Did Andrew “LUCK” In To A Good Situation? Thoughts for Dallas Cowboys Fans.

As you all know, I usually cover the Dallas Cowboys. Well, I decided to stray from that a bit. Why, you ask? Because I wanted to point out a few things to the ignorant fans in the Cowboys Nation. I firmly believe that Andrew “LUCKED” in to a good situation.

Dec 16, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) throws a pass over Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel (99) during the second half at Cowboys Stadium. The Cowboys won 27-24 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

It never ceases to amaze me how fans are constantly blaming all of the Dallas Cowboys woes on QB Tony Romo. All I keep hearing is, “cut Romo”, “trade Romo”, and “most Super Bowls are won with a 1st round quarterback”. Yada yada yada. Some people mistakenly think that all it takes to win in the NFL is a quarterback drafted in the 1st round. Every year in the draft, the media has their poster boy. Yep, that one guy who every time you turn on the TV, you’re hearing his name as if he is the next coming of Roger Staubach, (who was drafted in the 10th round I might add), the Next Joe Montana, (3rd round) or even Tom Brady (6th round). What do all of these guys have in common? They all attended and won multiple Super Bowls. Before I continue, I want to include a little excerpt from an article I wrote prior to the 2012 draft titled:

Who Should The Future Be Behind Tony Romo At QB? (I also included the 2011 and 2012 QB’s Cam Newton and Andrew Luck).

Let’s start with 2003, the year the Dallas Cowboys acquired Tony Romo as an undrafted free agent. In the 2003 NFL Draft, four quarterbacks were selected in the 1st round. Carson Palmer was drafted 1st overall; in 106 career starts, he has completed 2,223 of 3,545 passes (62.7%) for 25,447 yards, 167 TD’s and 116 INT’s. Palmer’s career passer rating is 86.3. He has never won a Super Bowl. The 7th overall pick was Brian Leftwich. Between 3 different NFL teams, he has only 49 starts; he has completed 905 of 1,552 passes (58.3%) for 10,260 yards, 58 TD’s and 41 INT’s. Leftwich’s career passer rating is 79.7. He has never won the big one either. The 19th overall pick in the 2003 draft was Kyle Boller who is too irrelevant to bother detailing his statistics. Drafted 22nd overall was Rex Grossman, and we all know how that worked out. The point is, based on what happened in the 2003 NFL draft, the so called experts were 0-4 on the 1st round QB’s, especially if you compare those four QB’s to what Tony Romo has accomplished!

Let’s look at some later NFL drafts. For sake of time and space, I will only show the QB’s taken in the top 5 of the draft.

• 2004: Eli Manning 1st overall. In 119 career starts, he has completed 2,291 of 3,921 passes (58.4%) for 27,579 yards, 185 TD’s and 129 INT’s. Manning has a career passer rating of 82.1. He has 2 Super Bowl rings.
• 2005: 1st overall, Alex Smith. In only 66 starts through 7 NFL seasons, he has completed 1,137 of 1,959 passes (58%) for 12,543 yards, 68 TD’s and 58 INT’s. Smith’s career passer rating is 76.4. He has no Super Bowl rings. Smith was recently benched and replaced with the rookie Colin Kaepernick who has completed 104 of 159 passes (65.4%) for 1,324 yards, 7 TD’s, 2 interceptions, and a passer rating of 100.7.  Kaepernick was drafted in the 2nd round.
• 2006: 3rd overall Vince Young. In 50 starts, he has completed 755 of 1,354 passes (57.9%) for 46 TD’s, 51 INT’s, and a career passer rating of 74.4. He hasn’t won a Super Bowl.
• 2007: 1st overall, JaMarcus Russell. In a short 3 year career, he only started 25 games. He completed 354 of 680 passes (52.1%) for 4,083 yards, 18 TD’s, 23 INT’s. His career passer rating is 65.2, and he never came close to a Super Bowl.
• 2008: 3rd overall Matt Ryan. In 62 starts, he has completed 1,232 of 2,022 passes (60.9%) for 14,238 yards, 95 TD’s and 46 INT’s. His career passer rating is 88.4, and he doesn’t have a Super Bowl ring either.
• 2009: 1st overall Matthew Stafford. In 29 starts, he has completed 679 of 1,136 passes (59.8%) for 7,840 yards, 60 TD’s and 37 INT’s. His career passer rating is 84.7;  he hasn’t even sniffed a Super Bowl.
• 2010: 1st overall Sam Bradford. In 26 starts, he has completed 545 of 947 passes (57.6%) for 5,676 yards, 24 TD’s and 21 INT’s. His career passer rating is 74.2; he hasn’t come anywhere close to a Super Bowl.
• 2011: 1st overall Cam Newton. In 30 career starts, he has completed 556 of 940 passes (59.1%) for 7,502 yards, 39 TD’s and 27 interceptions. Newton’s career passer rating is 86.5; he has regressed in his 2nd season.

Let me see if I got this straight. Out of all these quarterbacks that were taken with top 5 picks in the NFL draft (many of them 1st) since Romo entered the league, only 1 of them has won a Super Bowl? Hmmm, gosh if that’s the case:

Why is everyone criticizing the only undrafted guy on the list?

Granted, the last few guys haven’t had much time to win a Super Bowl, but this does prove that drafting a top 5 QB will not instantly guarantee you a Super Bowl as many ignorant fans tend to think.