NFL Quarterback Value (QBV): Ranking the Quarterbacks of Every NFL Team (Week 3)

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Every week QBV will be ranking the quarterbacks of each team from one to thirty-two. This is not a fantasy analysis as matchups will severely alter those rankings. This is plainly an in depth analysis of the top signal callers in the game. More or less it is a QB Valuing system.

Breakdown

The following criteria will be measured and factored into each ranking (in no specific order).

- Last week's performance

- Past year returns

- Durability

- Game manageability

- Clutchness

- Age/experience

- Potential

- Quality of their opponents (schedule)

- Overall competency of the rest of the team

The official statistical breakdown will be available after this week's games.

32. Arizona

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Oh, how I remember writing about Kevin Kolb's futility and how Kyle Orton was a better QB way back in July 2011 when everyone thought he was some Desert-like savior.

I did not include his name or that of John Skelton as, combined, they would still rank last. Although Kolb did some solid things in the past game and a quarter, he still does not possess enough QBV to supplant the young quarterbacks at the bottom of this list.

31. Ryan Tannehill

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The eighth pick in this year's draft, Tannehill has a long road ahead of him especially being the first QB selected in the first round by the Dolphins since 1983 (any guesses on who that was?).

Tannehill has not done too poorly so far this season, but he needs to improve his completion percentage and take a few less sacks. He has much to learn.

He will take his beatings on this weak Dolphins team. Good luck this week against Rex Ryan!

30. Jake Locker

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Initially scouted as a "bigger, taller, right-handed version of Steve Young," Locker has a long way to go. He did a decent job in limited time last season, but in order to move up in the ranks he needs to improve his play and make decisive drives that alter the scope of the game.

He needs to become the game changer that Steve Young was, heck, even if he becomes Steve Young 0.5 he will move far up this list.

Take your time Jake.

29. Blaine Gabbert

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He has remarkably improved from last season, and that is with a 51.7 completion percentage.

He has managed the game in a much better fashion. Granted, he has a top tier back in MJD to hand off to.

Gabbert needs to continue his progression, up that completion percentage and make key third down plays to improve on this list.

28. Brandon Weeden

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The 22nd pick in this year's draft, Weeden provided a spark against a decent Bengals defense.

The impressively old rookie, Weeden, who turns 29 in a couple of weeks, showed a spark against the Bengals after completing 26 passes for 322 yards.

After such an abysmal showing against the Eagles at home, Weeden jumped out of being ranked in the 30s showing great poise in a close game.

27. Christian Ponder

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Ponder has started the season playing very well.

Sure you could ask how a quarterback who has a completion percentage of 75 percent and hasn't thrown an interception is ranked 27th in the QBV. However, don't be fooled, it is two games against the Jaguars and possibly the worst defense in the league in Indianapolis.

This week's game against the NFL's best defense, the 49ers, will really show how Ponder has grown since his average 2011 rookie season.

Mirage or not?

26. Carson Palmer

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I still cannot believe how much the Raiders gave up to get the soon to be 33-year-old.

Ever since that devastating knee injury in the playoffs against the Steelers, Palmer (and even Chad Johnson) have not been the same.

Maybe I am not giving Palmer enough credit for attempting to play quarterback in the Black Hole, but he has yet to do anything worthy of improving his rank on this list.

Sure he has thrown for over 600 yards so far, but none of them have been in anything resembling a close game.

25. Ryan Fitzpatrick

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After coming off a season where he threw 23 interceptions, Fitzmagic started poorly, throwing three picks against the decent Jets defense.

However, he did respond with a decent game against the Chiefs, although he does have arguably the most electric back in the NFL right now in C.J Spiller. This allows defenses to key on Spiller giving Fitzpatrick plenty of room for success.

After signing that monstrous $59M extension, it seems as if the Harvard product used his smarts to maximize his potential earnings.

24. Matt Cassel

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The 30-year-old Cassel seems to always be somewhat steady if not unspectacular.

Since his monstrous 2010-2011 season he has thrown 13 touchdowns to 12 interceptions and had a porous winning record.

