Q: What makes a good (NFL) quarterback?

Billick: You can see certain traits, the size, speed, strength and vision and say he's going to make it. But you've seen the same attributes and seen him not make it. There is a reason why Bill Walsh never took a first-round quarterback. If you're going to crap shoot, don't do it in the first round. No matter how good you are and what your track record is, if it's a crap shoot, you don't want to throw that dice on the fifth, 10th, 15th or 25th pick. You'll do it with 40, 50, fifth round and sixth round. No matter how good of an evaluator you are, everybody had Ryan Leaf at second, third or fourth on their board. I promise you. The debate between Ryan Leaf and Peyton Manning was close. In hindsight, you
go around and check with everybody's draft board. They'll tell you afterward where they had (Matt) Leinart, (Jay) Cutler and Vince Young. Vince Young seems to be the most debatable and interesting topic right now. There are some that they'll have him as high as five and some will have him as low as 15 or 20. After the fact, if Vince Young makes it, then you'll hear, “I know he would.� If he doesn't make it, you'll hear, “That's why we had him rated that low.� When I was doing that book with Bill Walsh, I kept pressing him on how you know when a guy is good and when he isn't. When's that dividing line? I kept pushing and he said, “You just know. You've been there enough and sense that he's
either going to get it or he's not going to get it.� Bill (Walsh) was one that kind of thought that 30 to 32-game marker. If he doesn't get me hope by then, I'll cut my losses and move on. It's not a very exact science.