Top 5

With the Packers winning, and I already knew this would happen if they did win, I was forced to listen to the "Aaron Rodgers is an elite Quarterback" argument.  This debate has already started, and a couple of my friends have asked me to tell them my "Top 5 QB's."  I did not want to give an answer right away, but rather I wanted to give a little bit of thought to the matter, and see what I could come up with.  I'm not sure if you haven't noticed, but I'm a Colt's fan, and I'm a pretty big Peyton Manning supporter.  In the realm of football, and in my eyes, he can do very little wrong.  So clearly Peyton will be in my Top 5, but who are the other 4? Brady? Rodgers? Ryan? Roethlisberger? Rivers? Flacco? Vick? Cutler? Freeman?

I did some work, and this is what I came up with. Please read ALL of it before commenting so you have a chance to hear my whole argument, not just part of it.

I will set this article up like this. 


Paragraph 1: Why they are in the Top 5.


Paragraph 2: Why they are not number one.


Paragraph 3: Any other stats or information I feel pertinent to add about the player that legitimizes or takes away from them as a quarterback.


After hours of tireless research here are my Top 5 NFL Quarterbacks.


*All stats I included are an average of a typical season. Obviously some seasons the quarterback does better or worse, but this is their one year average of stats.  I compiled the stats of seasons where the quarterback played 10 or more games*


#5 Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints) 
In 9 seasons 26 TD 14.9 INT 532.7 ATT 64.8 PTC 

Brees is a top quarterback in this league, there is no doubt about that.  With is size and physical skills what he has been able to do is phenominal.  His stats are great!  He has lead his team to a ring (on-side kick, we'll leave that one alone for now).  Since coming to New Orleans he has made the team a force to be reckoned with, and turned the city and a franchise away from its losing ways.  Making the Saints a contender is no easy task, and Brees has done just that.  Without Brees, I don't think there is anyway the Saints could have won the Super Bowl last season (unless they had another quarterback on this list of course).


A year ago Brees was widely considered to be one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL after winning the Super Bowl.  This past season Brees has a good year, but also threw a lot of interceptions, the highest, by far of his career.  There is not much of a reason as far as I could tell.  The Saints had some running back injuries, but didn't lose many receivers if any this season due to injury.  The interception count just did  not seem to make sense, considering he doubled his count from a year ago.  Also, of the quarterbacks on this list.  Brees has the lowest numbers in touchdowns and the second highest in attempts.  For a team that throws the ball a lot, I feel like his numbers, touchdown wise, could be up a little more.


Brees is a good quarterback, don't get me wrong, just on this list he is at the bottom.  But even getting on this list is an accomplishment.


#4 Tom Brady (New England Patriots)


In 9 seasons 29 TD  11.4 INT 521.7 ATT 63.5 PTC

Brady has put up two of the most memorable seasons by as an individual quarterback.  In 2007 he put up 50 touchdowns, and this season he only threw 4 total interceptions and set the all time mark for attempts without an interception.  Truly astounding statistics.  Brady also has run an offense with lesser receivers (Caldwell, Brown, Branch, Hernandez, etc.).  Not to mention the dude has two MVP awards and 3 rings.  What he has been able to do as a 6th round draft pick has been phenomenal.  Brady is truly a great quarterback, and quite possibly one of the best that the NFL has ever seen.  Brady has been seen on the sidelines a number of times head butting his players with helmets on and motivating his team to get them rolling if they seem to be a little bit stagnant.


Brady, though he has some of the highest numbers for touchdowns (on average) that average is skewed by a 2007 season with 50 touchdowns.  If you take that number away his average drops to 26.3.  That is three whole touchdowns which actually drops his average to one of the lowest on this list.  Though his attempts are high, his percentage is the lowest on this list, though that doesn't really mean much because the differences in percentage on this list does not vary too much, it still is a factor to keep in mind.  A reason I believe his stats to be great, especially recently is due to the players that he has, though he has played with some bad receivers, he has also played with Wes Welker and Kevin Faulk who are some incredibly shifty runners who can break free once in the flat.  Watching the Patriots for multiple seasons a lot of the Patriots yardage comes from yards after the catch.  Those after the catch yards go toward the quarterbacks stats.


