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The quarterback club
1. Peyton Manning
2. Tom Brady
3A Drew Brees
3B Donovan Mcnabb
5. Carson Palmer
I see Manning and Brady at the top of the hill as clearly the best. After that I see Brees and Donovan. Brees was so good last year you almost want to put him right up there with Manning/Brady. Carson had a couple hiccups but is clearly a top 5 QB. I see these top guys and then everybody else. The fall off to 6 is there.
The youngest guys with the most potential I see to catipult to the top are
1. Eli Manning
2. Alex Smith
3. Matt Leinart
I know people are down on Eli, but he has done a lot of things right ( won divison first year as a starter, made the playoffs in a division with 2 other playoff teams last year... with the hardest schedule). Over half the Giants games last year were against playoff opponents, and they played both superbowl teams, and 3/4 conference finalists. They were also decimated by injuries.
Alex Smith was gradually showing me that he could be a good quarterback, and that prime time game win against division rival Seattle was just amazing. He is a very bright guy, who could end up an elite quarterback
Matt Leinart gave the Cardinals a completly different look than Warner. He got rid of the ball a heck of a lot quicker, which opened up the passing and even the running game. He made quick decisions, which leads me to believe that he can do that longer term. His first game against the Bears was amazing, but he was obviously an upgrade over Warner in his later games.
I believe Matt Hasselback and Trent Green WERE 6/7th best but both had down years last year. Green has been the most underrated QB of the past 5 years, as he had 3 straight 4,000 passing seasons ( that is sick) and 5 straight years above 3500 yards ( that is sick). Besides Tony Gonzales, quickly tell me who his top WR was? Exactly, for what he had at WR, he didn't receive nearly the hype he deserved. He was just an old smart guy who wasn't as hip as some of the younger more mobile quarterbacks.
If I had to award somebody the 6th best quarterback right now, I would probably say Marc Bulger. The only reason I don't like saying Bulger is because I don't know how transferable he is to other offenses. He is great at what he does, but if you threw Bulger into the Buffalo Bills offense, I am not sure how effective he would be.
I think the difficulty in naming a 6, is that it really shows the seperation between the elite 5 quarterbacks. Hasselback could be the 6th best one year, but he was injured and rather middle of the pack last year. I believe Trent Green was consistantly 6th best, but he now has to come back from major injury.
The next grouping of quarterbacks you'd have to look at Favre, Delhomme, Rivers, Rothlisburger, Mcnair, Romo.
Favre has so many critics now, that I am in the minority that believes that he is underrated. He doesn't have the most talented team around him, and he is a gunslinger trying to make something happen. Yes, he throws too many picks, but he is not in a pretty situation.
Delhome is another cajun gunslinger. I don't think Carolina has a particularly great line, and he ends up throwing to Smith too often. Delhomme is more of a risk taker for my liking, but can have some great games.
Rivers was in one of the best situations out of any quarterback last year. The Chargers had one of the best OLines, best runningback, and a stout defense. The overall quality of his team allowed him to focus more on efficiency ( which he was). He performed well in an easier situation, but how would he do if you asked him to win games like Favre had to last year?
Rothlisburger was in Rivers situation the past couple years and performed similarly. People love to throw out the term game "manager". Last year the Steelers D wasn't as good, and big ben had to increase his productivity and wasn't as successful. There is a big difference in trying to be efficient, and trying to go out and score every possession. There is more beta, and I'm only really confident in 5 guys doing that right now.
Mcnair is a former co-mvp. Mcnair was a really good player at one time, and I defended him for probably longer than I should, but I have seen him regress. He isn't what he one was, but he is also playing handcuffed in that Ravens offense. Brian Billeck is NOT the offensive genuis he is labeled, and he runs an ultra conservative offense that is designed to not make mistakes and keep his defense in the game. This year he swears they will open it up more with a more nimble Willis Mcghee, but I'll believe it when I see it. Each and every year they talk about "opening the offense up", but I see that same old ultra conservative offense every single year. I also don't like how Billick blamed it all on Fassel, threw him under the bus and fired him. Billeck was given credit for increased offensive production against some weaker opponents in the short term, but long term I still see that same offense that couldn't score a touchdown on Indy in the playoffs.
Romo started out hot, but then cooled off. I believe at least some of that early success was due to padding the stats. Calling pass plays inside the 5 yardline when Marion Barber could have easily ran it in only padded Romo's TD total and QB rating. Fantasy football players took notice of these monster performances, and big stat days on nationally televised games ( thanksgiving). He really wasn't all THAT impressive during that stretch and regression to the mean set in.
The Worst starter in the league next year might be Tavaras Jackson.
