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Daily Madden: Why Rookie QBs Can Succeed Early

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - First year NFL quarterbacks like Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III are playing well as starters this season.

"Remember years ago when it used to take five or six years to get a quarterback ready to play in the NFL?" John Madden asked the KCBS morning crew. "How can they do it now? Because they're playing the same kind of football... If you go to a high school game or a college game, and in many cases a pro game, you're seeing the same game."

The former coach said the days of high school and college coaches relying just on a strong running game and a solid defense are over and the game is trending toward a pro-style at all levels.

"I never wanted to take a running back from Texas," Madden said, "because by the time they got to the NFL they were too beat up. They started playing tackle so young and football was so big in Texas that they wore out running backs."(6:30)

Listen to the John Madden segment live weekday mornings at 8:15 on KCBS All News 740 AM/106.9 FM. And catch John's extra report at 9:15 a.m. Mondays and Fridays during the NFL season.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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