Sounds about right at spot 24.

23. Mark Sanchez

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The Jets Quarterback has had to deal with a lot in his first few seasons in New York, especially with the arrival of Mr. Tim Tebdashian.

Sanchez has clearly improved his strength and quality of play this season and it is noticeable in his delivery.

He has started out strong against a supposedly strong Bills D and Pittsburgh D.

22. Sam Bradford

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Former first overall pick, Bradford had a terrible season but looks to be reinvigorated under Jeff Fisher.

A pass completion rate of over 70 percent and a 4/1 TD/INT ratio shows progression and St. Louis has exceeded expectations to date.

Just keep it up Sam, good luck against Da Bears.

21. Josh Freeman

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Freeman, a sexy late round fantasy pick last year had a terrible 2011. That being said, the Bucs have been in both games and are very competitive.

With Vincent Jackson and Doug Martin continuing to mesh with Freeman, he can only improve and I expect the Buccaneers to improve under Schiano.

Russell Wilson

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I want to rank the under six foot quarterback higher, but I can't right now. He has the ability to move up quickly in the QBV. 

After a solid start at home against the Cowboys, the Hawks look to continue to roll against the Packers on Monday night.

Will he be the guy Bill Simmons says he is? Or just another decent QB?

19. Jay Cutler

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Behind a terrible offensive line, Cutler will struggle. His rank might be at an all time low after the last game so expect to see him get into the mid-teens after the Rams game. Although the Rams seem to be sneaky good on defense.

Not a very likeable guy either, nor does he ever seem to come through on third down.

18. Alex Smith

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He could easily be ranked higher, but the fact that the rest of his team is so good keeps him at eighteen. 

He just needs to manage his game and not mess anything up. Granted he has played very well in the first two games, I'd like to see more before I anoint him any higher than this. Again, the overall skill of his offense and defense lowers his QBV.

17. Andy Dalton

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Some might argue that this is a little high for Dalton. But after a solid rookie campaign he has played well, especially against two top tier defenses.

Yes, he has A.J Green to thank for his play but at the same time, if you watch Dalton you see that he is doing the right things and helping his team win more-so than other QBs.

15. Andrew Luck

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He needs to earn his marbles. Luck has played decently well although his statistics in the opener were in garbage time.

He still has some things to learn and he will improve, but give him some time before you put him ahead of some of the other guys on this list.

14. Matt Schaub

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Schaub never gets enough love since the Texans running game is so daunting. In the last two plus seasons Schaub has thrown 40 touchdowns to 18 interceptions and has a career QB rating of 92.3.

Schaub leads one of the best offenses in the game and he would be higher if he was more durable.

14. Michael Vick

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Vick could be No. 1 or No. 21 on this list. He has all the skills but often tries to do too much and gives up way too many turnovers. 

I will slot him here for now especially since he has led his teams late in the fourth to secure a 2-0 record. It is that ability to lead his team down the field when necessary that makes Vick a very good quarterback.

Also, he has faced two very good defenses so far.

13. Philip Rivers

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By Philip Rivers' standards last year was a down year (27/20, 4624 yards), so you have a sense why he is up here.

I also find Rivers to be a quarterback that is the reason his team finds success. If this was baseball his WAR (wins above replacement) would be very high.

He has started the season with a 4/1 TD/INT ratio and a 110 QB rating, however they have played Oakland and Tennessee.

I look forward to this week's matchup with the Dirty Birds.

12. Joe Flacco

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Everyone is expecting big things from Flacco this season. However, last game he looked unenthusiastic, lethargic and just plain bad in the second half. 

Flacco gets a lot of flack (ugh, I had to) for complaining and not being able to make that last minute drive, but I think we will see a new JF this season. I mean his career TD/INT ratio is 83/47 so he must be doing something right.

11. RGIII

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Pretty hard not to love this guy and love the way he plays. Sure he was unable to mount a last minute drive to win the game last week but he has shown that he has all the skills necessary to be very good.

