Ranking the NFL starting QBs

[J_R]

according to John Clayton

THE ELITE:

1. Peyton Manning
2. Tom Brady
3. Drew Brees
4. Ben Roethlisberger
5. Brett Favre
6. Aaron Rodgers
7. Philip Rivers
8. Tony Romo
9. Donovan McNabb
10. Carson Palmer
11. Eli Manning
12. Joe Flacco
13. Matt Ryan
14. Matt Schaub

Analysis: Schaub finally moved into the elite group by staying healthy and throwing for a league-high 4,770 yards in 2009. (By the way, that was 270 yards more than Peyton Manning had last season.) The next step for Schaub and the Texans? Win in the AFC South and make the playoffs for the first time.
Arrow is pointing: Up

CHAD PENNINGTON DIVISION:

15. Jay Cutler
16. Kyle Orton
17. Matt Hasselback
18. Vince Young
19. Jason Campbell
20. David Garrad
21. Alex Smith
22. Matt Cassel

HIT OR MISS DIVISION:

23. Mark Sanchez
24. Kevin Kolb
25. Chad Henne
26. Byron Leftwich
27. Matthew Stafford
28. Matt Leinart/Derek Anderson
29. Josh Freeman
30. Sam Bradford
31. Trent Edwards
32. Matt Moore
33. Jake Delhomme


http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/previe...ohn&id=5489176

[gtexan02]

Is it an actual ranking or is it jus tthe order in which they were put into the "elite" group? Because theres no way I would choose Ryan or flacco over schaub. Eli either.

My list of hte top 14 (for this year):

1. Peyton Manning
2. Drew Brees
3. Tom Brady
4. Aaron Rodgers
5. Ben Roethlisberger
6. Matt Schaub
7. Brett Favre
8. Philip Rivers
9. Tony Romo
10. Donovan McNabb
11. Carson Palmer
12. Eli Manning
13. Joe Flacco
14. Matt Ryan

[Dutchrudder]

1. Peyton Manning
2. Tom Brady
3. Drew Brees
4. Ben Roethlisberger
5. Brett Favre
6. Aaron Rodgers
7. Philip Rivers
8. Tony Romo
9. Donovan McNabb
10. Carson Palmer
11. Eli Manning
12. Joe Flacco
13. Matt Ryan
14. Matt Schaub

Funny how they put Favre one slot ahead of Aaron Rodgers, I'd put Rodgers at 4 over Favre and Ben. I think Clayton relies too much on past accomplishments instead of current and expected production for the 2010 season.

Guys who are over rated on his list:
Donovan McNabb - was at one time elite, last year not so much and I don't see any reason to think he will be this year
Carson Palmer - never was elite, hasn't accomplished much
Tony Romo - always falls apart when it really matters. Great regular season numbers and record, but still can't make it happen in the playoffs
Eli Manning - was elite during the Super Bowl run, but last season was no where close to being 'elite'
Joe Flacco - He should be on the cusp of elite status. He looks great and has high potential but I don't believe he is elite quite yet.
Matt Ryan - same with Flacco, he should be on the cusp. He has a lot of potential, but last year he wasn't much better than Cutler.
Matt Schaub - He should also be 'on the bubble' to elite status. Like Romo, he needs to prove he can get a win in the postseason, but he has to get his team there first.

[The Pencil Neck]

How is it "Elite" if almost half the league's starting QB's meet the criteria?

