Five rookie quarterbacks will start for NFL teams this weekend, the most since 1950.
That Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Brandon Weeden are starting for the Indianapolis Colts, Washington Redskins and Cleveland Browns is not a surprise. Luck and Griffin were the top two picks in the 2012 NFL Draft and Weeden is a 28-year-old who was not selected to spend this season carrying a clipboard while modeling New Era football caps. (That's all you, Colt McCoy)
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Ryan Tannehill starting for the Miami Dolphins and third-round draft pick Russell Wilson starting for the Seattle Seahawks -- becoming the first third-round quarterback to start in Week 1 since Joe Ferguson started for the 1973 Buffalo Bills -- are surprises, though, as both opened training camp as the No. 3 quarterback.
DolphinsHall of Fame quarterback Bob Griese discussed why so many rookies have been able to come in and earn starting jobs right away with Nicole Zaloumis on "NFL AM" on Thursday.
"The offenses in college and the offenses in the pro game are a lot alike," Griese said. "There's a lot of passing, there's a lot of spread offense, a lot of the terminology that they use. The coaches go from the pros back to the colleges and the colleges back to the pros, so it's all intertwined.
"The one advantage that Ryan Tannehill, with the Dolphins, is going to have is coming out of college, he brought his head coach and the terminology that they use to the Dolphins. So Mike Sherman is the offensive coordinator and that terminology that he brought with him from Texas A&M is the same stuff that Ryan Tannehill is used to. So he has an advantage over the rest of those rookie quarterbacks because the system, learning the system and learning all the playcalls and all that stuff, won't be nearly as tough for him to pick up."
Follow Brian McIntyre on Twitter _@brianmcintyre_.