He has completed 39 passes in his first two games and also rushed for 124 yards. Is he better than Cam Newton was at this point last year? I would say so, yet both his value to his team (and Newton's) are very high and thus gives him a solid edge of luck at this point in the QBV

10. Peyton Manning

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Not much to say about Peyton. He looked good Week 1 and bad in Week 2, however Atlanta is very good on both sides of the ball.

He is probably the hardest quarterback to rank right now so we will see the Hall of Famer's rank jump around.

9. Tony Romo

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I look forward to everyone's wrath for ranking Romo so high and in the top 10.

People need to remember that the Cowboys were a couple of plays away from knocking out the Super Bowl champions in the final week of the season.

Romo had a decent year last season (31/10) and has a career completion percentage of 64.5 and a career QB rating of 96.9, which is higher than Brady's and Manning's.

Hate all you want, this guy doesn't catch any breaks and having to deal with Dez Bryant can't be too fun.

He just needs to learn how to close.

8. Ben Roethlisberger

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Ben is one of those quarterbacks where statistics do not do him justice.

Ben is a gamer and he makes plays. Simple as that.

Is there any other quarterback you would want on third down?

7. Matthew Stafford

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After throwing for over 5000 yards and 41 touchdowns last season, Stafford hasn't looked right so far this year.

He sailed a lot of passes last week over the heads of his receivers and missed a ton of open targets.

Having Megatron definitely increases his success and lowers his QBV, but at the same time Stafford is pretty darn important to the success of these Lions.

Detroit has also played the best defense in the NFL and against a very good St. Louis D.

6. Cam Newton

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Cam has really struggled so far this season and not looked as electric as he did in his rookie year.

Are teams catching on to what he likes to do and his tendencies?

He is one of the most gifted athletes at the quarterback position and this ranking is based on what he can achieve when successful. 

There aren't many quarterbacks anymore that can be legitimately unstoppable when they are on but Newton is definitely one of them.

5. Matt Ryan

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Has he finally figured it out this season? Is he finally going to become a top tier quarterback?

QBV says he will and we believe that his progression has been perfect and that we are ready to see him peak.

Ryan currently leads the league in QB Rating and has demonstrated that he can lead this offense on every possession.

The team is now his and isn't focused on the aging Michael Turner anymore, so get ready to see Ryan fly.

Perhaps this ranking is too high for Ryan, but his play so far has been that good.

4. Eli Manning

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Like Roethlisberger, Eli's statistics are worse than many players lower on this list.

That being said, the reigning Super Bowl MVP and two-time winner of the award, Manning just gets things done.

He isn't the flashiest and in many cases looks awkward with no grace on the field, but his team wins in the playoffs and isn't that exactly what you want from your QB?

How many other QBs could have brought their team back against Tampa Bay last week?

3. Drew Brees

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It is pretty hard to dislike these top three quarterbacks.

Brees has been a complete star since taking over in New Orleans in the 2006-2007 season.

After throwing for 5476 yards and 46 touchdowns, Brees has got off to a rocky start without his coach and good friend Sean Payton.

I don't expect the Saints struggles to continue and Brees is going to continue to be a top three quarterback in this league.

2. Tom Brady

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Does Tom Brady actually age? He is now 35 years old but still looks as good as he always has.

A career 303/116 TD/INT ratio is ridiculous and Brady will be in the running for the MVP this season.

Even without Hernandez, I expect the Patriots to go about their business and finish with 12 plus wins.

Winslow could also be a fantastic pickup for them as he can do a lot of what Hernandez did.

Don't know what else needs to be said.

1. Aaron Rodgers

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Sure he has not done as well as he did last season, but man he is still the best quarterback in the league. It is hard to replicate a 45/6 TD/INT season.

Rodgers is the life force of the Packers. Sure when Flynn came in last season he still rolled, but Rodgers has helped make many of these players what they are.

 

Thanks for reading Week 3's QBV and I will see you next week!

Get at me on Twitter @the__ste (double underscore) for fantasy advice, fantasy articles, MLB, NFL news and discussion, as well as anything else I find awesome.