Young Guns: Three QB Situations To Watch in the 2008 NFL Season

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Let's forget about the rookie quarterbacks for a minute, and focus on the young signal-callers who have at least one game of NFL experience under their sleeves.

Last season, Derek Anderson and even David Garrard had the type of season that won over the fans and coaches of their ball clubs.

But this upcoming season, three young QBs that come to mind have the potential to become "The Man" as their teams' starting  quarterback...

In San Francisco, the 49ers have two questions in regards to their quarterback situation heading into next season. 

One, can Alex Smith finally have a solid season in his fourth year?

Two, which guy is the better option as the starting quarterback—Smith or Shaun Hill?

Smith was drafted as the No. 1 overall pick in 2005 to be the franchise quarterback, and is now heading into training camp competing for a starting spot with Shaun Hill.

"A lot has been made of this, but this is a natural part of this game. It's a competitive sport. Shaun and I have had to compete all our lives to get to this point. I would say the abnormal thing is (when) you're given something. ... We're both pretty sure. We're self-confident that we're going to go out there and get it done."--Alex Smith

In the three games Hill played last season, he threw five touchdowns, had an undefeated record and had a QB rating of 101.3.

As for Smith, he threw only two touchdowns in seven games before a season-ending injury. 

Smith has only had one decent season while Norv Turner was the offensive coordinator.

Though Smith is entering his fourth season and looks to be the starting QB,  this could be Smith's last chance if he doesn't prove he's ready to take a step forward.

Mike Martz will be the new offensive coordinator in San Francisco this season, and hopefully he can help mold Smith into the quarterback everyone has expected him to be.

In Arizona, the quarterback situation is a little different.  Two questions heading into training camp are:

Is Matt Leinart ready to mature and become the quarterback of the future for the Cards?

Is Kurt Warner the better option than Leinart at quarterback?   

The Matt Leinart off-the-field situation might have been a little overblown, but he does need to mature in a sense heading into the 2008 season.  The man was in the backyard of his own house for crying out loud.

If Leinart gets off to another poor start, then we will probably see the two-headed quarterback situation we saw last season.  Leinart and Kurt Warner split playing time until Leinart suffered a season-ending collarbone injury.

Warner turned out to be pretty good last season, throwing 27 TDs and 3,417 passing yards.  Leinart might be the Cardinals' QB of the future—but Leinart will still be competing with Warner for a starting spot in training camp, according to head coach Ken Whisenhunt.

The resolution to the QB situation in Cleveland seems to a no brainer.  But with that said, this question will still be asked by some.

Now that Brady Quinn has spent a season as an understudy to Derek Anderson, is he ready to be the Browns starting quarterback?

Local Browns fan would love to see Quinn become the starting QB--but seriously, the answer to this question is pretty much a no brainer. 

Though Brady Quinn maybe the most popular athlete on the Browns' roster, he only saw action in one game last season.

Derek Anderson had a breakout year last season, throwing 29 TDs, 3,787 passing yards and a trip to the Pro Bowl.

Brady is the QB of the future, but sitting behind Anderson will pay off in the future.  Anderson signed a new three-year, $24 million contract with the Browns. 

So really the only way Quinn becomes the starting QB, is if Anderson gets hurt or just begins to play poorly.

God forbid the first one happens, and the way he played last season, it's really hard to picture him playing bad.

No matter these interesting quarterback situations play out, it will be a fun thing to watch in 2008.

Michael Whittenberg is a senior writer for BleacherReport.com.

Information from ESPN and the Associated Press were used in this column.