It has become increasingly popular in the NFL to hand the reins of your team over to a rookie quarterback, and the results have been decidedly mixed. While the league as a whole has become more pass-heavy and quarterback friendly, even with this shift some QBs simply aren’t ready to handle the rigors of running an NFL offense full-time.
Whether it’s because of maturity, poise, or simply a lack of skill, many young players try to step into the starting quarterback role and fail miserably. For every wild rookie success like Robert Griffin III or Andrew Luck, there are many others like Brandon Weeden or Quincy Carter. Even some of the all-time greats struggle at first, falling even below low standards of mediocrity as they attempt to prove themselves at the professional level.
While some pregame jitters before a QB’s first start are totally normal, these guys allowed it to affect them (and their teams) in a most profound way. As we gear up for the likes of Derek Carr (and inevitably Johnny Manziel) making their first career starts, here are the Worst Debuts By Rookie Quarterbacks in NFL History.
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