Rookie quarterbacks had a rough start to their careers in 2017

In 2017, six rookie quarterbacks started at least one game in the NFL. Most of them had a rather rough season to start off their NFL careers. Each guy is in a different situation and that plays a part in whether they fail or succeed.

Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears

Trubisky was the second overall pick in the draft after the Bears moved up one spot to take him. After the first four games of Mike Glennon playing like he was mistakenly paid $45 million, the Bears moved on to the future of their franchise. Trubisky didn't play great but he wasn't necessarily bad either. In the 12 games he started, he completed 59.4% of his passes with 2,193 yards, 7 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. He didn't have much help from his receiving corps where his best wideout was Kendall Wright. His tight end, Zach Miller, also went down with a season-ending injury just 4 games into their time on the field together. Overall, Trubisky seems like he is going to be a solid starter in the league that the Bears can win with as long as the right pieces are around him.

Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

Mahomes was taken 10th overall, where the Buffalo Bills were originally supposed to pick. A trade with the Bills allowed the Chiefs to move up and draft their guy for the future. Mahomes undoubtedly had the best pure arm talent in that draft and he showed flashes in the preseason and in his one regular season start. In that start he completed just under 63% of his passes for 284 yards and an interception. Now that the Chiefs former starter, Alex Smith, has been traded to the Washington Redskins the job is Mahomes for years to come.

Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans

Watson was the most impressive of the rookie quarterbacks before his season was unfortunately cut short by a torn ACL. He was taken 12th overall after the Cleveland Browns traded out of the spot for the Texans to move up and take their guy. In the seven games Watson played for the Texans, he completed just under 62% of his passes for 1,699 yards, 19 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. Watson was in consideration for Offensive Rookie of the Year despite playing just half of the season. Hopefully Watson can make a quick and full recovery to start training camp as the starter heading into 2018.

DeShone Kizer, Cleveland Browns

Playing for the Browns with the expectation to win is a hard-fought challenge. Their roster is extremely young and inexperienced at the NFL level. Kizer is one of those guys who fit that mold and it showed in 2017. Kizer was thrown into the fire the first week of the season and it was all downhill from there. He completed just 53.6% of his passes for 2,894 yards, 11 touchdowns and 22 interceptions. Kizer was the second-leading rusher on his team with 417 yards and his leading running back only had 853 yards on the season. He also lead his team in rushing touchdowns with 5. His leading receiver was Duke Johnson who had 74 catches on the year. Seth DeValve was the second leading receiver with 33 receptions. Kizer was thrown under the bus from the beginning and he wasn't ready to be a starter in the NFL. There is a good chance that Kizer will be taking a back seat to a rookie quarterback. The Browns hold the first and fourth overall picks in the 2018 NFL Draft.

C.J. Beathard: San Francisco 49ers

Beathard appeared in six games for the 49ers. Following the 49ers trade with the New England Patriots, Bethard bridged the gap to give Jimmy Garoppolo some time to learn the offense before he took snaps for the team. Beathard completed just under 55% of his passes for 1,430 yards, 4 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. With Garoppolo signing a 5-year extension, Beathard may be able to develop into a solid backup quarterback in the NFL.

Nathan Peterman, Buffalo Bills

Peterman got the call in Week 11 after showing some promise towards the end of the week 10 blowout loss to the New Orleans Saints. In the first half of his first career start against the Los Angeles Chargers, Peterman managed to throw 5 interceptions and was pulled in the middle of the game. The expectations for him were far too high. Fans wanted to see a diamond in the rough when in reality he may not even turn into a reliable backup. Because of an injury to Tyrod Taylor, Peterman was forced to start in a blizzard against the Indianapolis Colts. He threw the ball just 10 times, completing 5 of them for 57 yards and a touchdown. Ideally he can turn into a reliable backup.