[Dutchrudder]

This is how I would rate and rank them:

Elite:
1. Peyton Manning
2. Drew Brees
3. Tom Brady
4. Aaron Rodgers
5. Brett Favre
6. Ben Roethlisberger

-----------------------------
Above Average:
7. Philip Rivers
8. Matt Schaub
9. Tony Romo
10. Joe Flacco
11. Eli Manning
12. Matt Ryan

----------------------
Average:
13. Donovan McNabb
14. Jay Cutler
15. Kevin Kolb
16. Carson Palmer
17.Vince Young
18. David Garrad
19. Jason Campbell
20. Kyle Orton
21. Mark Sanchez
22. Chad Henne
23. Alex Smith
24. Matthew Stafford

-------------------------
Below Average:
25. Matt Cassel
26. Byron Leftwich
27. Sam Bradford
28. Matt Leinart/Derek Anderson
29. Josh Freeman
30. Matt Hasselback
31. Trent Edwards
32. Matt Moore
33. Jake Delhomme

[gtexan02]

If you read the article, Clayton says that the word "Elite" means a QB that can win a superbowl. With a few notable exceptions, most superbowl teams have a talented QB. He doesn't believe any of the teams with non-elite QBs have legitimate supebowl chances.

Ignore the word "elite" and think of it in those criteria. Thats why half the league is on there

[kiwitexansfan]

Oh you mean elite as in Trent Dilfer?

[TheDrifter]

Originally Posted by Dutchrudder

This is how I would rate and rank them:

I mostly agree with this..except I would bump Hassellback up quite a bit. When healthy he can still win games.

But his supporting cast has been awful for years. WRs who cant catch and RBs who are either old, useless, beat up or a combo of all three.

[Dutchrudder]

Originally Posted by TheDrifter

I mostly agree with this..except I would bump Hassellback up quite a bit. When healthy he can still win games.

But his supporting cast has been awful for years. WRs who cant catch and RBs who are either old, useless, beat up or a combo of all three.

Honestly, anyone from 20 to 32 is completely expendable IMO, so it's really no particular order. None of them have proven much, and I'm ranking them mostly based on 2009 production and 2010 projections. Hasslebeck might be great with New England's offense, but so was Matt Cassel. It's a tough choice between rating the raw talent of the individual and the way they perform on a sub-par team.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by The Pencil Neck

How is it "Elite" if almost half the league's starting QB's meet the criteria?

Good question.

My list of
Elite
1. Peyton Manning
2. Drew Brees
3. Brett Favre

[gtexan02]

The sports nation rank 'em does a much better job
http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/rank...d=23#topOfList

Man how anyone could still rate Favre as elite is beyond me.

Anyway, here is my list:

Elite
Peyton Manning
Drew Brees
Tom Brady
Aaron Rodgers

On the Bubble
Philip Rivers
Ben Roethlisberger
Matt Schaub
Tony Romo

Above Average
Donovan McNabb
Joe Flacco
Matt Ryan
Carson Palmer
Brett Favre

Average
Eli Manning
Jay Cutler
Matt Hasselbeck
David Garrard
Kyle Orton
Sam Bradford (prediction)
Vince Young
Jason Campbell

Below Average (but of course with the potential to improve)
Kevin Kolb
Matt Cassell
Chad Henne
Alex Smith
Mark Sanchez
Matthew Stafford
Trent Edward
Matt Moore
Josh Freeman
Matt Leinart
Byron Leftwich
Derek Anderson
Jake Delhomme

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by Ckw5814

Man how anyone could still rate Favre as elite is beyond me.

Anyway...

[Blazing Arrow]

Know you guys have obvious bias against young but he really should be in the above average section. He is not a stat player but Win Loss should show that for what ever reason he makes it happen. Yeah it is a team thing but 26-13 is nothing to just over look.

[gary]

Originally Posted by Ckw5814

Man how anyone could still rate Favre as elite is beyond me.

Anyway, here is my list:

His health is a lager factor but other that Farve is still elite. Why? Because age does not matter in the NFL stats do and he had the best season in his whole career last season I think that is why. He might get injured and never play again this season but last season he proved to everyone that as long as his ankle holds up he is still elite.

[Dutchrudder]

Originally Posted by Blazing Arrow

Know you guys have obvious bias against young but he really should be in the above average section. He is not a stat player but Win Loss should show that for what ever reason he makes it happen. Yeah it is a team thing but 26-13 is nothing to just over look.

