There's a little rumor running around the NFL that the eighth pick in the 2014 NFL Draft is still unsigned. The Cleveland Browns selected Oklahoma St. cornerback Justin Gilbert with that eighth pick. It's a stretch to call this impasse a holdout since training camps are still a few weeks away. The situation is a very minor story because no one is really that interested. No one is interested because the Browns selected Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel fourteen picks after they selected Gilbert. It's all about the quarterback. It's a real shame that Manziel's off-the-field heroics get more attention than his ability to grasp the Browns' offense. Unfortunately, that will always be the case. Even if Manziel was a lonely monk he'd still get more attention than a cornerback taken with a top-ten pick. It's all about the quarterback. In this case, everything is about that quarterback. In general, a top-10 pick will take a backseat to a quarterback taken dozens of picks later.
It's happening in Minnesota. The Vikings selected UCLA linebacker Anthony Barr with the ninth pick in the draft. You wouldn't know it because the Vikings selected Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater with the last pick in the first round. The attention swirling around Bridgewater since the draft makes Barr look like an undrafted free agent fighting for a spot on the 53-man roster. It's all about the quarterback. The quarterback position in Minnesota was a mess last year. It's basically been a mess since Fran Tarkenton retired in 1978 but that's another story. The quarterback mess last year was only a part of the reason for the Vikings' 5-10-1 season. The defense was a disaster. Teddy Bridgewater may win the Vikings starting quarterback job this season but he wasn't drafted to do so. Matt Cassel was re-signed to start this season. Anthony Barr was drafted with the ninth pick to help turn around the defensive disaster of last season. He was drafted to start this season. He was drafted to make an impact this season. Barr is getting about as much post-draft attention as fifth-round guard David Yankey. It's all about the quarterback.
Today's NFL is a passing league. The dependence on the pass has bumped up the importance of the passer. But, it's really nothing new. It's been all about the quarterback for a long time. Paul Brown's Browns 10-year dominance from 1946-55 ended when Otto Graham retired. Weeb Ewbank turned the Baltimore Colts around with Johnny Unitas. Ten years later he turned around the New York Jets with Joe Namath. Vince Lombardi probably needed Bart Starr as much as Starr needed Lombardi. Championships can be won in so many ways. But, championships can't be won without a competent football player under center. No coach can hide an incompetent player that handles the ball and makes impact decisions on every offensive snap. It's still a team game. It takes the other ten players doing their job so that the all-important eleventh player can do his. In the near future, perhaps even this year, that fifth-round guard Yankey will make a block that allows Bridgewater to make a play. Bridgewater will get all of the attention when Yankey made it all possible. It's all about the quarterback. Justin Gilbert will pair with Joe Haden to form one of the top young corner tandems in the entire league. That will be difference-making in Cleveland. Anthony Barr could make a Von Miller-like impact on the Vikings defense. That's newsworthy. An incomplete training camp pass thrown by either Johnny Manziel or Teddy Bridgewater will get way more print and talk than anything Gilbert or Barr do. It's not fair but it's all about the quarterback.
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