Do We Really Need a Big 12 Quarterback in 2010?

The recent conversation on what QB we should take got me thinking.  Why are we going so crazy over Big 12 QBs?  I personally think we should take Colt McCoy but if history tells us anything, we probably should run the other direction and find someone else.  Big 12 QB's stink in the NFL. 

Over the last 10 years, only 13 QBs were drafted out of the Big 12.  7 are currently back-ups with possibly one exception, Josh Freeman who might start this year. 

This distinguished list of incredible college players includes Chris Simms, Kliff Kingsbury, BJ Symons, Vince Young, Brad Smith, Sage Rosenfels, Josh Heupel, Michael Bishop, Reggie McNeal and Seneca Wallace.  Most of these QB's had insane college careers and are either out of football or riding pine in the NFL with little chance of ever starting.  Seneca Wallace started only due to the injury of Hasselbeck.

What happens to these incredible players once they reach the pros?  I understand any QBs from Texas Tech because of the system, but what about the other players?  Most of these former Big 12 QBs were blue chip recruits, played well in college and then disappear in the NFL.  If they are talented in high school and college, why can't they transition to the pros?  Most of these players have moved to multiple teams over their NFL careers yet none of them can seem to crack the starting line-up or stay in the league.  So if multiple NFL coaches can't help them, it drives me to believe it must have been taught to them in college. 

Big 12 schools fail to train their QBs for the next level.  They only care about winning the National Championship, which is good, but you need to mold these top QBs for their future.  Most kids going to an Oklahoma or Texas are looking to go pro and these coaches know this, yet they don't teach them what they need to know.  I base this comparison on the number of QBs that come out of the Pac 10. 

20 QBs have been drafted out of the Pac 10 over the last 10 years.  16 are still in the NFL with a whopping 6 starters including Kellen Clemens or Mark Sanchez as starter for the Jets.  For a conference that has typically been seen as weaker than the Big 12, they sure do produce top rung QBs.  USC is a football factory just like Texas and OU but they seem to produce pro caliber QBs, actually 25% of QBs drafted out of the Pac 10 came from there.  It’s not just USC, Oregon State, Stanford, Cal, ASU and even WSU with Alex Brink (he’s on Houston).  They all are creating pro QBs and they all played in different systems.  SEC is very similar to the Pac 10 in grooming QBs as well.  4 current starters are out of the SEC and with 6 others riding the pine in the NFL. 

As I mentioned earlier, I really like Colt McCoy and think he has the tools to be a talented QB in the NFL but I’m still a little nervous about going after either him or Bradford.  Maybe we need to look at the Pac 10 again or possibly, jump over and seriously consider Tebow or someone in the SEC.  I’m really not sure who the answer is but we need to be very careful when looking at a QB from the Big 12.