Quarterbacks: You Can't Live Without Them

There are arguments within different sports regarding what position is most important to a team's success. Some people believe that a catcher in baseball is the most important because they call the pitches and organize the defense, while others argue that a pitcher is vital to a team's success because they take the ball.

In basketball, the argument is between, again, the signal-caller and the money man. Is it the point guard, who has the ball in his hands setting the offense, or is it a big man who can dominate both defensively and offensively around the basket.

There should be no question, however, which position is most vital to a team's potential for success. The quarterback is the penultimate player in all of American professional sports.

The QB has to bear the traits of both the pitcher and the catcher. Take, for example (albeit a drastic one) Peyton Manning. He calls nearly every play at the line of scrimmage, with his offensive coordinator admittedly only giving him "general concepts" or "guidance" in the play selection.

The quarterback, like a catcher, needs to know the scouting report of every individual defender, and the schemes implemented by the opposition. He then needs to take this information as a template over which the he lays the play selections and personnel at his disposal to formulate an effective offense.

In similar ways to a pitcher, the quarterback has the ball in his hands. But conceptually, deeper than this cliché, the quarterback needs to read the defense and select the receiver, or pitch, to throw on every play.

Unlike a pitcher, however, the quarterback needs to change pitches with moving feet and 300-pound men trying to kill him. He doesn't have the luxury of shaking his head or stepping off the rubber.

Where the baseball parallel falls apart on both levels is the requisite leadership and game consumption of the position of quarterback. In baseball, the catcher can be lifted for a pitch-hitter or runner. Any one starting pitcher only throws twice a week, and a quality reliever might only throw four to five innings per week.

Also, if a starting pitcher doesn't have his good stuff, or runs out of gas, a manager can go to the bullpen. A football coach can't simply plug in another quarterback...The quarterback does not have another four starters in his rotation that step in tomorrow and "pick him up" if he has a bad outing.

Also, there are many teams in Major League Baseball that have three, four, or even five quality pitchers; the depth of good quarterbacks in the National Football League is such that many teams don't even have one decent quarterback.

There isn't one team in baseball that relies as heavily on one player's ability, both physically and mentally, as every football team does on their quarterback.

In examining the basketball parallels, the thinnest correlation is with a power forward or center. These players, while they can carry a team and have the offense built around their abilities, cannot bring the ball up the court and generally do not attack off the dribble.

They are closer in their impact level on the game to a wide receiver or running back. However, many times you might hear a color commentator refer to a point guard as a "quarterback on the hardwood." 

The point guard reads the defense, generally is bringing the ball up the court, and has the responsibility for controlling the flow of the offense. The breakdown in this comparison, however, again comes back to the amount of talent at the position, the physicality of the position, and the game ownership.

If you watch many teams play, you'll see a shooting guard like Kobe Bryant or a small forward like Tracy McGrady handling the ball as much as the point guard. The singular position of point guard is not the determining position for the offense on every team. Phil Jackson's triangle offense is famed for utilizing a big man and two wing players to move the ball to create an open shot.

In crunch time, you don't see a running back line up under center, or a wide receiver in the shotgun awaiting a snap (no offense to Darren McFadden's various formations in Arkansas).

Again, like a pitcher in baseball, there are rotations at every position on the basketball court, while you cannot give a quarterback a breather, or bring in a larger player because of a matchup; the quarterback is the man the entire game, and is 100 percent responsible for the offense.

The largest truth about any sport is that the central figure on any team, whether it's Johan Santana or Jason Kidd or Peyton Manning, is only as good as the players surrounding them.

If a team doesn't hit, can't guard in the post, or can't block a pass rush, the quality of the figure in the middle of the heat is mute. But when all the cards are on the table, and the deck is square, it is the quarterback that has the greatest pressure on their backs.