Ranking Every NFL Team’s QB situation at Midseason: 6-15The middle class of the league, teams with good-to-adequate QB situations. Many of the teams on the list have a stud QB, but a very shallow bench, or several competent players, but no franchise standouts:
6. Indianapolis: Peyton Manning has been the best quarterback of the last decade, though he has struggled of late. He’s still putting up decent stats and is on his way to have another 4,000 yard, 20-touchdown season. The more time he has to heal from off-season knee surgery, the better he is going to play. The Colts are struggling on offense and defense this season, but with Manning behind center they’re a threat to win any game and can still reach the playoffs.
Sorgi is in his 5th season as Manning’s backup. He has almost no game experience, playing mostly in mop-up duty. It’s hard to gauge how effective Sorgi would be if Manning went down, but if Dungy or the Front Office had any doubts they would have attempted to draft or sign a suitable replacement at some point in these last five years.
7. Washington: Jason Campbell has been a pleasant surprise in Washington this season. 1,960 yards and 8 touchdowns are fairly pedestrian, but he has done a great job protecting the football. He didn’t throw an interception until week 9. Clinton Portis is running well enough to win games by himself, and Campbell is doing enough not to lose.
Todd Collins is everything you could hope for in a backup quarterback. He’s efficient, he doesn’t make mistakes and he doesn’t turn the ball over. The ‘Skins would still be contenders with him behind center. Colt Brennan is the third stringer out of Hawaii. If there’s one thing they like to do at Hawaii it’s throw the football, so he should have a lot of practice. The NFL is a whole different ball game, though and he may struggle to adapt.
8. Green Bay: How many people in Green Bay are counting their blessings Brett Favre isn’t starting for their team anymore? Aaron Rodgers is playing very well this year, to the tune of 13 TDs and nearly 2,000 yards and his team is still competing for their division. Rodgers was rewarded recently with a new long-term contract and few in Green Bay seem to miss that Favre guy. Rodgers is likely to only get better as he learns the subtleties of the game that only experience can bring.
The trouble with the Pack is their weak bench. They have 2 rookies - Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn - as their reserves. Aaron Rodgers has been battling minor injuries much of the season, if he goes down for good this team is going to slip fast. The lack of a quality backup is why the Packers have landed lower on the list.
9. Denver: Jay Cutler started the season as the league’s hottest quarterback. Unfortunately he’s really fallen off a bit recently, with 6 interceptions in the last 3 games. (I’m writing this before the Thursday night game against Cleveland.) Jay Cutler is a good player with a good group of receivers, but he’s been forced to compensate for the poor play of the defense and running game.
Patrick Ramsey disappointed early in his career as a starter and has spent the last few seasons bouncing around as a backup. He will never light it up, but he has the potential to win games if called upon. (At least as many games as one can win without a defense or a running game.)
10. Carolina: Jake Delhomme’s stats this season are fairly average, but you can’t argue with the success the Panthers have had so far. When Delhomme plays well, the Panthers win. When he struggles, they lose. He has thrown 3 picks and 0 TDs in 2 losses this season.
Matt Moore is Carolina’s #2. His numbers from last season are very unimpressive, but he apparently did enough to prove to John Fox and the Front Office that they no longer needed David Carr. Josh Mccown is their #3. He has started here and there, but has only thrown more touchdowns than interceptions once in seven seasons (2004, 11 TDs/10 INTs). He is a last resort.
11. Dallas: Tony Romo has produced top-tier stats through the first six weeks of the season, before missing the next three contests with an injured pinky finger. Romo comes from the Brett Favre school of quarterbacking. Meaning, when in doubt run around for a while before throwing the ball into the air and praying your man comes down with it. Some sports commentators call this “Backyard” or “Playground” football. I mostly call it lucky. When it works, it works well. When it fails, it fails miserably (Like the 0 TD, 3 INT game against Philly last season). Romo has had the benefit of throwing the ball to T.O. and Jason Whitten and facing defenses that cram eight men into the box to stop Marion Barber.
