(WGR 550) -- Three football-related things are screaming at me this Sunday evening, and only one doesn't involve the precarious immediate future of the Buffalo Bills.

They are as follows:

One - I wish they'd get rid of field goals in football so the better team can win. Yes, field goal kickers are part of the team, but the Chargers were a better team than the Jets. We'd have San Diego vs. Indy next weekend, we could get rid of two Pats titles and Super Bowl XXV would be ours (16-14).

Two - Coordinators as first-time head coaches aren't anything to be scared of if you make the right pick. Rex Ryan, Sean Payton, Brad Childress and Jim Caldwell are all doing just fine, and only Payton was a super-hyped hire.

Three - and most important - The long-held fear of the first-round rookie quarterback is all-but-over.

Obviously, I'm here to focus on point No. 3. It simply cannot be an anomaly anymore, as it seemed when Ben Roethlisberger found immediate success with the Steelers. Now, Mark Sanchez joins Joe Flacco as rookie signal callers to lead -- and lead may be an arbitrary term -- their teams to conference title games in their freshman campaign.

The names go on-and-on, and though we here in Buffalo have been stung by a first-round flop quarterback in J.P. Losman and two in-over-their-heads coordinators in Gregg Williams and Mike Mularkey, we ought to take a gander at the much-improved success rate of rookie passers (even if they aren't asked to pass that much).

Think about it: as much as we mock the over-analytical talk of "football guys," there's a modern science to diagnosing football players. It's much harder to fail, which is why the Bills should be given an award for their stumblings in April.

If you believe in Buddy Nix at all, then you should be willing to ride a rookie quarterback if he believes that's the call for the franchise in 2010.

Let's take a look at all the first-round throwers since 2004:

2004:
Eli Manning
Philip Rivers
Ben Roethlisberger
J.P. Losman

2005:
Alex Smith
Aaron Rodgers
Jason Campbell

2006:
Vince Young
Matt Leinart
Jay Cutler

2007:
Jamarcus Russell
Brady Quinn

2008:
Matt Ryan
Joe Flacco

2009:
Matt Stafford
Mark Sanchez
Josh Freeman

EDIT NOTE: Campbell is about to be ridden out of Washington despite never throwing more picks than scores in a year, and posting a 55:38 TD:INT radio in his four years. He'd be half-canonized in Buffalo for that, and he, too, had to deal with Derrick Dockery, maybe even twice (Too tired to look it up. Maybe in the morning).

So, what am I trying to prove by including all those names? Well, for one thing, at least half of those guys could be announced as starting quarterback for the 2010 Bills and you'd at least smile if not leap out of your seat with joy.

But the more important point involves just four names: Ryan, Flacco, Stafford and Sanchez. Only three of those guys were just given the keys during Year One. Sure, they went through NFL veteran b-s and had to "compete" for the gig, but I'm not sure they were under any illusions. Their coaches beefed up the defense, simplified the jargon and got their guys ready to go and -- even in Stafford's case -- they pretty much went (Remember that Stafford continued to suit up on Sundays despite being injured on a pitiful offense).

If you sit down and think about it, I don't think even the most negative Bills fan thinks the personnel is that far away from being halfway decent. Sure, they don't have depth, but think of the guys they are getting back in the fold: an actual right tackle in Brad Butler, healthy Terrence McGee and Leodis McKelvin and a Jairus Byrd who said he couldn't sprint or jump without enormous pain (and still had a boatload of picks).

No, if Nix believes that any of the quarterbacks on the board at No. 9, whether it be Sam Bradford, Jimmy Claussen, Tim Tebow or some other presumed-stud, can be a star quarterback in the National Football League, he should not be afraid to take him, provided he march him out there as assumed No. 1 from that day until Week One, regardless of how camp or the preseason looks (I shouldn't say regardless. If the Bills pick Claussen and he decides throwing with the opposite hand while on acid is the play for an NFL quarterback, that's a mistake).

To recap, some simple logic

- IF you believe in a quarterback prospect

- AND you do all the background research

- AND you select him with your first-round draft pick

- AND you don't pretend any McCowns or Fitzpatricks could take his job unless he shows up to camp in a clown outfit and hockey skates.

- THEN you'll likely be okay.

Now, what if none of these guys want to come here? That's another column for a much more depressing time. It's Monday, look up!

Email: nick@wgr550.com