Ranking Every NFL Team's QB Situation at Midseason: 1-5

This has been a shocking season so far, and at the half-way mark things are shaping up much differently than anyone would have expected. Who would have guessed that at the midway point Dallas would be last in their division and at risk of missing the playoffs and Kurt Warner would be a serious MVP candidate?

I think it's time to reassess each team's strengths and weaknesses, starting with the QB position:

1. New Orleans: Drew Brees is having an MVP-like season. Too bad his team is in the NFC South basement. Brees, though, is on pace to throw for over 5,000 yards and 30 TDs. And he’s done it with most of his top weapons in and out of the lineup. Impressive.

New Orleans boasts Mark Brunell as their #2, which helps vault them to the top spot with quality veteran leadership (Note I said quality, see Brad Johnson.)

2. Arizona: Kurt Warner is also having an MVP-like season for the Cardinals. He’s second in total yards, has thrown 16 TDs to only 6 INTs and is completing nearly 70% of his passes! And to top it all off the Cards have a commanding lead in their division. It doesn’t hurt that he has 2 of the league’s top-10 receivers to throw to every week.

The only thing keeping the Cards from the number one spot is the quality of the Bench. This was supposed to be Matt Leinart’s team by now, but he has been very ineffective as a starter. The only thing Brian St. Pierre has done as a pro is be just obscure enough that someone would impersonate him to get chicks and no one would notice.

3. Philadelphia: Donovan McNabb is having a quality season so far. He’s not lighting up the scoreboards like he used to, but he’s been active, mobile and has managed to throw for over 2,000 yards and double-digit touchdowns. Impressive considering he did it without Kevin Curtis, Reggie Brown, Brian Westbrook and L.J. Smith for long stretches of the season. Now that his targets are all back and mostly healthy expect to see his numbers go up. If the Eagles make a strong Playoff push you’ll be hearing McNabb’s name in MVP circles.

The Eagles have Kevin Kolb and A.J. Feeley as backups. Kolb hasn’t exactly impressed in his garbage time as a pro, but he was outstanding in college and in the preseason. Feeley is a capable backup, though he is turnover prone. The Eagles would have been 10-6 and playoff bound last season if Feeley hadn’t thrown costly interceptions at the end of games against New England and Seattle.

4. San Diego: Phillip Rivers is having an excellent season. He has just over 2,000 yards and leads the league with 19 TD passes and only 6 INTs! If the Chargers were performing better as a team they might be higher up the list, but as it is, Rivers isn’t guiding his team to wins, and so 4th is where they’ll land.

San Diego has a decent bench. Billy Volek is a capable spot-starter and played very well in his eight games starting for Tennessee in ’04. Charlie Whitehurst is their #3 guy. His pro stats consist of 2 rushes for 13 yards and a touchdown. The Chargers are hoping not to rely on him to rally them for the playoffs.

5. New York Giants: The Giants round out the top 5. Eli Manning is rewriting the stat books, but he is playing efficient football. He’s in the middle of the pack in yards, but has thrown 12 touchdowns to only 5 interceptions. He has a strong group of receivers and seems to have more confidence now that Shockey is gone and whenever Burress is out. Manning is proving that his solid play in their run to the Super Bowl last season wasn’t a fluke.

David Carr is Manning’s backup. Carr got a bad rep in Houston. No one could have won with the team they had back then, and it’s very difficult to throw touchdowns when you’re lying on your back under a 300-pound Defensive Lineman. Carr once threw and NFL record tying 22 straight completions. He has what it takes to succeed as a QB in the right situations. With the Giants sitting at 7-1, if Manning was lost for the season Carr would be able to pick up at least 3 or 4 more wins and guide them to the playoffs. Especially with Jacobs, Ward and Bradshaw pummeling opposing defenses.

*Note: This list is subjective and reflective of more than one player. For example, Romo might be a top-5 QB, but Dallas's backup QBs drag their rankings down.