Where Do Good Quarterbacks Come From?

    If you ask the fan bases, they love the guy who was the first overall draft pick and plays right away.  But there are a lot of ways to succeed.  Below is a summary of the top 30 guys in the NFL as of December 2016, and what they did to get their jobs.

Some guys followed the script, started from Day 1 or close to it, and were instant stars, turning around their teams.  

Andrew Luck was one of the most awesome draft prospects ever.  Of course, so was JaMarcus Russell.  

Others started right away but had some early troubles, and then got a lot better.  I would add that even guys in the first group usually got better as they gained a year or two's experience.  

Others sat for a while and learned by watching, later emerging as a good quarterback.  

Some guys, notably Tom Brady, were not taken in the first round, but for some reason played at a high level anyway.  Very few guys come from that far back i

Finally in the last group are guys who are quarterbacking their second team or more.   None of these guys were first round draft pics, interestingly.  

  

To me it shows that success can be found at all levels in the draft, though of course the first round picks have the greatest success rate.  You would have to go through quite a number of sixth round picks to find one as good as Tom Brady.  

High Draft Pick, started right away, immediate star
Matt Ryan,           ATL
Andrew Luck,    IND

Jameis Winston,    TB

Ben Roethlisberger PIT
Marcus Mariota,    TEN

Cam Newton,    CAR

HIgh draft Pick, started right away and struggled
Matthew Stafford,    DET

Eli Manning,            NYG
Jared Goff               LA

Carson Wentz,    PHI
Blake Bortles,    JAC

Ryan Tannehill,    MIA

Alex Smith,            KC

Sat and learned for a while
Aaron Rodgers,    GB
Kirk Cousins,   WAS
Philip Rivers,    SD

Carson Palmer    ARI

Joe Flacco,            BAL

Colin Kaepernick    SF

2nd Round or Later Pick

Tom Brady,            NE

Dak Prescott,    DAL
Andy Dalton,            CIN

Derek Carr,            OAK

Russell Wilson,    SEA

Trevor Siemian,    DEN
Cody Kessler           CLE

Traded or free agent transfer
Drew Brees,            NO
Brock Osweiler,    HOU
Tyrod Taylor,            BUF
Ryan Fitzpatrick,    NYJ
Case Keenum,    LA