Mark Rypien started all 16 games for the Redskins in 1992, but in the 30 seasons since, Rypien was one of 35 men to start a game at QB for the franchise. Jacoby Brissett is about to become No. 36 on Sunday, a full quarter of those (nine) in Ron Rivera’s four years at the helm, and the 15th since 2014, when RG3 made his last start in DC.
Only seven times in those 30 years has on QB lasted the whole season, three of those being Kirk Cousins from 2015-17…and if you ask another legendary DC QB like Doc & Lynnell did on Wednesday, all of those stats are just nuts.
“I think the decision Ron made to make the change was the right one, but there’s no patience in the NFL anymore,” Joe Theismann, Doc’s old teammate, said when he joined the guys. “We’re gonna start Jacoby, Russell Wilson is being sat down, the Giants are gonna start Tyrod (Taylor), Cleveland is on their fourth guy. I mean, there will be like 65 quarterbacks that have started this year on 32 teams.”
Theismann started 113 of 116 games from the time he took over as the main QB in 1978 until his career-ending injury in 1985, but it wasn’t until 1981 that he reached 3,000 yards in a season, and he won his MVP Award in 1983 at the age of 34.
Sometimes, even for the best, it’s a process, and as Joe sees it, Howell, even with sitting last season, hasn’t had that, given he had to learn a new offense all over again this year.
“I played at a time when they really didn't want the rookies on the field, and there was no economic pressure to put somebody on the field, because there was no free agency,” Theismann said. “You played your rear end off to keep your job, because if you didn't, or you got hurt and someone got in there and did better, you were gone. So, there was an incentive to be able to be on the field, and be as good as you could be. But now, instead of being able to learn, like we’ve seen some young quarterbacks be able to do, people are changing offenses like we change shirts, so it’s very difficult to establish consistency and continuity from one year to the next.”
With quarterbacks, verbiage is the biggest and maybe hardest thing to learn, to be able to get it all out so everyone knows the play – but even once you do that, the play is all dependent on everyone around you, so not having that support system can also crush a young QB.
“In Sam’s case…I was blessed, and you were part of it Doc, because our ‘Hogs’ were the best in the NFL,” Theismann said. “Those guys made life very comfortable, and quarterback is the single most dependent position on the field.
You get sacked 60 times, and that doesn't count the amount of times you got hit, so there will be another 80 or 90 or 100 hits for all the drop backs he’s taken, and if you can’t run the football behind your line? It’s a process that ownership is not willing to go through; you put the guy out there, you let him take his lumps, and Sam has been under the gun.”
Part of that, perhaps, has been the scheme, but part of it is on Sam, too.
“It’s a new offense, and if you have to take time to think of what you see, you're always gonna be late,” Theismann said. “We see guys come out of college with 68 percent completions…well, you have two people to look at there. At our level, there are five, and you better know where all five are, because you're gonna have probably a second to get rid of the football. We’ve seen times when Sam has played really, really well, but my problem is I think he's taken it on his shoulders to try and make plays, because the team has struggled.”
Did Ron Rivera just handing Howell the job before the offseason even began play any part in that?
“When Ron made the decision to give it to Sam during the off season, I felt like it was the right decision – you basically have to play yourself out of the job, and I felt like it was a good thing, because there's a difference in competing for a job in training camp and mini camps and OTAs than there is preparing yourself mentally as a starter,” Theismann said. “How much time do you have in camp to evaluate guys, and what are you evaluating these days in three preseason games? You don’t really get tempered in the preseason, and you’re so limited in preparation at the college level with the portal, where everyone tells them they’re good but they don’t get foundational training.”
One thing Theismann does believe? Sam Howell will be a better player because of all this.
“I think that this year, as tough as it has been, will be invaluable to him going forward, because he will be able to understand what he should and should not do,” Joe said. “You can’t take it on yourself to think that you're gonna be able to right the ship when you're lying on your back, looking up at the stars all the time.”