8. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons
Ryan is a somewhat overlooked quarterback. He’s like Matt Hasselbeck or Marc Bulger in years past; he’s not a star, but he’s a very good quarterback, and someone two-thirds of the league would swap their QBs for in a heartbeat.
Ryan hasn’t missed a start since 2009, and has never had a quarterback rating under 80. Despite a porous offensive line and no running game (but with plenty of help from Julio Jones), Ryan has kept the Falcons afloat, nearly making the playoffs last year despite really having no strengths other than the passing game.
7. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers
As the NFL draft passed, Chargers fans everywhere breathed sighs of relief as they realized their star QB wasn’t going anywhere. The much-discussed Rivers-for-Mariota swap turned out to be nothing but words, and Rivers is set to keep delivering for the only franchise he has ever known.
After appearing to decline in 2012, Rivers has experienced a career resurgence under new coach Mike McCoy, returning to the NFL’s elite level and willing his injury-riddled team to victories despite a lackluster receiving corps. And though he’s soon to be 34, great quarterbacks tend to age well (just ask Peyton Manning), so San Diego has several good years of Rivers left.
6. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints
After the first few games last year saw the Saints get off to an 0-2 start, we heard a lot about how Drew Brees was in decline; in fact we’re still hearing about it. The thing is, all this talk is mostly nonsense; Brees’ 2014 was every bit as stellar as his past few, even while the Saints’ defense turned back into a pumpkin after its strong 2013 campaign. Brees turned in a 4900 yard, 69 completion percent season that belies any talk of decline. Decline will come one day for the 36-year-old Brees. But there’s no reason to think it’ll happen anytime soon.
5. Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts
It’s pretty much inevitable that Luck will top this list in the next couple of years. In fact, I was all set to rank him as high as number two until I took a good look at his numbers, and realized something: Luck will be great, but he hasn’t been as great as it would appear just yet.
For example, if we look at Football Outsiders’ adjusted interceptions (which removes Hail Mary throws and passes that bounced off receivers’ hands but adds dropped interceptions), Luck actually led the league with 23. Sure, some of that is to be expected after chucking 616 passes, and it came with a gaudy 40 touchdowns, but it is a little worrying. Luck’s middling completion percentage of 62 percent ranked 23rd in the league as well.
All of that can be worked through, and make no mistake: Luck is fantastic. But until those issues are fixed, he can’t be considered for number one.
4. Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys
Can we all agree that Tony Romo is great now? Is there anyone still aboard the “Romo isn’t clutch” bandwagon after what we saw from him in 2014? I hope not.
Last season was unquestionably the best of Romo’s career, as he finished at or near the top of the leaderboard in pretty much every passing category: yards, QBR, completion percentage, yards per attempt, you name it. He silenced doubters through his regular-season stardom and the playoff win over the Lions. And even though he won’t have DeMarco Murray on his side this year, a league-best offensive line and the incredible Dez Bryant make for a delicious recipe for Romo’s success again in 2015.
3. Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos
What can you say about Peyton Manning? He’s about to be 39, yet who could really doubt him? He was breaking records at 37; why should 39 be any different? He’s overcome about a hundred neck surgeries, why not age too?
Some saw his subpar performance toward the end of last year as a sign of decline, but as it turns out, Manning was just hurt. If he’s at full health this year, there’s no reason to expect anything less than greatness from him yet again. His completion percentage hasn’t fallen below 65 percent since 2001, he hasn’t thrown fewer than 30 touchdowns since 2008–he’s just incredible. He’s like late-career Barry Bonds (minus the steroids, we hope): age be damned, he’s going to wreck this league. Again.
2. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers
Roethlisberger is so consistent he’s actually become a bit overlooked. He turns in a top-five passing season every year, so there’s nothing to come back from, no stories to write or #hottakes to spew. But the fact is that Roethlisberger has been consistently great, and he’s one of the very best quarterbacks in football.
It’s all thanks to his greatness that the Steelers are even good right now. The team has been mired in salary cap hell for years, unable to make free agent moves and watching as all their defensive stalwarts age and lose effectiveness. And in that time, the historically smashmouth, defensive stalwart Pittsburgh Steelers have become an offensive juggernaut. It’s not everybody who could throw 12 touchdown passes in two games. The Steelers have a special quarterback here; one who can make all the throws while somehow eluding eight different tacklers on the same play.
1. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
How could it be anyone but Aaron Rodgers? Manning is great, but old; Luck is still working toward this spot; and no one else really has an argument. There’s no one in the league who can scramble around for 30 seconds, chuck a pass into the air only to have it land perfectly in the place only the receiver could get it.
That’s what opposing cornerbacks have to deal with. There’s a reason all of the Packers’ receivers seem to succeed; there’s a reason the team wins the NFC North every year. And it’s all thanks to the MVP. No one else comes close.
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