There is no bigger debate than how to develop quarterbacks. Passers used to carry the clipboard for a few years to learn the game. Big money to first-round picks then forced NFL teams to play them immediately. After a few like Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco led teams to the playoffs as rookies, it became a floodgate of new arms with mixed results.
When Washington Redskins quarterback John Beck faces boyhood friend and Buffalo Bills passer Ryan Fitzpatrick on Sunday, it may restart the old trend of waiting a few years.
Beck played five games on a 1-15 Miami team in 2007 and didn’t have another starting opportunity until Oct. 13. Fitzpatrick played four games as a 2005 seventh-rounder, then didn’t throw another pass until three years later.
Fitzpatrick now ranks tied for seventh in passer rating (95.3) and tied for fifth with 12 touchdowns. Beck has been steady in five quarters.
“I’ve been on multiple teams and in multiple offenses, played with a lot of different guys,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’ve been able to sit back and watch how good players and quarterbacks have prepared and gone about their business.
“But it really has been a process for me. I played a little bit early in my career, but I wasn’t ready. Probably until last year, I didn’t know that I was really ready for the mental side of it. … It really does take some time to mature.”
Fitzpatrick’s path was harder as a seventh-rounder out of Harvard vs. Beck, who was taken in the second round from BYU.
“It’s really hard to develop as a quarterback when you’re not a high draft pick,” Fitzpatrick said. “I was a [No.] three for a couple of years, got to play a little bit and then somebody took a chance on me with [Cincinnati] to become the backup. But you have to take advantage of the opportunities when you get them, and I think that’s the biggest reason for where I am today.”
Which is what Beck is trying to do after losing the preseason competition to Rex Grossman, who lost it back after 4? games. Redskins coach Mike Shanahan believes Beck is finally ready to be a regular.
“Any time you’re a starter for four years in college and you get a chance to be on the practice squad as long as he’s been, you get a chance to look at defenses in the NFL,” Shanahan said.
Beck and Fitzpatrick grew up in neighboring Arizona towns. Neither remembers their first competition — Beck thought it was baseball while Fitzpatrick said it was swimming, calling Beck “the best at backstroke in the state.”
“We grew up playing sports against each other,” Fitzpatrick said, “and even at one point kind of training with the same guy back in high school.”
Said Beck: “I’m really happy to see his success … because I know his story is he just kept working. It’s just a good example — if you keep working, good things can happen.”
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or email [email protected].
