In Pittsburgh, rookie QB Ben Roethlisberger has already been having a phenomenal year. Drafted in the first round after Manning and San Diego’s Phillip Rivers, Roethlisberger has a perfect 7-0 start. Rivers isn’t likely to see the field anytime soon, as QB Drew Brees has performed admirably this year. But to other rookie quarterbacks — Dallas’ Drew Henson and Buffalo’s J.P. Losman — could see the starting lineup sometime later this month as playoff hopes for both clubs have all but faded away.

There has long been a debate as to when the time is right to play a rookie quarterback. For Rivers, the time still is not right. His team is in a playoff race with another quarterback, and switching signal callers at this point would send the wrong message to the team and to the fans. But for Manning, Henson, and Losman, the time is now.

The Giants are an overachieving team. No one predicted they would start off 5-4, let alone win four of their first five games, and with Warner struggling it’s the perfect time to insert Manning. If he struggles, no worries because Warner was already guiding the team in the wrong direction and at least Manning will have gained some experience to carry into next season. If Manning succeeds, then he will save this season while preparing to become the quarterback of the future in the Big Apple.

In the cases of Henson and Losman, the present is already the past, if that makes sense. The 2004 season is lost, and with aging players at quarterback for both teams (Vinny Testaverde for Dallas and Drew Bledsoe for Buffalo), it’s a no-brainer that the teams will need to revamp the position sometime in the near future. What is in question is whether Henson will be that player for Dallas, and Losman that player for Buffalo. The sooner those teams answer that important question, the better.

Watching all of these rookies play will be a lot of fun the rest of the way this season; almost like watching a handful of Brett Favre-like quarterbacks on the field each week. Rookies take too many chances, often make foolish mistakes, but play with an enthusiasm that has yet to be curbed. It’s part of a growing process. In the case of Manning, there might not be much of a growing process — there’s wasn’t one for his older brother, Peyton. In the case of Henson and Losman, there is a lot of progress to be made (Losman has been injured most of the season and Henson’s been throwing a baseball, not a football, for the past three years). But, the time is right to play these rookies and determine whether they are in deed the right player to win with in the future.

Do We Need a Preseason Poll?

If you’re like me, you’re unhappy that Auburn is still on the outside of the national title game, even though the Tigers have beaten LSU, Tennessee, and Georgia this season. The programs in front of Auburn — USC and Oklahoma — haven’t played as demanding of a schedule, and their margins of victories in key games have been closer than Auburn’s.

Virginia Tech and California both gave USC a game, and lowly Stanford almost knocked off the Trojans in September. Oklahoma crushed its best opponent, Texas, but narrowly escaped games against Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, and Kansas State.

And Auburn? The Tigers have beaten all but one opponent (LSU) by at least two touchdowns. In fact, despite playing in the nation’s most challenging conference, the Tigers’ margin of victory is as impressive as every other top 10 program, even Utah, which has played the softest schedule of all of the schools fighting for a BCS berth.

So, if the evidence is that overwhelming, why isn’t Auburn No. 1 or No. 2? Because the preseason pollsters showed little confidence in Auburn. Because the Tigers weren’t as strong of a team last year as USC and Oklahoma. In short, because Auburn had more hill to climb at the start of the season.

An official preseason poll in college football serves no purpose, and does more harm than good. Why should Auburn be punished because of what preseason pollsters think? What do pollsters really know about college programs in August? Imagine if the NFL had a preseason ranking. By Week 4 that ranking could conceivably be flipped upside down.

And, even though obvious misjudgments are made each season, pollsters are often reluctant to correct those errors. The fact is, voters do not downgrade teams at the top as long as they win; so as impressive as Auburn has been, they cannot climb past Oklahoma and USC because those two programs have not slipped up yet.

There’s an easy solution to the problem: don’t make anything “official” until October. By then, the non-conference schedule has wrapped up and pollsters have had a chance to look over all of the programs carefully. Fans are able to wait half the season for the first BCS poll. Is it too much to ask for fans to wait an extra month for the first official AP and ESPN/USA Today polls? I don’t think so. Not if it helps clean up part of the mess that is college football. Not if it helps a program like Auburn get the recognition it deserves.

Mike Beacom works out of his home as a pro & college football writer. His articles have appeared in more than a dozen magazines, and he is a regular guest on several sports talk radio shows.