Ranking the Starting Quarterbacks in the NFL

So the local ESPN Radio affiliate here in Minny is KFAN. Their morning show was trying to rank all 32 starting NFL Quarterbacks. So I thought, that's a great idea! Here's what I ended up with.

1. Tom Brady

NFL Golden boy, Two time Super Bowl MVP, and can throw for 4,000 yards with the best reciever he had being Deion Branch. Now, the Pats are reloaded, and Brady seems poised to win his first regular season MVP. Once he has that, you can make room in canton, because he'll be ready to join the pack in the Hall of Fame.

2. Peyton Manning

This guy will break a lot of Favre's/Marino's records eventually, it's great to have two great QB's in Brady and Manning in the league at once. Brady gets the nod over Manning because although Manning has statistically had the better career, A. he's older, B. he has tons of help, and C. Brady has the rings (read plural).

3. Drew Brees

Such a close call here, but my feeling is that the guy to go with is Brees. Palmer is great, but the Bengals underperformed last season, and so did he. Brees took his game to a whole new level.

4. Carson Palmer

He was the Number three guy when the season began, but after a mediocre season like the one the Bengals had, he didn't get a chance to shine once more. Palmer can rebound, but it might not be enough to earn back that third spot.

5. Philip Rivers

I don't like putting him here, but I don't know who else belongs in this spot. Young was outperformed, ditto Alex Smith, ditto Matt Hasselbeck, Romo didn't play enough of the season to warrant a top 5 ranking, Favre is not what he used to be, and Big Ben had an off year due to his little tumble on the bike, so I guess this spot belongs to Rivers.

6. Donovan McNabb

Injuries have been a problem with McNabb, but he was on his was to an MVP trophy and a deep run into the playoffs if he stayed healthy. Still not seeing a spot for the youngsters, and not being that hot on Hasselbeck, McNabb comes in at number 6.

7. Ben Roethlisberger

Big Ben belongs here. Hasselbeck underperformed, and as a result, he slides a bit further down. He's only one year removed from hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, and I think he belongs here.

8. Steve McNair

He has the track record, and Hasselbeck doesn't. McNair, despite his age, is still on of the best in the league, and can lead a team deep into the playoffs. He'll probably retire at the end of this year or next, and then the Ravens need to decide who the QB of the future is for them.

9. Matt Hasselbeck

Hasselbeck has proven he isn't a one year wonder, so he gets the 9 spot over Romo. Hasselbeck should rebound from an absolutely awful 2007 season, and be back on top of his game.

10. Tony Romo

Romo was probably a top 5 QB during last season, but he slides down to 10 because of track record. First, he'd never started before in his career, next, he didn't start the entire season (he missed 3 games, but granted), and beyond that, he was not even drafted originally to become a starter in the NFL. If he proves himself a year to year top QB by repeating his success last season, Romo's position will go up, but for now, he remains at 10.

11. Alex Smith

I like Smith more than my Boy VY because of the sole fact that Smith has started for one more season than him. Smith has a great arm, and a young team to help him grow. I hate to say it, but I think the 49ers are back. 1

12. Vince Young

He's InVINCEable, the franchise, the guy who can win a game on his own. The heir to McNair (don't tell SI about this:)). VY can do it all, and then some. His completion percentage is lower than expected, and the same goes for his TD-INT ratio, but he's Vince Young, so it's all good.

13. Chad Pennington

At this point, we begin to round out the top half, so naturally, because Pennington has Quarterbacked 2 playoff teams, he makes the list in the top 16, if only for the reason that he can run a team (trust me, beyond the top 16, things get bad)

14. Jay Cutler

Cutler was the second best Rookie QB this season, and almost lead the Broncos to the playoffs. He's got a friggen amazing arm, but really needs to get used to the NFL style of play so he isn't rocked every time he tries to throw.

15. Marc Bulger

Simple, he's an above average starter that can run an offense. Not anything special, but he gets the nod for 15 over Leinart because he's started for more than one season.

