During the next few months, we’ll keep hearing lots of reasons why the Chiefs’ starting quarterback should be Damon Huard, Brodie Croyle or even Trent Green should trade talks with the Dolphins fall apart. Not all the reasons will sound all that reasonable.

Coach Herm Edwards was asked at the end of the weekend mini-camp if it was important to his eventual starting quarterback that he get the nod soon. There have, in fact, been NFL quarterbacks who’ve been so mishandled, booed or criticized that they’ve needed their confidence rebuilt with an early assurance that the starting jobs was theirs.

That’s not necessary with the Chiefs. Huard has spent a decade in the fire station responding whenever the bell rings and wouldn’t be fazed if he were named the starter five minutes before kickoff for the opener.

Croyle, entering his second season, would be so happy to start that the timing wouldn’t matter to him, either. And Green, after six years as the opening-day starter, could resume that role as easily as somebody slipping back on the living room couch.

So Edwards needs not hurry to name a starting quarterback. Besides, he and his staff will need all the time they can get to make an educated guess on the readiness of Croyle, who threw just seven passes as a rookie.

Edwards won’t actually know whether Croyle is ready until he gets to play. All the practice field and pre-season reps in the world won’t reveal if a quarterback’s decision making, leadership and skills can hold up against the blinding speed and relentless pressure of a regular-season game.

A major factor in Croyle’s favor, supposedly, is that the Chiefs can’t afford to stunt his development while AFC West rivals develop young quarterbacks – the Raiders with rookie JaMarcus Russell, the Broncos with Jay Cutler and the Chargers with Philip Rivers.

This factor is overrated. If Croyle performs as well as either of his rivals, his age and upside would be the logical tie-breaker to give him the job. But if he’s not ready to play and win, it would be a mistake to force feed him into the lineup just to keep up with the Joneses. It’s too difficult to win in the NFL to compromise a season just to develop a young quarterback.

The Broncos probably would’ve made the playoffs last season had Mike Shanahan not benched veteran Jake Plummer with a 7-4 record. Tired of Plummer’s interceptions, Shanahan went to Cutler, a rookie, and the Broncos finished 2-3. In a home game against the 49ers that could’ve put the Broncos in the playoffs, Cutler played unevenly after getting knocked woozy and the Broncos were upset 26-23. That loss gave the Chiefs the AFC’s last playoff spot.

A coach is looking too far down the road if he’s worried that in a year or two his division rivals will have more experienced quarterbacks. Just look at the Chargers last year.

Marty Schottenheimer was forced to start Rivers, a third-year player who’d never started, because the front office allowed veteran Drew Brees to leave via free agency. The other AFC teams started out with veterans – Green, Plummer and the Raiders’ Aaron Brooks. The Chargers finished 14-2. So much for worrying about having the division’s least experienced passer.

It’s always a bonus to find a talented young quarterback who can lead a franchise into the future. But if Green, pushing 37, were still a Pro Bowl quarterback and not the player who declined last season, Edwards would be crazy not to start him. The NFL is too unpredictable and volatile – and a playoff spot is much too precious — for a coach to look too far down the road.

Edwards ought to pick the quarterback who’s best equipped to win right now.