The Eagles have named Carson Wentz their starting quarterback for their season opener against the Browns on Sunday.
Barring any calamities in the next two days, that means the NFL will have a rookie starting at quarterback in the first week of the regular season for the ninth straight year. As Michael Signora of the NFL points out, that’s the longest streak in the league since the start of the Super Bowl era. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott will be this year’s second rookie quarterback to start, three hours after Wentz.
The previous high was four straight years from 1968-1971 when nine quarterbacks, including Roger Staubach and Terry Bradshaw, made their debuts. The Bengals (Dewey Warren, Greg Cook) and Bills (Dan Darragh, James Harris) both started rookie quarterbacks in both 1968 and 1969.
The current streak has seen 17 quarterbacks bow in the opener with the Jets (Mark Sanchez, Geno Smith) as the only team to send two rookies into the lineup. They are 7-10 in those games, including a win for Robert Griffin III in 2012. Griffin will be on the opposite side of the field as Wentz tries to bump the number of wins to eight this weekend.