Finally, one of the reasons that Brady has been held in such high regard with the media is his rings.  He has three Super Bowls.  Brady is a much better quarterback now than he was when he won those Super Bowls.  But I would argue that he can't put a team on his shoulders and will them to a win, he has always had a great defense when they won Super Bowls.  That is why, many times I don't consider Brady's rings his.  I consider them his defenses. He was a game manager.  Also Brady has played behind a great offense line in his career.  If you watch them play the Jets, or any other team that brings pressure (even against the Colts when they get desperate and blitz) his accuracy and decision making ability goes through the floor.  Some quarterbacks on this list play behind pretty poor offensive lines, and Brady has never had that issue.  He is a great quarterback, but is the product of a pretty good team around him, and a great coach.


#3 Philip Rivers (San Diego Chargers)

In  5 seasons 27 TD 11.4 INT 485.0 ATT 63.6 PTC


Rivers has slowly emerged as one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL.  In recent seasons, especially last season, Rivers put up phenomenal stats, even without a lot of key guys and injured players.  The team is much better than they have produced in the past season, but with River's targets healthy, he will be deadly.  Rivers has put up great numbers even while his team is primarily a running team.  If you look at his attempts compared to other quarterbacks on this list his attempts are much lower.  So he has done all of this with a lot less of a chance to throw the ball.  Rivers has also replaced a good quarterback in Brees, so he has had a lot of skeptics, who supported Brees, on him for a lot of years while he was trying to prove the Chargers correct in their decision to play him.  The reason I put him ahead of Brady  is because of the average stats when you take away Brady's 2007 year, the stats on Brady are less than Rivers'.  I also think that Rivers is a little more calm under pressure, and that his team around him as not as talented.  The coach he plays for is a lot less talented than the coach in New England.


Rivers is not number one for a couple of reasons.  First of all he has  no ring.  Which is kind of a lame argument, but that sure helps your cause.  Secondly, his stats are considerably more conservative than the players that are around him.  His team is committed to running the ball and playing defense.  Though he is a great quarterback, he has a lot of things around him that go really well which allow his stats to look better


I think Rivers will win a ring before he retires.


#2 Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers)
In 3 seasons 28.6 TD 10.3 INT 517.3 ATT 64.6 PTC

Rodgers has done some amazing thing in three seasons as a full time starter.  His interception rating is the lowest, yet he has a lot of attempts per season.  His percentage is incredibly high as well.  Not to mention the dude just won a ring.  In the Super Bowl his team ran the ball on 13 total times.  The game was placed squarely on his shoulders, and his stats would have been much better on the big stage had his receivers caught all the passes that hit them right in the hands.  Rodgers has done an absolutely incredible job stepping in for a legend, and I'm sure Packer fans appreciate his ball protection a little more than Favre.  Rodgers will be great for years, and honestly he scares me a little bit with his ability.


The main reason I don't like him as number one is simply this.  He has only played two seasons.  Other wise his stats are comparable to our number one quarterback in many regards, and especially with interceptions.  I have very few reasons as to why he isn't as high. One of the main reasons I don't like him as a number one is for a couple reasons:
1) I already mentioned his short career
2) He has an incredible corps of receivers which allow him to spread the offense out a lot, and not to mention that will get better with Jermichael Finley and Ryan Grant next year, sheesh!
3) Finally he has a great defense, so even when/if Rodgers has an off game (NFC Championship game) the defense can help bail him out.  He is not required to shoulder the whole load, though very often he does, and does a great job of it.


