Mark Craig's Sunday Insider: QBs: the lightning round

There's only 16 inches of type in this column, and multiple quarterback issues to solve, so let's get cracking ...

In St. Louis, coach Steve Spagnuolo has revealed the worst-kept secret in the league: No. 1 overall Sam Bradford will start against Arizona in the season opener next Sunday.

Go ahead and debate whether it's better to sit or start a rookie franchise quarterback if you want. To me, starting Bradford was a no-brainer, even before A.J. Feeley sprained his right thumb. Bradford is good, and he won't get any better wearing a baseball cap.

One can't live in fear of injuries. And if losing games breaks a quarterback's psyche, then he wasn't the right guy for the job anyway.

If you still disagree, then listen to someone who knows a tad more about the subject, Troy Aikman. Long before he became a Hall of Famer, Aikman went 0-11 as a rookie No. 1 overall pick in Dallas in 1989.

"I always considered that rookie season a blessing," Aikman said on a conference call with FOX this week.

On the same conference call, Jimmy Johnson, Aikman's coach at the time, said the decision "made our team better because they all came together to where we had a chance to make the playoffs the next year if Troy had stayed healthy. Then we did make the playoffs [in 1991], and won the Super Bowl [in the 1992 season]."

In Pittsburgh, the Steelers open at home against Atlanta without Byron Leftwich (knee) and Ben Roethlisberger (stupidity). Coach Mike Tomlin is turning to Dennis Dixon. Am I the only one who thinks the Steelers would be better off going with 13-year veteran Charlie Batch? Batch is calmer. Dixon got all jumpy and nervous when it started to look as if he had a chance to beat out Leftwich.

In Arizona, the Cardinals won't miss Matt Leinart as a starter. Whiny quarterbacks who think the world owes them because of what they did in college five years ago tend not to be the best leaders of football teams.

In New York, the Giants solved their backup quarterback problem by robbing the Vikings of their second-best quarterback and best punt returner.

In Buffalo, the rubber-stamping of Trent Edwards gives Chan Gailey 16 games to regret not drafting a QB.

In Carolina, the Panthers will go with Matt Moore over rookie Jimmy Clausen. But for how long? The offense didn't score a touchdown in the preseason. Clausen is the long-term answer, but coach John Fox might want a contract extension before he pulls that trigger.