Chicago Bears general manager Phil Emery has insisted that the club will not look to bring in a late-round quarterback in the 2014 Draft, which begins on Thursday.
Emery said that although the Bears are short of options, with Jordan Palmer the second choice behind the injury-prone Jay Cutler, he was not convinced that many players will be able to step up from late picks to become starting QBs.
"I just did a little study," Emery told ESPN. "It's very interesting. That developmental theory doesn't hold a whole lot of water.
"There's entire classes of quarterbacks, since 2006, I went back and looked at from Jay's on - when people say developmental quarterbacks, OK, so who has gotten developed? There isn't a single quarterback after the third round since 2006 that has been a long-term starter.
"So you're either developing thirds, and most of them have been wiped out of the league. So to get a quality quarterback, you've got to draft them high. That 2012 class is a blip on the radar that's unusual, highly unusual."
The Bears finished second in the NFC North with an 8–8 record last season.
Matt Domm
