32(Tied)- Marcus Mariota(Titans)/Jamies Winston(Buccanneers)
This is not a knock on Mariota or Winston. I believe both will be among the 20 best QB's by season's end. But they have played a combined 0 minutes in the NFL. That alone makes them ranked last since the NFL is a prove it league at the end of the day.
30- Josh McCown(Browns)
McCown, over his career has 67 TD passes to 60 Interceptions. Last year, with the Buccaneers, McCown started 11 games during the season, beating young promising QB Mike Glennon for the role and ending the season with about 200 yards per game and a 70.5 QBR. His new role will be as starting QB of the Browns, over Jonny Football.
29-Matt Cassel(Bills)
Last year, Cassel lost the starting QB job for the Vikings to Teddy Bridgewater. He lost the role after breaking his foot before the 4th game of the season. Bridgewater impressed, and took the role for the rest of the season, leading to Cassel's release. Now, back in the AFC East, Cassel has the chance to start for a team that can carry him. He'll likely start over EJ Manuel and could post a decent season for the team.
28-RG3(Redskins)
There hasn't been a more disappointing use of talent in the past 10 years than RG3. He was a star at Baylor University. He was selected 2nd overall in a draft that contained Luke Kuechly, Bobby Wagner, Russel Wilson and Dont'a Hightower. He won the Rookie of the year award with 27 total touchdowns and only 5 interceptions. And then Injury struck. And drama. And he was never the same. Sources say he has lost the support of the team, and that there are conversations about benching him for Kirk Cousins.
27-Brian Hoyer(Texans)
As much as people want to forget, Brian Hoyer was actually among the most impressive players in the NFL early on in the season. Through the first 6 games, Hoyer had a 7:1 TD to Interception ratio. Through 9 games, he had them at 6-3 which was much better than anyone expected. But then he struggled massively for the second half of the season. Depending on which Hoyer the Texans get, he could move up or down our ranking.
26-Nick Foles(Rams)
After posting the best TD to Interception ratio in league history(27:2), Foles was brought back down to earth last season after only amassing a 13:10 ratio last season before his season was ended, missing the second half of the season. This year, look for him to try to prove whether his 2013 season was a product of Chip Kelly's system...or if he's much better than given credit for.
25- Ryan Fitzpatrick(Jets)
Many would give this spot to Geno Smith. And yes, Geno Smith will probably start for this team. But Fitzpatrick is the better player. Last season, the Harvard graduate ended the season with a 95.3 QBR for the Texans. He has almost 20,000 yards over his career and 123 touchdown passes. Both of these are numbers I dare say Geno won't reach.
24- Sam Bradford(Eagles)
Is Bradford a good QB? Sure. Is he better than Foles, who was swapped with him? Yea, he's shown to be more talented. Problem with Bradford is his durability. In the past two season, Bradford has missed over 75% of his games. He's played 7 games out of 32. Now, how do the eagles expect him to last in their offense which put's their QB's at risk? If it works, Kelly deserves the credit. If it doesn't? Well, he only has 1 year left in his 78 million dollar deal.
23- Jay Cutler(Bears)
Jay Cutler is not a bad quarterback at all. He can have great moments and great throws. Problem is, he has a tendency to make a mistake in key moments. His stat's may show one thing but the truth is that he isn't as good as his stats claim. There is a reason most Chicago fans want Cutler gone. And a big part of that is his contract. His 126 million dollar contract is absurd. He's payed more per year than Tony Romo, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and any Non-QB not named Suh. It's set him up to fail since he'll never be worth that contract. Few ever will.
22-Blake Bortles(Jaguars)
Don't look at his stats and write him off as a mistake by the Jaguars. What people don't really realize is that the Jaguars are one of the youngest teams in the NFL. The Jaguars have no established players, no "star power" on the team. It's a young team, and a talented young core who are growing together. And since all these young players are connecting together and have massive amounts of playing time, the growth these players will have will be exponential. That's why Bortles, this season, will be much better than his rookie season.
21-Colin Kaepernick(49ers)
Ever since he took over as starter, Colin has regressed as a Quarterback. And as he has regressed as a Quarterback, he has tried to make more plays with his legs. As impressive as his running ability is, it was so dangerous early on because teams had to worry about his arm. Now they don't as much, meaning this season, Colin will have a tough time making any plays at all. Especially after the offseason the 49ers have had.
20-Matt Stafford(Lions)
A few years ago, Stafford and WR Calvin Johnson looked like they were going to do a number on the NFL for years to come. Stafford hasn't improved much over the years and Johnson has had injuries combined with triple coverage. This year is Stafford's last chance to show he can be an Elite QB. If not, then expect him to be perennially out of the top 15 QB's.
