As the 2012 NFL season kicks off, the starter at quarterback is set for all 32 clubs.
Five rookie quarterbacks – Robert Griffin III of the Washington Redskins, Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts, Ryan Tannehill of the Miami Dolphins, Brandon Weeden of the Cleveland Browns and Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks – will debut as starters on Kickoff Weekend, the most rookie quarterbacks to start a team’s opening game since at least 1950.
The previous high was three in 1968 (Dan Darragh, Buffalo; Grega Landry, Detroit; Dewey Warren, Cincinnati) and 1969 (Greg Cook, Cincinnati; James Harris, Buffalo; Roger Staubach, Dallas).
Meanwhile, four-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning enters his first season with the Denver Broncos after spending his 14 previous seasons in Indianapolis.
A by-the-numbers look at the 32 announced starting quarterbacks:
|
5 |
Rookies |
Weeden, Cle; Luck, Ind; Tannehill, Mia; Wilson, Sea; Griffin III, Was |
|
10 |
Rookie or second-year |
Newton, Car; Dalton, Cin; Weeden, Cle; Luck, Ind; Gabbert, Jax; Tannehill, Mia; Ponder, Min; Wilson, Sea; Locker, Ten; Griffin III, Was |
|
23 |
1st-round Draft picks |
Ryan, Atl; Flacco, Bal; Newton, Car; Cutler, Chi; Weeden, Cle; P. Manning, Den; Stafford, Det; Rodgers, GB; Luck, Ind; Gabbert, Jax; Tannehill, Mia; Ponder, Min; E. Manning, NYG; Sanchez, NYJ; Palmer, Oak; Vick, Phi; Roethlisberger, Pit; Rivers, SD; Smith, SF; Bradford, StL; Freeman, TB; Locker, Ten; Griffin III, Was |
|
4 |
6th-Round Draft picks or later |
Fitzpatrick, Buf (Round 7); Romo, Dal (Undrafted); Cassel, KC (Round 7); Brady, NE (Round 6) |
|
9 |
No. 1 overall picks |
Newton, Car; P. Manning, Den; Stafford, Det; Luck, Ind; E. Manning, NYG; Palmer, Oak; Vick, Phi; Smith, SF; Bradford, StL |
|
5 |
Drafted No. 90 overall or later |
Skelton, Arz; Fitzpatrick, Buf; Schaub, Hou; Cassel, KC; Brady, NE |
|
21 |
Younger than 30 years old |
Skelton, Arz; Ryan, Atl; Flacco, Bal; Fitzpatrick, Buf; Newton, Car; Cutler, Chi; Dalton, Cin; Weeden, Cle; Stafford, Det; Rodgers, GB; Luck, Ind; Gabbert, Jax; Tannehill, Mia; Ponder, Min; Sanchez, NYJ; Smith, SF; Wilson, Sea; Bradford, StL; Freeman, TB; Locker, Ten; Griffin III, Was |
|
3 |
Who played at Southern California, most of any school |
Cassel, KC; Sanchez, NYJ; Palmer, Oak |
|
8 |
From Texas, most of any state |
Skelton, Arz; Dalton, Cin; Stafford, Det; Luck, Ind; Tannehill, Mia; Ponder, Min; Brees, NO; Griffin III, Was |
|
7 |
Played at current Pac-12 or SEC schools, tied for the most of any conference |
Pac-12: Rodgers, GB; Luck, Ind; Cassel, KC; Sanchez, NYJ; Palmer, Oak; Smith, SF; Locker, Ten SEC: Newton, Car; Cutler, Chi; P. Manning, Den; Stafford, Det; Gabbert, Jax; Tannehill, Mia; E. Manning, NYG |
Following is a listing of each team’s active quarterbacks on Kickoff Weekend:
(* Expected starter; ** 2012 NFL Draft choice; ~ Veteran new to team)
2012 NFL QUARTERBACKS
|
QUARTERBACK |
COLLEGE |
NFL EXPERIENCE |
|
|
ARIZONA |
|
||
|
Kevin Kolb |
Houston |
6 |
|
|
Ryan Lindley |
San Diego State |
R |
** |
|
John Skelton |
Fordham |
3 |
* |
|
|
|||
|
ATLANTA |
|
||
|
Dominique Davis |
East Carolina |
R |
|
|
Luke McCown |
Louisiana Tech |
9 |
~ |
|
Matt Ryan |
Boston College |
5 |
* |
|
|
|||
|
BALTIMORE |
|
||
|
Joe Flacco |
Delaware |
5 |
* |
|
Tyrod Taylor |
Virginia Tech |
2 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
BUFFALO |
|
||
|
Ryan Fitzpatrick |
Harvard |
7 |
* |
|
Tarvaris Jackson |
Alabama State |
7 |
~ |
|
Tyler Thigpen |
Coastal Carolina |
4 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