It's not all about wins and losses. Yes that helps his case, and IMO is the only thing keeping him from falling into the 20-32 QB range. His career passing numbers are terrible in the NFL. His best year as a QB was a passer rating of 82.3 over 12 games. His career passer rating is a 72.3 with 32 TDs and 39 INTs. Add in his 12 rushing TDs and he's still an average QB. There is nothing extraordinary about him that makes him an above average NFL QB.

Just for the hell of it, here are my 'above average' QBs. If you were making a team and could have any one of these guys, which would you choose?

Above Average:
7. Philip Rivers
8. Matt Schaub
9. Tony Romo
10. Joe Flacco
11. Eli Manning
12. Matt Ryan

17. Vince Young

[Dutchrudder]

Originally Posted by Ckw5814

Man how anyone could still rate Favre as elite is beyond me.

My rating of Favre is mostly based on his performance last year, which was simply amazing. I had low expectations for him coming in, and he totally blew me away with his performance. The guy still has it, and performed at an elite level last year. He may fall apart this year, but I'll wait until that happens to demote him.

[b0ng]

Originally Posted by Blazing Arrow

Know you guys have obvious bias against young but he really should be in the above average section. He is not a stat player but Win Loss should show that for what ever reason he makes it happen. Yeah it is a team thing but 26-13 is nothing to just over look.

Guys who throw more picks than TD's and aren't dangerous through the air really shouldn't be considered above average. All Young really proves is that the Titans have a great running game and an above average defense.

[Blazing Arrow]

Originally Posted by b0ng

Guys who throw more picks than TD's and aren't dangerous through the air really shouldn't be considered above average. All Young really proves is that the Titans have a great running game and an above average defense.

He has had some pretty amazing games where he pulled it out and it was not the D or the running game. The AZ game last season. The 21 point come back against the Giants the game against the Texans where he ran for the TD. For a guy that has played less then 40 games to come out like that ... idk seems pretty impressive to me.

He has played games where a lot of the Titans D was injured or not really playing very well. Titans play a system. We plug different players in it all the time but some how when he is in the team plays at a different level. I feel coaching has a ton to do with it but still .... even as a Titan fan watching the games you think heck we are done. No way on our 1 are we driving 99 yards for a TD with less then 2 min. You have to be realistic at times and then somehow it happens. Or when the team is down 21 and don't have the ball at the start of the 4th you think ok well hope they learned something off this. THEN YOU WIN?

Not putting that 'he just wins' crap on him but at times ...

[b0ng]

Originally Posted by Blazing Arrow

He has had some pretty amazing games where he pulled it out and it was not the D or the running game. The AZ game last season. The 21 point come back against the Giants the game against the Texans where he ran for the TD. For a guy that has played less then 40 games to come out like that ... idk seems pretty impressive to me.

He has played games where a lot of the Titans D was injured or not really playing very well. Titans play a system. We plug different players in it all the time but some how when he is in the team plays at a different level. I feel coaching has a ton to do with it but still .... even as a Titan fan watching the games you think heck we are done. No way on our 1 are we driving 99 yards for a TD with less then 2 min. You have to be realistic at times and then somehow it happens. Or when the team is down 21 and don't have the ball at the start of the 4th you think ok well hope they learned something off this. THEN YOU WIN?

Not putting that 'he just wins' crap on him but at times ...

Judging from what I've seen from him in the regular seasons he's played, he has had an RB who was having an all world season (Who's carries went up by like 6 or so a game once VY came in) and a defense that had an all world season. He's also sat out practically an entire season (The best season the Titans have had in recent memory to boot) due to. . . well. . . his mental faculties not being on the level, I guess?

For a guy who's been in the league for 4 years now, I think we should have a much clearer picture of his abilities. If he was really worth the money he's paid he would've had you guys in the Superbowl in 2008. That team you fielded that year was a ****ing monster and he couldn't handle being heckled in the first game of the season.