19-Alex Smith(Chiefs)
Alex Smith is the top game manager QB in the NFL. This means that while he won't lose games for you, he won't win them for you either. And that's just fine with the Chiefs since they have an amazing team around him. Last season, he has 18 TD's(None to WR!!!) and only 6 interceptions. In fact, the last time he had double digit interceptions in a season was 2010.
18-Derek Carr(Raiders)
Just like Bortles, Carr came into his rookie year with a team that lacked star power. Difference between them is that Carr blew expectations out of the water. He ended the season with 21 touchdowns to 12 interceptions and just under 3300 yards. Expect him to improve even more this season with a better team.
17-Ryan Tannehill(Dolphins)
Last year was Tannehill's best year. He was more poised and confident in the pocket and posted career highs in virtually all categories as well as a career low in interceptions. His growth last year will have the Dolphins hope he can continue to grow and crack the top 15 QB's, hopefully even the top 10. Expect him to be better this year, but lets not get ahead of ourselves.
16-Andy Dalton(Bengals)
Although Tannehill had a better year than Dalton last year, Dalton has been better than Tannehill for years before. So Dalton, based on his total recent career is listed just above Tannehill. Dalton also has gone to the playoffs for 4 years. This year, Dalton needs to win at least win a playoff game. This is what his greatest goal should be for the season, as hard as it maybe.
15-Teddy Bridgewater(Vikings)
Last year, Bridgewater was only second to Derek Carr among rookie QB's. This year, expect Bridgewater to take over as the top QB from that draft class. The reason's behind this are (1) Peterson is now returning which means Bridgewater will have a great running game to support him and (2) Bridgewater will be the starting from game 1. This means that he'll have a whole offseason being prepped as the starting QB where as last season, he only took the role during the season.
14-Carson Palmer(Cardinals)
Palmer isn't a spring chicken anymore. But he is still a vital piece of the Cardinals. For evidence of this, look no further than last season. With Palmer, the Cardinals were among the best in the NFL. Without him, well they just weren't as good. His ACL will be a concern, but as a pure pocket passer and a veteran, you won't see him put himself at any unnecessary risk.
13-Eli Manning(Giants)
People could blast me for this selection. "He has 2 Superbowl rings!" "Look what he did with OBJ," "His O-Line is made of swiss cheese, what do you expect him to do." Yes, he does have 2 Superbowl rings. But by that logic does that mean that Dan Marino is worse than any QB that has won a ring? What OBJ did was because of OBJ. He's naturally talented and if anything OBJ helped Manning more than Manning helped him. Some of the catches he made he had no business making them and Eli had no business throwing them. Yea, his O-Line was in poor shape, but many quarterbacks help their lineman by getting the ball out quickly or by stepping up in the pocket. Overall, Eli is a good Quaterback talent wise which is why he is this high up. But if it were just a ranking of last season, he'd be pretty low with his 27 interceptions.
12- Joe Flacco(Ravens)
Joe Flacco came back from this dreadful 2013 season and had one of his best season in the NFL. He had a career high 27 TD's with only 12 interceptions and a career high 3986 yards thrown. Keep in mind, also, that the Raven's were the best team in the NFL at drawing pass interference calls on deep plays. With Joe Flacco as arguably the best deep ball specialist in the NFL, WR's Torrey Smith(now with the 49ers) and Steve Smith would intentionally slow down, hoping the DB's would bump into them. Expect Flacco to play at a level similar to last year, just without Torrey there.
11-Russell Wilson(Seahawks)
Another placement I'll get criticized for. Russell Wilson has been a revelation since coming into the NFL, surprising everyone and making Pete Carrol look like a genius(which he probably is). The thing is, people are starting to get used to stopping running QB's. Now, Wilson isn't nearly as dependent on his running game as Kaepernick. But without it, he's starting to show that maybe he isn't a top 10 QB just yet. Especially when you consider the fact that Marshawn Lynch is arguably the best player on that offense. With the Seahawks starting to lose start players left and right, Wilson needs to show that he is just as good as we all thought he was. If not, then maybe he was just a product of having the best defense in the NFL and one of the best running backs in recent year.
10-Matt Ryan(Falcons)
Top 10 now! Now, Matt Ryan is one of the best QB's in the league. To give you an idea, his average stats over his 7 years in the league are 4,023.7 yards, 25.8 Td's, 13 Int's, and 64% completion. He also has only ever missed 2 games in his career, back in his sophomore season. Last year was no different, with Ryan posting 28 Touchdowns and 14 Interceptions. And yet the Falcons were still 6-10 on the year. This puts a lot of pressure on Ryan to perform, especially since they had no run game. And yet he still excelled.
