Yesterday I ranked my top five NFL quarterbacks. Not on career accomplishments, but on pure talent as of right now. Today, I round out my top 10 and rank quarterbacks 6-10.
Make the jump for part two and to see which quarterbacks made the cut! Then share your own ranking of second tier quarterbacks.
6. Matt Schuab
Schuab had another good year this past season, which went largely unnoticed thanks to the historically bad Texans defense. His numbers did go down this year, but the tradeoff was the best rusher in the NFL. He had a 2-1 TD to INT ratio, which is what you look for in an elite quarterback.
He led the Texans to two comeback wins in the 4th quarter/OT and would of had three more if not for a very poor Texans defense. He deals with an O-line that is the leanest in the league and designed for a zone-blocking scheme, which makes it harder on pocket passers like Schaub. He will probably never get into that top rung, but for now, I'm willing to put him on outside looking in.
7. Sam Bradford
CSC commenter: Hey Jon, I think you made a mistake.
Jon: Oh?
Commenter: Yeah, check your #7 ranking. You gave it to Bradford.
Jon: No, that's right.
Commenter: WTF??
Jon: The point of this post was not to rank the quarterbacks but rather answer the metaphorical question of which quarterback you would want on your team. Based on his 2010 performance, Bradford did amazing for a rookie QB. He led the previously 1-15 Rams to a 7-9 performance, just missing the playoffs by one game. He didn't just hand the ball off to Steven Jackson all day either; he actually threw the ball 590 times. That was third in the nation. His completion percentage ranked 20th but this was with no wide receivers and a fledgling defense. He is only going to get better from here, and I'd bet now that he's going to become a top tier QB in the future.
8. Josh Freeman
Same point I made above with Bradford. Basically: dude got skillz. He's young, he's good and he's going to be harassing us for a very long time. Excuse me a minute while I go and drink that thought away with some nice tasty laundry detergent.
9. Michael Vick
You may be asking, "Why is Vick so low?" Didn't he have a fantastic season? Yes. However, some things that I've noticed about Vick:
- He 'crapped' out towards the end of the season
- Because of his willingness to run the ball, he finds himself injured often. It's a fact of being a running QB.
- He has supposedly 'fixed' himself. I'm not talking about the legal issues, I'm talking about the passer issues; his willingness to abandon the pass if his first read isn't there. I'm not sure I buy it yet.
- Because of his injuries and running the ball, he isn't going to have the normal life of a QB. He might hit a decline within the next couple of years instead of 5-7 down the road.
10. Matt Ryan
Why Ryan? Because I don't like any other quarterback to put here. Most of the others to me are all middle of the pack and should all be fighting for a place around 15 give or take. So as much as it pains me to say it, Ryan is the only one I'd put here. He has shown flashes of potential as a good QB but take away the Atlanta running game and watch as he only throws the ball towards Roddy White.
If Atlanta gets into too big of a hole (see: Green Bay game), Ryan can't fish them out. He can keep a team in the lead, or try to mount a comeback if Atlanta's within two possessions. But he can't put the team on his back and win the game himself. He seems mediocre against good defenses and great against mediocre defenses. That screams bottom of the top third or top of the middle to me. Which is where I think he's at as of right now. In the future however, he's got more potential.
So, you've seen my top 10 quarterback rankings. So now it's your turn. Who do you have as the 2nd tier of quarterbacks?