—Notes and predictions from the NFL:

—There is no evidence supporting the rumor that Peyton Manning shouted out from his Indianapolis apartment: “How many tries do I need to beat Danny [Mr. Heisman] Weuffrel?!?!?”

—Ryan Leaf, continuing on his roll with the press, after yelling at a San Diego reporter and holding perhaps the shortest press conference of NFL history, will go behind Charger Coach Kevin Gilbride’s back and tell his school paper that he should have stayed in school, remarking “Then I wouldn’t have to play the Chiefs twice in a season!”

—Kordell Stewart was seen shouting at Steelers offensive coordinator Ray Sherman: “Let me run, I tell you, run!!!”

At that same moment, Jake Plummer tells his coach Vince Tobin, “I’m tired of throwing dink passes to Larry Centers, and I want to go deep to Rob Moore!”

OK, so that’s not really what the NFL’s young, promising quarterbacks are doing (yes, Leaf did yell at a reporter and hold a very terse press conference), but it’s what fans are yelling at them and their coaches. And I didn’t even talk about Danny Kanell, Charlie Batch, Bobby Hoying and Trent Green, all of whom are up to their necks in problems.

Honestly, what is with the NFL’s young guns? Kanell was accurate if not exciting, and Hoying, Stewart and Plummer were nothing if not exciting. Leaf and Manning were supposed to be the next comings of Marino and Montana. And Batch and Green? Well, they’re just in there because of injury. And Scott Mitchell … (don’t get me started on Scott Mitchell).

Of course, you can’t just blame the quarterbacks for their struggles. Pretty much all of them play for terrible, terrible teams. Leaf did all right the first two weeks until he came up against the Chiefs and the Giants, two of the more ferocious defenses in football. Manning plays for a team that could go 0-16.

Plummer has some weapons and a solid defense but a horrible offensive line. Stewart is having trouble adjusting to a new offense and the Bus is not on track yet.

Bobby Hoying is on another team that could go 0-16, the terrible, horrible Eagles, who will get nothing but brick bats from the fans that booed Santa Claus. Kannell also plays in the NFC East, and if he manages to lead his team to an 8-8, they might win the division, even though the Giants might punch each other out in a bench-clearing brawl the other team is not even involved in, considering last year’s playoff game. Green is green, and his Redskins might not pull a win out of the hat for the season either. And Batch, well, he should ride on the coattails of Barry Sanders and Herman Moore for a few wins.

The plight of all these talented young QBs shows that more than ever, you need an experienced, talented, signal-caller to succeed in the NFL, and with the rate of injuries, you might need two of those.

The problem is, there are 30, soon to be 31, teams in the NFL, and there aren’t 62 quarterbacks like that in the NFL. You’re lucky if you are a team like Denver, who has Bubby Brister, an ex-starter, to back up a hall-of-famer, or San Francisco, who has Ty Detmer to back up Steve Young.

That’s why, after four weeks, the cream has already separated itself: the Dolphins, Packers, Jaguars, Broncos and 49ers each have great quarterbacks, capable of winning games on their own, in addition to adequate to superb running attacks.

More than ever, the need for a quarterback shows. In what was supposed to be the year of the running back, it will be the year of the quarterback. Or more accurately, the year of the quarterbacks left standing.

Jayadev Athreya is a junior in mathematics from Ames, Iowa.