Every now and then a special player becomes an exception to the rule that all young NFL quarterbacks are destined to become bewildered, befuddled and beaten until they aren't so young anymore.
The best example came in 2004 when Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger became the first rookie quarterback to start his career 13-0. The next example hasn't quite surfaced.
We know it isn't, wasn't and won't be Tarvaris Jackson, a struggling second-round pick of the Vikings in 2006. But two men with ties to the Vikings say they believe they know the identity of the next young QB who will defy the odds.
"Trent Edwards in Buffalo," said former Vikings quarterback and 2002 NFL MVP Rich Gannon, referring to the Bills' rookie third-round draft pick. "I was very impressed by him. I watched film of his first start, and I wrote in my notes that it was the best debut start by a rookie that I've ever seen."
On Sept. 30, Edwards completed 22 of 28 passes (78.6 percent) for 234 yards and one touchdown with one interception as the Bills beat the visiting Jets 17-14. It was Edwards' second NFL game and first start, ending a league-wide streak of 12 consecutive losses by rookie quarterbacks making their first starts.
"And the interception wasn't even his fault," Gannon said. "It was the receiver's fault."
Gannon is a game analyst for CBS television. He was in Buffalo last week for the Bills' game against the Ravens. The Ravens were favored. And the Bills were coming off a short week, having blown a lead in a 25-24 loss to the Cowboys the previous Monday. Edwards' record as a starter fell to 1-1 heading into the Baltimore game.
"They came out against Baltimore and ran no-huddle the whole game," Gannon said. "That's not easy for a rookie to do. Trent is directing traffic at the line of scrimmage, he's getting the Bills out of bad plays and into good plays. I'm not trying to make him out as the next Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, but he's much further along than any other rookie."
The Bills beat the Ravens 19-14, prompting Bills coach Dick Jauron to name Edwards the starter this week even though veteran J.P. Losman is healthy again. Edwards is completing 70 percent of his passes with one touchdown and three interceptions as a starter.
Gannon said he wasn't surprised by Jauron's decision. And neither was former Vikings running back Darrin Nelson.
Nelson is an associate athletic director at Stanford. Edwards spent four painful losing seasons at Stanford. He was sacked 84 times in 35 games, never played on a team with a winning record and completed only one full season healthy.
"Our only problem was we couldn't protect Trent," Nelson said. "If we could have protected Trent, he'd have broken school records and Pac-10 records. He was a fabulous quarterback who's big (6-3, 231), smart and can make every throw possible."
Edwards was the sixth quarterback drafted, but so far is the only rookie quarterback to start a game this season.
"What he's doing isn't easy," said Gannon, who played 18 NFL seasons. "I was sitting with [Ravens quarterback] Kyle Boller on Saturday night. He said to me, 'I had no business even playing my rookie year [2003].' And he's right. I look back at the first couple years of my career and I think to myself, if only I knew what I knew at the end of my career at the start of my career, I'd be in the Hall of Fame."
Mark Craig • mcraig@startribune.com
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