I know teams in the NFL have been staring high end draft pick QB's for years prior to 2008 but most of the time, it did not lead to a successful season or career.And many times, it was always thought to have lead to the demise of many promising QB's. Sure, some of them come out unscathed such as Peyton Manning, Dan Marino and probably a few other exceptions that I can't think of at the moment.

But the practice of starting a rookie QB always seemed taboo.

Then Flacco and Ryan hit the scene in 2008 and were both playing in the playoffs in their rookie seasons. I know Flacco had the strength of a solid defense but we missed the playoffs many years with strong defenses and QB's with way more experience than Flacco.

Ryan on the other hand had a bit more work ahead of him as the Falcons were in complete turmoil when he walked onto the field. There was talent there, they just didn't show it. Ryan played well and motivated that team as a rookie. That was huge.

But at the end of the day, both of these 1st round rookie QB's were playing in the playoffs. Something that no one had witnessed in a very long time.

From that point forward it seems that a rookie QB starting in this league is becoming the norm. And not only that, they are having a lot of success as well.

Here is a list of QB's since 2008 that have had success in the league since the day they were drafted. Also, I'm not counting playoffs as the only measure of success. And yes, I know there were other rookie QB's that have been given the start (especially this year). I'm just measuring the ones that have had some sort of success whether it be numbers or wins.

-2008 [Joe Flacco] (playoffs 5 straight years) [Matt Ryan] (playoffs 4 out of 5 years)

-2009: [Matt Stafford] (1 playoff appearance) [Mark Sanchez] (He did go to the AFC Championship game twice) [Josh Freeman] (no playoffs but has decent numbers as a starter)

-2010 [Sam Bradford] (book is still out but he is getting better and he's been staring since he came into the league)

-2011 [Andy Dalton] (playoffs twice now) [Cam Newton] (no playoffs and while this season hasn't been great, the sky is the limit for Cam. Had a monster rookie year.)

-2012 [Andrew Luck] (playoffs locked) [RGIII] (playoffs locked) [Russel Wilson] (playoffs locked)

And this year you have three rookie QB's that could make the playoffs on Sunday. 3 rookie QB's that DID make the playoffs

Now, it's also seems that it's coincidental that the game has been readjusted by current rules and regulations that favor the offensive side of the ball by A TON.

So what do you think it is? Is the success due to better coaching and game planning at the college level? Or do you think that the offensive minded rules of todays NFL are helping these young QB's have more success early on in their careers?

Or could it just be that not enough teams gave their rookie QB's a shot just because it wasn't part of the current mindset in the NFL at that time?

I had to take Tebow off the list. I realized that his playoff run was last season and he was drafted in 2010. Much of his first season in the league was spent on the bench. So technically he wasn't a rookie when he made his playoff run.