Give Rodgers a couple more years, he already is one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL.  He will hopefully only get better.  Only thing is, you never know how many Super Bowls a player can win.  Who would have thought Favre would only win one?  Same thing with Rodgers here, the playoffs are a giant gamble.  He has the ability to win a few more, we will just have the see.  The playoffs tend to defy conventional wisdom.


#1 Peyton Manning (Indianapolis Colts)

In 13 seasons 30.6 TD 15.2 INT 554.6 ATT 64.9 PTC

Manning has been a mark of consistency over the years.  He has been the quarterback to a great offense and a team of a bad defense.  More often than not his receivers, at least recently, have been of lesser quality than say the Packer's receiving corps.  He has the highest of every stat on this list. Which obviously includes interceptions.  If you take Manning's stats from 2003 and on, his interceptions on average go to 15.2 to 12.25. Not to mention Peyton has averaged the most attempts over his career than a number of the other quarterbacks on this list.  The reason I say that is that Peyton is a  much better quarterback in recent seasons than he was early on in his career.  Because he has had so many years of playing, his stats, like Brady's 2007 season with Touchdowns, is skewed.  Manning is the best quarterback in the NFL.


Like Brady, Manning had a season with a lot of touchdowns, 49 in 2004.  In Brady's case, his touchdown average went from 29 to 26.3.  Manning, when you take away the 49 touchdown season, his average goes from 30.6 to 29.1.  His goes down only 1.5 where Brady's drops by 3. Manning has been more consistent.


In 2009 the team started out 14-0.  This was not a shock looking back, but at the beginning of the season the team was looking to run their offense, primarily with two wide receivers, and two tight ends.  Wayne, Gonzalez, Clark, and Tammer/Robinson/Santi.  When, in game one, Gonzalez went down with a season ending knee injury, not many knew what the Colts would do.  Manning put up a great season with young players like Collie and Garcon, both of which were later than 3rd round draft picks (Garcon was a 6th rounder out of a D-III school).  He has done it with younger, inexperienced guys.  He has kept his stats basically the same, even with high counts for single season accomplishments.  He has led his team to a Super Bowl victory and played in another (and you take away a Garcon drop and a gutsy onside kick by the other team, we're talking about Manning has a two time Super Bowl winner).  He has also won 4 MVP awards.   Not just1, or 2, or even 3.  He has won four.  And his stats were better this past season


33 TD 17 INT 4700 Yds 


than his most recent MVP season


33 TD 16 INT 4500 Yds.


On countless occasions (2010, 2008, 2006) he has been asked to put this team on his should, to carry the load of a bad/injured defense, play behind a poor offensive line (which consequently changes how you play offense, less deep drops, more short slants, etc.), and bring along young guys (Collie, Gonzalez, Garcon, Tamme, White, James, etc.) there is no reason why I have no problem putt him at number one.


Conclusion:


Hear me out.  There are probably a lot of Patriot fans that think I under sold Brady, and I probably did a little bit because with the compilation of stats this can turn out to be an objective kind of thing.  In my mind this is what I see and what I believe.


But the margin between these five players is razor thin.  If the Colts had any of these 5 players on their team I would be happy with them.  They are all great quarterbacks and you could easily put any of them at any of the Top 5 spots on this list.  Just as I see this, this is how I see this shaking out.


So you can compare here are all the stats side by side
Brees In 9 seasons 26 TD 14.9 INT 532.7 ATT 64.8 PTC 
Brady In 9 seasons 29 TD  11.4 INT 521.7 ATT 63.5 PTC
Rivers In  5 seasons 27 TD 11.4 INT 485.0 ATT 63.6 PTC
Rodgers In 3 seasons 28.6 TD 10.3 INT 517.3 ATT 64.6 PTC
Manning In 13 seasons 30.6 TD 15.2 INT 554.6 ATT 64.9 PTC


Thoughts? Agree? Disagree? Let me know, I want to hear what you think of this list!