FanShot

Ranking the NFC South Quarterbacks

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Pat Y links to an Insider article by Trent Dilfer (better analyst than quarterback) in which he rates all NFL quarterbacks, including some backups. A year ago, people were still dancing around the question of whether or not Drew Brees would one day be a Hall of Famer. My, how a yardage record changes things! Here's what Pat has to say now: "There’s little doubt Brees will be in the Hall of Fame someday..." Too true. But what about the other quarerbacks? Not having an Insider account, I can't judge how Dilfer ranked them; but according to Yasinskas, he had Matt Ryan "grouped with guys like Philip Rivers, Joe Flacco, Tony Romo and Matthew Stafford." Frankly, I still think that's too high (well, not as far as Flacco is concerned, who is ranked ridiculously high by almost everyone). Ryan just doesn't impress me. He piles up regular season stats with the help of a running game, and then embarrasses himself in the playoffs. Every. Year. To me, he's a latter-day Dave Krieg. He can look like an elite quarterback one week, and then like garbage the next. If "the next" is in the playoffs. Cam Newton? He's Randall Cunningham without the career renaissance with the Vikings. Josh Freeman? Latter-day Steve McNair: good enough to make The Show with a top-notch team around him, not good enough to win it by his own brilliance alone. Like Drew Brees.