quarterback Mitch Trubisky in the NFL Draft.
North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Mitch Trubisky’s name has arisen again in talk about the number one pick in the draft. While I have dismissed this before, I think it is time to talk about what this could mean other than just the normal draft smokescreen to drive up last minute interest in trading for the first pick in the draft.
- The Importance of Quarterback in the NFL
The quarterback position is so important in today’s passer friendly NFL. While good quarterbacks have always been key components of good teams, there was a time when you could get by without them. Jeff Hostetler, Jim McMahon, Trent Dilfer, and Brad Johnson all have Super Bowl rings. While competent, none of those guys were expected to be the star of their respective teams. Heck, the Panthers tried to win a Super Bowl with Jake Delhomme.
Now, despite Peyton Manning’s last Super Bowl performance, teams are committed to finding the guy who will be around the next ten years and be the one. The importance of this idea is so tantamount that when you get an early pick and quarterback is an issue, you have to look at it. The new league salary cap for rookies even helps this particular move by cutting some of the financial risk.
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So teams that need quarterbacks are exceptionally careful when they have a shot at the best one in a draft, because they do not know they may not in that position ever again. There are several clear examples of this from the Chargers, Panthers, Colts, Buccaneers, and last year’s trades.
In 2004, the Chargers had Drew Brees and the first pick in the draft. Brees was yet to do his best work in San Diego. Better yet though, there was a Manning available in the draft. The Chargers had missed out on Eli’s brother Peyton by one pick in 1997 and landed Ryan Leaf instead. Now they could get their own Manning, except that Manning did not want them. The Chargers were fortunate to have a three deep quarterback class that year and trade Manning to the Giants for Philip Rivers. It still shows the lengths teams will go when they have a shot at a top quarterback high in the draft. Unfortunately Brees wasn’t that bad either.
In 2011, the Carolina Panthers came off a terrible season in what was essentially the lame duck year of John Fox. They had Jimmy Clausen at quarterback, a young guy considered a second round steal when he was drafted. The Panthers had the number one pick.
The Panthers were well known to be interested in Stanford redshirt sophomore Andrew Luck, but Luck stayed out of the draft. Some said it was to avoid being taken by Carolina. With Luck gone and the Panthers having a young quarterback already, the stage was set for punting and taking Patrick Peterson. You know that did not happen. The hole at quarterback was important enough that the Panthers took Cam Newton with the first pick. That has worked out so far.
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The Colts lost Peyton Manning for a year that next season, losing enough games to gain the first pick. Even with a possible Manning return, the Colts opted to cut ties with the Hall of Famer and draft Luck. If they had not, the succession process for Manning might well still be going on.
The Buccaneers had a young quarterback on their roster named Mike Glennon. He was good enough that the Bears were willing to give him fifteen million dollars a year this off season. That did not stop the Bucs from drafting Jameis Winston over the top of him in 2015. Winston went on to win Rookie of the Year and a Bucs rise has been speculated ever since.
Finally, there was 2016 draft. Two teams that did not even own the top two picks traded up to get them. The Rams drafted Jared Goff number one. The Eagles drafted Carson Wentz number two. It doesn’t matter what the duo did on the field, no one thought either of them was going to be Newton, Luck, or Winston and the teams moved heaven and earth to get them.
The Browns know these things. They have the number one pick. Their starter right now is Brock Osweiler. This is what teams not named the 1995 Carolina Panthers do, take a quarterback. He might be Tim Couch, or Alex Smith, or Peyton Manning. If you have no one, you must have someone.