16. Matt Leinart

Matt Leinart, the guy who stayed in school instead of playing with the big boys. The guy, who despite entering the final game of the season as the best QB in the 2006 NFL Draft, and destined for a so called threepeat, Leinart goes to the Cardinals. He has a bright future, but the team he has needs work, and age. If the Cardinals succeed, I see him as another Kurt Warner esque player, but continued success over time, not just a blip on the radar. Leinart suffers because of his team's play, and subsequently end up at number 16.

17. Brett Favre

He's at the end of his career. He throws more INT's than TD's. He barely made it to a decent record last year, and it was helped by the fact the Bears were resting their starters. But he's Favre. Hall of Famer Brett Favre, and to me, that's enough to get the 17th spot on the list. He's still got the arm strength, and he's still got the guts to play in the NFL. The Packers might be able to gain ground in a weak NFC North, and who knows? Mabye, just maybe, Favre can play in January once again.

18. Eli Manning

Eli sucks, plain and simple. But he's better than everyone else, so he comes in at 18. Here's the thing. There's just something about Eli that keeps him from succeeding. He can throw the ball, run an offense, and make the passes, but he can't put it together.

19. Jake Delhomme

What happened to Jake? Remember back in 2003? He was thought of as a pretty damn good QB then, and was supposed to get a ring. Long story short, the guy at the top of the list gets his second ring, and Jake goes home with nothing. He's nothing great, and neither is the Panther's offense. Look down the list from here. There's four more QB's that have started a full season, and none of them are anything special. By this point, it's not that he's better than everyone else, but instead, he just doesn't suck as much.

20. Matt Schaub

Schuab is set up for failure, read Houston Texans. To bad. I thought he had potential. Schuab can be a good QB, he just hasn't started that many games yet, and the one's he has, he normally wasn't practicing with the first stringers before the game.

21. Byron Leftwich

Can you say Bi-Polar? When he and his Jags are on, they're red hot. They are hard to stop, and Leftwich is looking like he's a top 10 QB. But when there not, you wonder how he won the starting job. He needs to loose weight, and to figure out what makes him click. Then, and only then, can he and the jags amount to what they should.

22. Rex Grossman

Rex is Rex, plain and simple. He's essentially entering his second season in the league, as he has had an injury plagued career so far. But, keep in mid, Alex Smith was one of the worst QB's in 2006, and now, he's number 11. Rex can get better, it'll just take time.

23. Michael Vick

Vick makes me sick (no pun intended). If Vick can become a good Passer, he will be able to win every game he plays in on his own. His problem is he's not that great of a QB, and it's sad. He's wasted away a lot of talent, and to quote Jim Mora "He's a coach killer".

24. Damon Huard

Huard needs to prove himself. He had an overall good run as the Cheifs starter during Trent Green's injury. I assume Huard starts because I see Trent ending up somewhere else, but have no idea as to where, so he is absent from this list.

25. Chris Simms

Simms had an unfortunate first season as a starter. He makes it this high because from the bits and pieces I've seen of him, he looks to be better than the rest of the remaining QB's.

26. Brady Quinn

You'll notice I put Quinn ahead of Russell. Kinda odd, huh? Especially considering they were drafted 21 spots from each other. But Quinn had a RB that went undrafted, a WR in Stouvall that's playing somewhere in the NFL, but making zero impact, and then another one in Somarzjia (or however you spell his name) that's playing baseball instead of football. But he still managed to guide the Irish to two BCS bowl games, so Quinn gets the nod here.

27. Jon Kitna

Kitna plays for the Lions. That pretty much explains everything.

28. Jason Campbell

Campbell did decent in his mop up duty, but it is what it is. Mop up duty. Not enough in my book to get any credibility.

29. Tarvaris Jackson

T-Jack has a lot of potential. He can run, and he has a canon for an arm. Let's see if the vikings can use him to max out his potential.

30. JaMarcus Russell

Russell beats out Losman and Beck for the reason that he has visable potential. He can succeed in this league, but the question is, will the raiders have enough talent to keep him in Raider Nation?

31. J.P. Losman

See Kitna, but change Lions to Bills.

32. John Beck

Beck might be a great QB, but he's a rookie I've never seen, and he's playing for a crappy Dolphins team.

Now, it's your turn. Go create an opinion, and rank them yourselves. Then post it, and then nag your friends to come here and do the same.

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