The Kids are All Right

Lose the training wheels, NFL-bound college juniors and seniors. For better or worse, your rookie year performance is going to count for much more than ever before.  The NFL rookie is a different breed these days. They're not here to fit in—they're Huns, Visigoths, ruthless barbarians out for noble NFL blood. Illiteracy in the NFL language, or the playbook, is quickly dissipating. They're more prepared than ever before and coming for a city near you. Need a preview? Go watch some 2011 Carolina Panthers game tape. Cam Newton wasn't supposed to be that good. His athletic prowess may have helped him become the most elusive big cat in the college football kingdom, but a fair deal of analysts and draft experts wondered if he would ever post similarly elite statistics in the NFL. A year later, ESPN analyst Herm Edwards, who I should note is always one for the histrionics, called Cam "a whole different sort of cat, just like, 'Really?! Really?!'" Truer words were never said. Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/01/14/2928321/cam-newton-best-nfl-rookie-ever.html#storylink=cpy 4,000+ passing yards and 35 total touchdowns from a rookie will leave you searching for an answer. The most common one—this was the greatest rookie season ever. But is that the only answer? The 2012 draft class came barreling for the gates with the legendary hype of five rookies starting at QB in week one. Some labeled it the Cam Newton effect, but others have noted it as the revolutionary mark of a change in rookie maturity and preparedness that could become the norm in the coming waves of rookie classes looking to sack NFL cities. Just nine weeks in, this rookie group has not one, but two solidified superstars—Robert Griffin III and Andrew Luck (but don't forget Tampa Bay's RB Doug Martin, either). Hazing these guys might get you cut. Both signal callers have branded their names in the NFL database already with rookie single-game records for their performances with the big boys on Sundays. RGIII joined fellow rookie RB Alfred Morris as the only rookie duo in league history to score 4 rushing touchdowns each in their first four games. Just last week, Andrew Luck passed Newton for the rookie passing yards record by tossing for 433 yards in the Colts emotional win over Miami as cancer-stricken coach Jim Pagano watched on. Griffin has supporters lunging for his bandwagon after defeating the Saints and Vikings with an arsenal of offensive weapons no QB should have accessibility to. Luck has looked as brilliant on the field as he is off of it, disecting defenses like a CSI en route to a 5-3 record that includes a win at Lambeau Field over the Packers These guys are hungry for something. Maybe it's the millions deducted from their rookie contracts they will never see with the league's collective bargaining agreement keeping franchises from tossing millions at the next JaMarcus Russell. It could just be that their schooling has more appropriately positioned them for the fast pace race in the pros. Many collegiate programs have tossed out their old playbooks to implement spread and no-huddle offenses better suited for attracting premier passers who envision themselves playing on Sundays. The gap between the college game and the pros has arguably never been closer. As Gil Brandt, the former Cowboys personnel executive who continues to scout college players for the N.F.L. told The New York Times, “the quarterbacks that come out today are so much farther advanced than ever before simply because of the fact that everybody is throwing the ball so much more than ever before,” Brandt said. “People are just passing, passing, passing, passing. They’ve done all of this at the college level, to a lesser extent. They’re being helped by what they see on defense in college.” Cam Newton's "sophomore slump" may make some weary of calling these young guns stars already, but his learning curve is hard to gauge when you factor in the massive absence of talent that surrounds him each week. RGIII has capable forces to take battle with, but you could see how Luck could face similar issues in year two if the Colts can't do the same for him. As we have seen with Newton, the team can only squeeze so much out of one player, even if he is the QB. Peyton Manning thrived in Indy with similarly unknown receivers to toss to, but he did have a defense he could rely on to give him as many chances to affect the game as possible.  There's a new trend in the NFL and it's not the pink flags or throwback uniforms we see on the field. The rookies haven't just gone to class, they've been out building resume experience applicable to their new jobs. And they're coming to take yours.