NFL Quarterback Rankings: An Armchair Quarterback’s Guide
1. Aaron Rodgers – Green Bay Packers
For my money, Rodgers is the easy first pick. He has a strong arm, he’s accurate, he’s highly athletic, he’s a leader, and despite missing some games last season I still trust his ability to hold up for me more than I do an aging Peyton Manning.
2. Peyton Manning – Denver Broncos
Peyton may be getting up there in years, he may not have the arm he once did, and he may not have the best postseason record of all time, but he did put up arguably the best regular season in the history of the position last season.
3. Drew Brees – New Orleans Saints
Drew Brees edges out Tom Brady for the third spot on my list. You can’t really go wrong with either guy, but Brees has put up better numbers the past few seasons. You can argue that Brees has had better weapons to work with, but the numbers he put up without Sean Payton two years ago show his elite level of play.
4. Tom Brady – New England Patriots
While Brady’s numbers may have been down last season, there just isn’t any other QB that I think is ready to knock him out of the “Big Four” at the top of this list. If you took Tom Brady off the Patriots last year they probably go from a 12 win team down to a 6-7 win team.
5. Philip Rivers – San Diego Chargers
For me, this is one of the hardest spots to pick. I feel there’s a clear drop off after the first four guys and then I can make a strong case for five different guys to be the next man up. I ultimately chose Rivers. As a KC fan, I hate him with a passion, but there’s no denying that he was one of the absolute best QBs in the NFL last season. In my opinion, SD’s roster last season was lacking in talent. They made the playoffs because of Philip Rivers, period.
6. Ben Roethlisberger – Pittsburgh Steelers
I debated a lot between Big Ben and some of the young up and coming QBs, but ultimately I feel like Ben carried his team every bit as much as some of the younger guys did (or more so) and he has the Super Bowl win (technically two, but the first didn’t have anything to do with his play) to tip the scale in his favor. While other Super Bowl winners (Eli, Flacco) have struggled while their roster transitions, Ben keeps churning out good seasons.
7. Andrew Luck – Indianapolis Colts
While Luck may not have accomplished as much in his young career as some of the guys below him on this list, there is no denying his talent and amazing upside. In just his second season his entire team’s offense rested squarely on his shoulders and he responded by carrying them into the divisional round of the playoffs. The sky’s the limit for Luck.
8. Matt Ryan – Atlanta Falcons
Some people have soured a little on Ryan after the Falcons abysmal 2013 season. However, Ryan still put up respectable numbers despite a poor running game, poor offensive line, poor defense, and the loss of one of his star WRs. If you put Ryan on the Seahawks or the 49ers (the teams of the next couple QBs on this list) I think those teams get better, not worse.
9. Russell Wilson – Seattle Seahawks
Wilson was fantastic in Seattle’s championship run last season. While his defense steals a lot of his spotlight and the offense still relies heavily on the run game, that doesn’t mean Wilson wasn’t playing fantastic. Tom Brady started his career as a guy that led a stacked Patriots team, don’t be surprised if Wilson follows his same career path to stardom.
10. Colin Kaepernick – San Francisco 49ers
There may not be a more polarizing QB on this list than Kaepernick. Depending on who you talk to, he’s either one of the most incredibly talented QBs in all of football or overrated and a bad pocket passer. Maybe the answer is a little of both, but all I know is that he’s been good enough to lead his team to a Super Bowl and a NFC Championship Game in his first two seasons playing. I’ll take my chances with that.
QBs 11-22 on the next page.