9-Cam Newton(Panthers)
Before last season, Cam would probably be closer top top 6 or so. But last season, he really didn't do well. He had only 23 touchdown's on the year, while his season average in the 3 years before was 30.6 per year. He also fumbled the ball 9 times and lost 5 of those fumbles. This was the most amount of turnovers he had since his rookie year. Overall, Cam did well. Just not anywhere near the level we expect of him. His greatest chance to return to past glories is to improve as a passer, as he will always be on of the best running QB's due to his size and athleticism.
8-Peyton Manning(Broncos)
Should I cry later? Or now? Well, ladies and gents. This could be the beginning of the end for one of the best to ever do it. Don't look at the stats, because if you look at them, Manning will look as dominant as ever. Last year, Manning looked great early on. He looked to be continuing his MVP form of the previous year. But as the season went by, Manning looked like a shell of his former self. Never, have I seen a man decline so quickly. It wasn't even over a season that he declined, it was over a few games that he just regressed further and further. His mind was as sharp as ever but his body couldn't keep up at times. And it was disheartening. Manning's regression continued until his last game of the year, against his former team. Manning threw 46 times and ended up with just 211 yards. His defense forced Luck into 2 interceptions and still, Manning couldn't muster enough on offense to win them the game. They lost 26 to 13 to a team who would be dominated 45-7 by the Patriots. Hopefully this isn't the end of Manning. Hopefully he has one or two good season left in him.
7-Phillip Rivers(Chargers)
I don't think there is any Quarterback in the NFL that flies under the radar more than Rivers. Last year capped the 6th year Rivers threw over 4000 yards. Midseason, he was in MVP form on a stretch of 5 games where he posted a QBR north of 120 in each game. And yet, when people talk about the greats, many times they forget him. This is an injustice against the man, as the only players that have been clearly better than him have been Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning.
6-Tony Romo(Cowboys)
Romo is another who hadn't received as much credit as he deserves, although not to the level of Rivers. Last year, Romo took a huge step forward. He had his best year as a Pro, leading one of the best offensives in the league, and having it perform like a well oiled machine. He had 34 touchdowns on the season against only 9 interceptions. This year, more responsibility will fall on him and Dez Bryant since DeMarco Murray has moved to the Eagles.
5- Drew Brees(Saints)
As amazing as Peyton Manning and Tom Brady have been, Drew Brees is arguably asked to do more than both of these players or any other QB in recent years. Reason for this is that the Saints tend to have a Pass first and Pass second gameplan. Even their Running backs are usually backs that excel when catching out of the back field. There isn't much balance in New Orleans so the opposing team know they have to shut down the pass game. Because of this, that makes it a bit harder on Brees. Last year, he again had a massive 4,952 yards which is actually his lowest total since 2010. With Jimmy Graham gone, it'll be interesting to see what Brees does.
4- Andrew Luck(Colts)
The Royal Prince of the Quarterback position. The newest challenger for the role of GOAT. The heir to Peyton Manning and the future rival to Aaron Rodgers. Andrew Luck is the best young quarterback in the NFL. Russell Wilson, who has already won a Superbowl, won't be as good as Luck will be. Luck simply understands the game at a level that no one else his age has. He can make all the throws with some power behind them, and is deceptively athletic. Kid has it all and he's humble enough to not let it get to his head. Expect a massive year from him.
3- Ben Roethlisburger(Steelers)
The best quarterback in Steelers history, this giant of a man had his best year of his already impressive career. With 4,953 yards and 32 touchdowns against 9 interceptions, Big Ben outdid himself and led the Steelers to a 11-5 record. He and Antonio Brown developed an understanding that should scare any opponent this year. Expect him to be even better this year.
2- Tom Brady(Patriots)
At this point, with the Superbowl win he added on Feburary, Tom Brady is the greatest of all time. He has 4 rings, has been to the big game 6 times, has more wins than any other quarterback in playoff history, and has a higher playoff win percentage than any other player with over 10 wins not named Eli Manning, Terry Bradshaw and Troy Aikman. In the regular season, he has the highest win percentage out of any player who has played over 70 games and has the third most wins in regular season history after only Peyton Manning and Brett Farve. This past year, he was as clinical as ever, especially in the playoffs. Expect him to continue his dominance.
1- Aaron Rodgers(Packers)
Imagine the current Tom Brady with more athleticism and a stronger deep ball. That should give you a general idea of how good Rodgers is right now. The All-Pro quarterback is playing on a level that is currently only matched by Tom Brady. He is the best player in the NFL at moving his team down the field without turning the ball over. His career average stats are just over 8 interceptions, just over 32 touchdowns and just under 4100 yards per season. He also has 2 MVP awards(including last season) over 7 years as a starter. He will continue to put up absurd numbers this season and can challenge for his third MVP award.
10-24-2015, 05:41 PM