1. Peyton Manning
2. Tom Brady
3A Drew Brees
3B Donovan Mcnabb
5. Carson Palmer
I see Manning and Brady at the top of the hill as clearly the best. After that I see Brees and Donovan. Brees was so good last year you almost want to put him right up there with Manning/Brady. Carson had a couple hiccups but is clearly a top 5 QB. I see these top guys and then everybody else. The fall off to 6 is there.
The youngest guys with the most potential I see to catipult to the top are
1. Eli Manning
2. Alex Smith
3. Matt Leinart
I know people are down on Eli, but he has done a lot of things right ( won divison first year as a starter, made the playoffs in a division with 2 other playoff teams last year... with the hardest schedule). Over half the Giants games last year were against playoff opponents, and they played both superbowl teams, and 3/4 conference finalists. They were also decimated by injuries.
Alex Smith was gradually showing me that he could be a good quarterback, and that prime time game win against division rival Seattle was just amazing. He is a very bright guy, who could end up an elite quarterback
Matt Leinart gave the Cardinals a completly different look than Warner. He got rid of the ball a heck of a lot quicker, which opened up the passing and even the running game. He made quick decisions, which leads me to believe that he can do that longer term. His first game against the Bears was amazing, but he was obviously an upgrade over Warner in his later games.
I believe Matt Hasselback and Trent Green WERE 6/7th best but both had down years last year. Green has been the most underrated QB of the past 5 years, as he had 3 straight 4,000 passing seasons ( that is sick) and 5 straight years above 3500 yards ( that is sick). Besides Tony Gonzales, quickly tell me who his top WR was? Exactly, for what he had at WR, he didn't receive nearly the hype he deserved. He was just an old smart guy who wasn't as hip as some of the younger more mobile quarterbacks.
If I had to award somebody the 6th best quarterback right now, I would probably say Marc Bulger. The only reason I don't like saying Bulger is because I don't know how transferable he is to other offenses. He is great at what he does, but if you threw Bulger into the Buffalo Bills offense, I am not sure how effective he would be.
I think the difficulty in naming a 6, is that it really shows the seperation between the elite 5 quarterbacks. Hasselback could be the 6th best one year, but he was injured and rather middle of the pack last year. I believe Trent Green was consistantly 6th best, but he now has to come back from major injury.
The next grouping of quarterbacks you'd have to look at Favre, Delhomme, Rivers, Rothlisburger, Mcnair, Romo.
Favre has so many critics now, that I am in the minority that believes that he is underrated. He doesn't have the most talented team around him, and he is a gunslinger trying to make something happen. Yes, he throws too many picks, but he is not in a pretty situation.
Delhome is another cajun gunslinger. I don't think Carolina has a particularly great line, and he ends up throwing to Smith too often. Delhomme is more of a risk taker for my liking, but can have some great games.
Rivers was in one of the best situations out of any quarterback last year. The Chargers had one of the best OLines, best runningback, and a stout defense. The overall quality of his team allowed him to focus more on efficiency ( which he was). He performed well in an easier situation, but how would he do if you asked him to win games like Favre had to last year?
Rothlisburger was in Rivers situation the past couple years and performed similarly. People love to throw out the term game "manager". Last year the Steelers D wasn't as good, and big ben had to increase his productivity and wasn't as successful. There is a big difference in trying to be efficient, and trying to go out and score every possession. There is more beta, and I'm only really confident in 5 guys doing that right now.
Mcnair is a former co-mvp. Mcnair was a really good player at one time, and I defended him for probably longer than I should, but I have seen him regress. He isn't what he one was, but he is also playing handcuffed in that Ravens offense. Brian Billeck is NOT the offensive genuis he is labeled, and he runs an ultra conservative offense that is designed to not make mistakes and keep his defense in the game. This year he swears they will open it up more with a more nimble Willis Mcghee, but I'll believe it when I see it. Each and every year they talk about "opening the offense up", but I see that same old ultra conservative offense every single year. I also don't like how Billick blamed it all on Fassel, threw him under the bus and fired him. Billeck was given credit for increased offensive production against some weaker opponents in the short term, but long term I still see that same offense that couldn't score a touchdown on Indy in the playoffs.
Romo started out hot, but then cooled off. I believe at least some of that early success was due to padding the stats. Calling pass plays inside the 5 yardline when Marion Barber could have easily ran it in only padded Romo's TD total and QB rating. Fantasy football players took notice of these monster performances, and big stat days on nationally televised games ( thanksgiving). He really wasn't all THAT impressive during that stretch and regression to the mean set in.
The Worst starter in the league next year might be Tavaras Jackson.
