Last year’s draft class of quarterbacks was a unique one, with eight rookies starting at some point in the season, and more than half of them playing well.
But according to Broncos executive John Elway, the rising tide of young quarterbacks is a function of improved play, rather than improved scouting.
Asked if the improved batting average on picking quarterbacks was because the league had learned something, Elway replied simply: “I think quarterbacks are getting better. . . . We’re getting guys that are much better prepared.”
With the proliferation of 7-on-7 leagues at the high school level (and younger), to the individual instruction most draftable quarterbacks are getting now, there’s a higher level of training that passers are getting, which is raising the bar.
That doesn’t mean teams aren’t going to miss with this year’s crop, especially in a class where many personnel types are talking about the holes in their games, but the floor has been raised.
Of course, Elway still wants to see the intangibles in any passer he’s considering. He offered input to the league on the new personality test that was created to supplement the Wonderlic.
He said he was asked what he wanted to see measured, and he told the test-makers he’d wanted to see if they could gauge competitiveness.
Granted, he hasn’t seen the test to see how that manifested itself, and it seems no one has.
But as years pass, that too will be taught to the quarterbacks coming in, extending the cycle of preparedness.