The timing of when to start a young quarterback is a lot more complicated than people may think. It’s so easy to get caught up in the rookie campaigns of Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson and Robert Griffin III, who all reached the playoffs during their first season.

However, those three quarterbacks were exceptions to what usually occurs. It’s not uncommon to see quarterbacks start right away, but at the same time, most of these guys aren’t ready to lead an offense.

For example, look at Blaine Gabbert. The former Mizzou quarterback was selected as the number ten overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. During his first season in Jacksonville, Gabbert only completed 50 percent of his passes to go along with 12 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. The next two seasons weren’t any better, as he only threw 10 touchdowns to 13 interceptions.

Gabbert’s poor play forced Jacksonville to trade him for a sixth round draft pick. A major reason young quarterbacks like Gabbert fail is because they’re drafted to a team with little to no weapons, yet they’re expected to almost single-handedly change their respective franchise around.

Aaron Rodgers sat behind future hall of famer Brett Favre for three years, which turned out to be the best thing to ever happen to him. The four-time pro bowler has some interesting points on young quarterbacks:

“Some of these guys who are going to bad teams are expected to play well right away,” Rodger said. “It’s hard to do that.  I’ve seen a couple guys able to do it.  [Ben] Roethlisberger was able to do it.  He had a team kind of around him.  [Joe] Flacco had some success early but he had a team kind of in place.  You go to a place that has some pieces and you can have some success early.  But if you go to a team that doesn’t have the pieces . . . it can really mess with your confidence.

“When you see other quarterbacks who might have to play quickly like [Teddy] Bridgewater potentially in Minnesota and Johnny [Manziel] in Cleveland, who knows if their teams are ready enough to complement their skills?”

Nonetheless, there’s young quarterbacks out there waiting for their chance to shine:

Jimmy Garoppolo (Patriots) – The New England Patriots are heading back to the Super Bowl, with Tom Brady showing very little signs of slowing down.

It doesn’t appear likely that Brady will retire anytime soon, but if he were to retire, his heir apparent may already be on the sideline.

Garoppolo, 23-years-old, only appeared in three games during his rookie campaign. He completed 70 percent of his passes while throwing one touchdown and zero picks. Garoppolo also finished with a quarterback rating of 101.2.

While he obviously didn’t see much action, Garoppolo was still able to take something from the limited action he did receive.

“It was a good experience,” Garoppolo said. “Getting out there and actually getting some live reps will only help going forward. There’s plenty of room for improvement – there’s some good things, bad things, and things to learn from.”

Unlike Brady, Garoppolo is more than capable of making plays with his feet.

“If I have to do it, you have to do it,” Garoppolo said. “It’s one of those things, you never know on a play if you’re going to have to [run] or not, so you just have to be ready.

“It’s kind of instinct. It’s something that just kind of kicks in during the game. If you think about it, you’re going to get hit.”

Being the guy to follow in Brady’s footsteps is obviously a tall order, but Garoppolo just may be built to take on the responsibility.

Brock Osweiler (Broncos) – Just like Garoppolo, Osweiler is following in the footsteps of a future hall of famer. The only difference is Peyton Manning may be retiring at any moment.

Manning is expected to return next season, but all signs point to it being his last season. Broncos president John Elway believes in Osweiler moving forward.

“I do have confidence that Brock can step in,” Elway said. “You never know. This is a big game. It’s a tough game. And the one thing that Brock has been lacking in the last three years is the fact that he hasn’t gotten a lot of playing time. So I’m confident he can do it, but you know what? The bottom line is he’s going to answer that question when the light comes on.”

Osweiler has appeared in 13 games during his first three seasons. He was selected in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft out of Arizona State.

Ryan Nassib (Giants) – Ryan Nassib was selected in the 4th round of the 2013 NFL Draft. The 24-year old has only thrown five passes in his young professional career.

Eli Manning, 34, becomes a free agent next year and its unclear whether or not the Giants will move forward with him under center. One thing that’s for sure is Nassib has a lot of respect for Eli.

“He’s a tough cat,” Nassib said. “He’s been like that his whole career. Does a good job taking care of his body and stuff like that. There’s no doubt that he’ll be ready to go. Whether he’s full strength or whatever, his mental preparation for the game is going to be full strength. When you prepare like he does, if you are a little bit behind the eight ball physically, you’ll be able to compensate.”

Nassib went to Syracuse, where he broke his fair share of records. He left Syracuse leading the program in all-time passing yards (9,190) and pass completions (791) He also became the fourth Big East quarterback to pass for more than 9,000 yards.

Johnny Manziel (Browns) – Heard of this guy before?

Well, unlike these other young quarterbacks, Manziel has already received his opportunity to start but it didn’t go over too well. In his five appearances, the rookie didn’t throw one touchdown and threw two interceptions.

But wait, it gets worse. Manziel’s quarterback rating was a dismal 42.o.

However, with Brian Hoyer unlikely to return, Manziel might get another shot to prove himself next season.

“I want to be the guy,” Manziel said. “That’s what I want to do and that’s what I want to be for this organization, so for me, if anything, this has motivated me more to head into this offseason.”

We’ll see.