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I'd love to hear what KC fans think about their teams need at the QB position. I've laid the groundwork on other posts for my opnion, but opnions are like ****holes and my form of logic doesn't necessairly make me right.

For Review, a list of all QB's taken in the first round from 2000-2008 listed by the number of years they started in college:

5 year starters: Matt Leinhart, Joe Flacco (1 of 2 starters for NFL teams- 50%)

4 year starters: Chad Pennington, Patrick Ramsey, Joey Harrington, David Carr, Rex Grossman, Byron leftwich, Carson Palmer, Ben Rothlisberger, Phillip Rivers, Eli Manning, Jason Campbell, Aaron Rodgers, Jay Cutler, Vince Young, Brady Quinn, Matt Ryan ( 10 of 16 starters for NFL teams - 63%)

3 year starters: Michael Vick, Kyle Boller, Alex Smith, Jamarcus Russell (1 of 4 starters for NFL teams - 25%)

From those numbers, and the fact that Jamarcus Russell is not any NFL dominating force (yet?) I would infer that it's a bad bad bad idea for a college QB to come out after their jr. year to the NFL. They simply have not had enough snaps/experience reading defenses to be a viable starter in the NFL. And precisely because they were chosen as a first round pick they are simply paid TOO MUCH money to sit on the bench. In the majority of cases a first round QB will be on the field running a team before the end of season #1 in the NFL.

From those numbers, however, I would also infer that 12 of the 32 teams in the NFL are starting first round QB's taken in the last 8 years (38%), and many of them successfully. It's not a mirage that a franchise QB can do wonders for your team if the right guy is chosen. -- The right guy is a 4-5 year college starter with a high level of intelligence that excels at reading a defense, NOT a big armed QB that can throw the deep ball out of the shotgun and scramble for yards with his legs. Michael Vick is not the answer. Peyton manning, Eli Manning, Matt Ryan, Aaron Rodgers, Phillip Rivers, Ben Rothlisberger, Carson Palmer, Jay Cutler, and Chad Pennington are not the mirage; Jamarcus Russell, Alex Smith, Michael Vick, and yes Tyler Thigpen ARE. The NFL is a pocket passers game. A QB with legs that can run is a nice plus, but if you can't walk up to the line, read the defense and KNOW where the open man is, and then sidestep/pocket step while the play develops while you read your 2nd 3rd and 4th checkdown you are doomed to failure as an NFL QB. Looking at one guy and then breaking for a run does not work over the long run, no matter how entertaining
it is in the moment.
That leaves us with the top 5 QB that started at least 4 years in college:
Rhett Bomar(Sam Houston State), Graham Harrell(Texas Tech), Cullen Harper(Clemson), Hunter Cantwell(Louisville), Nathon Brown(Central Arkansas)
OR - a FA QB like Matt Cassell for instance.

With the number 3 overall pick in the draft (keep in mind the value of a #3 pick) which would you choose? Or, would you choose to try and trade the pick down for a later first rounder, or would you trade the pick as part of a deal to land a Matt Cassell?