Dallas would be higher up this list if it weren’t for their dismal bench. If Brad Johnson is the answer I cringe to think of what the question might be. Johnson is 40-years-old and has done nothing in the last 5 seasons to prove he is even a worthy third-stringer. It’s a miracle he was only sacked eight times and threw five interceptions. Brooks Bollinger inherited a sinking ship at the end of last week and tried his best to survive till the bye. The ‘Boys are facing an uphill climb to the playoffs and won’t make it if Romo isn’t their starter.
12. Chicago: After several seasons of searching the Bears have finally discovered a quarterback, and he happened to already be on their roster. Orton’s stats aren’t eye-popping, but with a sometimes stout defense and rookie Matt Forte’s moving the chains they don’t need to be. I thought Orton did a decent job his rookie season when he was forced into a starting role, and he’s performing even more efficiently now, guiding his team to the top of their division.
Then there’s Rex Grossman. There really is something to this Good Rex/Bad Rex comparison. In the beginning of the 2006 season it seemed like Grossman-to-Berrian was going to be the Manning-to-Harrison of the modern future. He’s fallen on hard times since then. Grossman was less-than-stellar after replacing an injured Orton last week and needs to pick things up if Orton misses significant time.
13. Atlanta: Matt Ryan is the first good quarterback Atlanta has seen in a long time. Say what you will about Michael Vick, but he was woefully deficient throwing the football. How he’s still worshipped in Atlanta is beyond me. Ryan has been a steadying force for a franchise in tumult. If he continues with his impressive play and the Falcons catch a few lucky breaks he might continue the streak of teams rising from the bottom to win the NFC south.
Chris Redman backs Ryan. He is a capable veteran player who started 4 games last season and played well. With a strong running game fueled by Turner Redman would have the opportunity to win games should Ryan go down. D.J. Shockley is a complete unknown, having never thrown a pass during a regular season NFL game.
14. New York Jets: Brett Favre will go down as one of the best quarterbacks ever to play the game. And he probably should have stayed retired. His stats are decent, he has thrown 15 touchdowns this season, but the 12 interceptions take a bit of the luster off a number like that. Favre - like Romo, whom I mentioned earlier - likes to throw the ball into the air and let his receivers make plays. Some people call him a “gunslinger,” I just call him careless. When his receivers make the catch it looks good. “I meant to do that.” When the defense comes down with it, ”Whoops.” Favre is capable of mounting near-impossible comebacks, but he is also capable of single-handedly losing a game with mistakes and miscues.
The Jets’ bench is unimpressive. Kellen Clemens is their #2. He has more than twice as many interceptions as touchdowns in his career, but he has been in the offense for three years and has won games before with this team. Brett Ratliff and Erik Ainge have a combined 0 NFL pass attempts.
15. Miami: Chad Pennington is a clear upgrade over what Miami was planning to have this season. He came to Miami to do what he does best, play with accuracy (67.4%) and good decision-making (only 4 INTs). Intelligent play, plus a 50-yard touchdown reception here and there has made him – in my humble opinion - the best starting QB in the AFC East. Pennington, plus aggressive, outside-the-box coaching and a powerful running game have kept the ‘Fins in the playoff hunt thus far.
Chad Henne and John Beck aren’t NFL caliber QBs at this point in their careers. If Pennington goes down the ‘Fins playoff hopes fall with him. They also keep Miami from besting the NYJ in my rankings.
*Note: This list has been very difficult to compile. Many of the rankings may be - to a minor extent - arbitrary. You could make a case for many teams being much higher, or lower. I would like to hear everyone's input.
I'm flabbergasted. If you had told me yesterday that the score in the Arizona/Carolina game was 30 to 7 in the 4th quarter I wouldn't have been phased. If you told me that the Cards were on top I wouldn't have believed you. Not even for a second.
This is even more embarrassing than that time I ripped my pants.
