ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 18, 1997 TAG: 9701200120
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MOBILE, ALA.
SOURCE: Associated Press
Washington Redskins coach Norv Turner was asked which of the four quarterbacks practicing for today's Senior Bowl would be ready to step in and play for an NFL team next year.
``None of them,'' he said.
Turner insisted he was just being realistic, not rude. And he's not getting a lot of argument from Virginia Tech's Jim Druckenmiller, Cal's Pat Barnes, Louisiana Tech's Jason Martin or Arizona State's Jake Plummer.
All four quarterbacks stayed in college as seniors, hoping an extra season would better prepare them for the next level. Still, they know that if they go high in the draft, there's a good chance they'll be asked to perform right away - and that it might not be pretty.
``That's not the way anyone wants it,'' said Druckenmiller, who threw for 2,071 yards and 17 touchdowns in leading the Hokies to the Orange Bowl. ``Nobody wants to go to the pros knowing he's going to look bad. But you'd rather have the chance than not.''
With the days of the salary cap and free agency firmly in place, the practice of grooming a high-profile, high-salary quarterback for a few seasons on the sidelines are all but over.
It gives coaches who need a new quarterback two choices. The safe one is to sign an experienced free agent. More risky is to look to the draft and plan on playing a rookie, knowing the whole team will take some lumps while he develops.
Kansas City coach Marty Schottenheimer, who will lead the South squad, said in all his years of coaching, he's only seen one quarterback who was able to produce a prolific first season in the NFL.
``That was Dan Marino,'' Schottenheimer said. ``He had talent, the ability to adjust and a great group of people around him. But he was an exception.''
On paper, Druckenmiller would seem to have the best chance of making a quick impact in the NFL. He's 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds. He loves to lift weights and has the kind of arm that makes pro scouts drool. But you can't discount Plummer, who has started for the Sun Devils since his freshman year and has a knack for the big play.
If anyone knows about the unpredictability of young quarterbacks, it would be Turner, who will lead the North team.
Everyone thought Heath Shuler would turn the Redskins around after being picked third in the 1994 draft. He sat on the bench this season after Gus Frerotte, the 197th choice in the same draft, won the starting job in the preseason.
``You either have the instinct to do it or you don't,'' said Martin of Louisiana Tech, probably a mid-round pick like Frerotte. ``But it's not something that should scare you. Dan Marino did it. It's just a matter of getting in somewhere and understanding.''
And adapting.
Schottenheimer said even a week of practice with the best players in college isn't enough to prepare this week's quarterbacks for the changes they'll see in the NFL.
``The entire game is played much faster,'' he said. ``It's evident in the coverages. The secondary is much closer to the receivers.
``Then there's an experience factor. It's difficult to give a young guy a better understanding of what he'll see in the NFL unless you put him in the game. But you've got to be ready for him to suffer through it.''
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Former Virginia Tech quarterback Jim Druckenmillerby CNBcatches the ball over a leaping Buddy Leggett of Denver, Colo.,
during practice Friday for today's Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala.