I gave some stats a couple days ago, and got some really good responses. It seems like the idea of picking a franchise quarterback, based on his college performance, is not as cut and dry as some may think. For the most part, everyone was in agreement that Quarterback D was the best choice. Here is the table again, with the quarterback's name included this time:
| Starts | Comp | Att | Comp. Pct | Yds | YPA | TD | INT | Rating | |
| Quinn | 46 | 929 | 1602 | 58.0% | 11762 | 7.34 | 95 | 39 | 90.62 |
| Cutler | 45 | 710 | 1242 | 57.2% | 8697 | 7.00 | 59 | 36 | 82.66 |
| Manning | 42 | 851 | 1354 | 62.9% | 11201 | 8.27 | 90 | 33 | 100.93 |
| Leinart | 39 | 807 | 1245 | 64.8% | 10693 | 8.59 | 99 | 23 | 110.69 |
| Ryan | 32 | 806 | 1346 | 59.9% | 9310 | 6.92 | 56 | 37 | 83.22 |
| Young | 32 | 444 | 718 | 61.8% | 6040 | 8.41 | 44 | 28 | 92.84 |
| Russell | 30 | 493 | 707 | 69.7% | 6625 | 9.37 | 52 | 21 | 111.38 |
So everyone wants Matt Leinart, eh? He, no doubt, had a great college career, going 37-2 as a starter at USC. I painfully sat through two of those wins, one as a senior, and the "Bush Push" game. However, the jury is still out on Leinart as a pro. If I had to make a decision right now, I'd say he was not a franchise quarterback in the NFL. He has made some really dumb decisions outside of football, which means he'll probably make some really dumb decisions on the football field. He doesn't seem to have the work ethic needed to succeed in the NFL, but only time will tell.
As PB noted in the comments in the original article, Vince Young also had his rushing numbers from college, that really helped his stats. I'd have to say he was drafted in the Top 3 because of his ability to run the ball, as his passing stats are below the others. He also made a great point about Matt Ryan:
Anyway, Matt Ryan’s got a LOT of pressure on him.
I think Ryan is the worst of the bunch, yet he'll have the most money of any of them up front. Personally, his high number of interceptions will be very problematic. He made a lot of plays at the end of games, which made the highlights, but also made a lot of dumb decisions, like all the interceptions. It seems fishy when the best thing about him is "his intangibles are off the charts." It is screaming "his measurable stats aren't good, but he is the best quarterback, so we need something to be good about him. Immeasurable 'Intangibles'".
Peyton also did quite well for himself in his 4 years at Tennessee. He seems like a pretty good franchise quarterback.