John DeStefano
Tom Brady has been in the NFL for a long time, in fact so long that there are college aged students that were born after his professional debut. Older players, especially quarterbacks, are not uncommon, but in the next few seasons these all-star quarterbacks that have dominated the league for so long will be retiring. Names like Drew Brees, Eli Manning, and Ben Roethlisberger will soon be hanging up their jerseys for the last time. With this group slowly exiting the NFL it leads to a lot of uncertainty.
If we look at the younger generation of quarterback entering the league right now with Dak Prescott, Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, and even Cam Newton. In the 2018-19 season we have seen glimmers of the direction that these new recruits plan to take the game. With deadly arms, speed, and no fear to leave the pocket, this fast pace playstyle is vastly different than what the NFL has seen with the last group of quarterbacks. Coaches no longer need to rely on a deadly playbook and individual skill to determine their performance of their offense. Quarterbacks like Mahomes and Prescott have demonstrated a vast knowledge of the game and their ability to run an offense very early in their career allowing for offensive coordinators and head coaches to give more control over the offense to these players.
This isn’t to say that players like Peyton Manning and Brett Favre were bad quarterbacks, times have changed, and technology has moved forward. Technology Tom Brady may have had to wait until he reached the NFL to have access to some of the equipment and training methods that Jared Goff has been using since he started playing in middle school. This is exciting news for football fans, the game is advancing and as these new players come into the game. This isn’t bad for the nostalgic either, Phillip Rivers and Joe Flacco won’t be forgotten. They performed at such a high level for so long that they elevated the game to the new level through their play. Between Favre, and Rodgers alone all the 40+ yard bombs they had, and that was only one team.
After all the recent bad press from everything with Colin Kaepernick to Deflate gate, there were concerns if the NFL would be able to hold their popularity. If this season has shown anything its than that while the NFL may have had issues to address as an organization, professional football has moved past the controversy and is more popular than ever before. Look forward to the coming seasons because there is sure to be something big happening in the NFL, because there’s a lot more changing than just new quarterbacks.