CAROLINA |
|
||
|
Derek Anderson |
Oregon State |
8 |
|
|
Jimmy Clausen |
Notre Dame |
3 |
|
|
Cam Newton |
Auburn |
2 |
* |
|
|
|||
|
CHICAGO |
|
||
|
Jason Campbell |
Auburn |
8 |
~ |
|
Jay Cutler |
Vanderbilt |
7 |
* |
|
|
|||
|
CINCINNATI |
|
||
|
Andy Dalton |
TCU |
2 |
* |
|
Bruce Gradkowski |
Toledo |
7 |
|
|
|
|||
|
CLEVELAND |
|
||
|
Thaddeus Lewis |
Duke |
2 |
|
|
Colt McCoy |
Texas |
3 |
|
|
Brandon Weeden |
Oklahoma State |
R |
* ** |
|
|
|||
|
DALLAS |
|
||
|
Kyle Orton |
Purdue |
8 |
~ |
|
Tony Romo |
Eastern Illinois |
10 |
* |
|
|
|||
|
DENVER |
|
||
|
Caleb Hanie |
Colorado State |
5 |
~ |
|
Peyton Manning |
Tennessee |
15 |
* ~ |
|
Brock Osweiler |
Arizona State |
R |
** |
|
|
|||
|
DETROIT |
|
||
|
Shaun Hill |
Maryland |
11 |
|
|
Kellen Moore |
Boise State |
R |
|
|
Matthew Stafford |
Georgia |
4 |
* |
|
|
|||
|
GREEN BAY |
|
||
|
Graham Harrell |
Texas Tech |
1 |
|
|
Aaron Rodgers |
California |
8 |
* |
|
|
|||
|
HOUSTON |
|
||
|
John Beck |
Brigham Young |
6 |
~ |
|
Matt Schaub |
Virginia |
9 |
* |
|
T.J. Yates |
North Carolina |
2 |
|
|
|
|||
|
INDIANAPOLIS |
|
||
|
Chandler Harnish |
Northern Illinois |
R |
** |
|
Andrew Luck |
Stanford |
R |
* ** |
|
Drew Stanton |
Michigan State |
5 |
~ |
|
|
|||
|
JACKSONVILLE |
|
||
|
Blaine Gabbert |
Missouri |
2 |
* |
|
Chad Henne |
Michigan |
4 |
~ |
|
|
|||
|
KANSAS CITY |
|
||
|
Matt Cassel |
Southern California |
8 |
* |
|
Brady Quinn |
Notre Dame |
6 |
~ |
|
Ricky Stanzi |
Iowa |
2 |
|
|
|
|||
|
MIAMI |
|
||
|
Pat Devlin |
Delaware |
2 |
|
|
David Garrard |
East Carolina |
9 |
~ |
|
Matt Moore |
Oregon State |
6 |
|
|
Ryan Tannehill |
Texas A&M |
R |
* ** |
|
|
|||
|
MINNESOTA |
|
||
|
McLeod Bethel-Thompson |
Sacramento State |
1 |
~ |
|
Christian Ponder |
Florida State |
2 |
* |
|
Joe Webb |
Alabama-Birmingham |
3 |
|
|
|
|||
|
NEW ENGLAND |
|
||
|
Tom Brady |
Michigan |
13 |
* |
|
Ryan Mallett |
Arkansas |
2 |
|
|
|
|||
|
NEW ORLEANS |
|
||
|
Drew Brees |
Purdue |
12 |
* |
|
Chase Daniel |
Missouri |
4 |
|
|
|
|||
|
NEW YORK GIANTS |
|
||
|
David Carr |
Fresno State |
11 |
|
|
Eli Manning |
Mississippi |
9 |
* |
|
|
|||
|
NEW YORK JETS |
|
||
|
Greg McElroy |
Alabama |
2 |
|
|
Mark Sanchez |
Southern California |
4 |
* |
|
Tim Tebow |
Florida |
3 |
~ |
|
|
|||
|
OAKLAND |
|
||
|
Matt Leinart |
Southern California |
7 |
~ |
|
Carson Palmer |
Southern California |
10 |
* |
|
Terrelle Pryor |
Ohio State |
2 |
|
|
|
|||
|
PHILADELPHIA |
|
||
|
Trent Edwards |
Stanford |
5 |
~ |
|
Nick Foles |
Arizona |
R |
** |
|
Michael Vick |
Virginia Tech |
11 |
* |
|
|
|||
|
PITTSBURGH |
|
||
|
Charlie Batch |
Eastern Michigan |
15 |
|
|
Byron Leftwich |
Marshall |
10 |
|
|
Ben Roethlisberger |
Miami (Ohio) |
9 |
* |
|
|
|||
|
ST. LOUIS |
|
||
|
Sam Bradford |
Oklahoma |
3 |
* |
|
Austin Davis |
Southern Mississippi |
R |
|
|
|
|||
|
SAN DIEGO |
|
||
|
Philip Rivers |
North Carolina State |
9 |
* |
|
Charlie Whitehurst |
Clemson |
7 |
~ |
|
|
|||
|
SAN FRANCISCO |
|
||
|
Colin Kaepernick |
Nevada |
2 |
|
|
Alex Smith |
Utah |
8 |
* |
|
Scott Tolzien |
Wisconsin |
2 |
|
|
|
|||
|
SEATTLE |
|
||
|
Matt Flynn |
Louisiana State |
5 |
~ |
|
Russell Wilson |
Wisconsin |
R |
* ** |
|
TAMPA BAY |
|
||
|
Josh Freeman |
Kansas State |
4 |
* |
|
Dan Orlovsky |
Connecticut |
7 |
~ |
|
|
|||
|
TENNESSEE |
|
||
|
Matt Hasselbeck |
Boston College |
14 |
|
|
Jake Locker |
Washington |
2 |
* |
|
Rusty Smith |
Florida Atlantic |
3 |
|
|
|
|||
|
WASHINGTON |
|
||
|
Kirk Cousins |
Michigan State |
R |
** |
|
Robert Griffin III |
Baylor |
R |
* ** |
|
Rex Grossman |
Florida |
10 |
|
