Sitting is the Best Way to Learn

Mark my words: The Green Bay Packers will be fine this season with their new quarterback Aaron Rodgers at the helm.

And they'll win more games than the New York Jets, now led by their former star QB Brett Favre.

Many wonder if Rodgers, who has never started an NFL game since being drafted in the first-round in 2005, will be ready for the job.

For the doubters, remember two words:

Tony Romo.

Romo was an undrafted free agent out of Eastern Illinois in 2003. After sitting on the bench and holding the clipboard for the Dallas Cowboys for more than three seasons, he finally got a chance to start when he replaced an ineffective Drew Bledsoe midway through the 2006 season.

And the rest is history.

The same can also be said for Steve McNair. The former Houston Oilers / Tennessee Oilers / Tennessee Titans QB spent his first two seasons on the bench, then became an All-Pro QB and led his team to the Superbowl.

Unlike players of other positions, QBs aren't expected to have any impact immediately. The best way to nurture them is to let them sit on the bench, and learn by watching how the incumbents play. If you throw them into the fire immediately, the result can be very disappointing, and so many once-promising careers have been ruined because of it.

Before the 2005 Draft, scouts were debating whether Rodgers or Alex Smith should be drafted first overall by the San Francisco 49ers. While Smith went to the 49ers as the top pick, Rodgers slipped all the way down to 24th, and snapped up by the Packers as the heir apparent for Favre.

While Smith started immediately for the 49ers, his play has been so erratic and disappointing that many have already labeled him as a bust. As for Rodgers, thanks to the "Learning through sitting" approach adopted by the Packers, scouts still have very high hopes on him as he did flash the occasional brilliance during his short stints while replacing Favre last season.

Some may say the Packers have betrayed Favre by trading him to the Jets. But with such a promising QB ready to take over the reins, you can't argue that they have made a bone-headed move.