With no [real] NFL action until September, it seems like analyzing Sporting News magazine's rankings of the top five NFC quarterbacks would be a good way to kill a little time. So without further adieu...
These are the top five NFC quarterbacks as ranked by Sporting News.
- Tony Romo, Cowboys
- Drew Brees, Saints
- Matt Hasselbeck, Seahawks
- Donovan McNabb, Eagles
- Eli Manning, Giants
Romo had 335 completions (5th in the NFC), 4,211 yards (2nd), 36 TDs (1st), and 19 interceptions (3rd-most) last year.
Romo threw for a lot of touchdowns and yards, but he also gave up a lot of picks.
Brees threw 440 completions (1st), 4,423 pass yards (1st), 28 touchdowns (tied for 2nd), and 18 picks (4th-most) in 2007-08.
Today's Must Reads
Brees, like Romo, threw for many scores and yardage, but he only tossed one less interception than Romo.
Hasselbeck totaled 352 caught passes (4th), 3,966 pass yards (5th), 28 TDs (tied for 2nd), and 12 INT (tied for 8th-most) last season.
Hasselbeck had the 2nd-most TDs in the NFC and was in the top five in pass yards. Plus, he didn't throw many interceptions.
McNabb registered 291 completed passes (7th), 3,324 yards through the air (8th), 19 TDs (7th) and seven interceptions (tied for 2nd-least) in 14 games last year.
Sure, McNabb had a down year in 2007-08, but he still made almost 300 passes and gained 3,000 pass yards. There's worse than that. His ranking below is accurate because he only threw seven picks.
Manning recorded 297 completions (6th), 3,336 pass yards (7th), 23 TDs (6th), and 20 picks (tied for the most). The only thing Manning has going for him is a Super Bowl ring, which was mostly won by the Giants' defense.
It looks to me like the list should be reordered to look like this:
- Brees
- Hasselbeck
- McNabb
- Romo
- Manning
Sources: http://forums.charlotte.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=kr-cltpanthers&msg=34862.1&ctx=1
comments (11) write a comment »
write a new comment
about 1 month ago
How did McNabb have a down year? 3,000 yds, 19 td, 7 int!!!!!
from about 1 month ago
I just remember hearing many "experts" saying he was having a down year. Maybe it was related to injuries, or something like that. I personally don't think he had much of a down year. That's why I ranked him third (but maybe you think I should have ranked him higher still).
from about 1 month ago
No the rankings not too much off, it's just he didnt have close to a down year
from about 1 month ago
I agree completely with the list but in a big spot which QB do you take... the true way to evaluate a QB is "does he possess the poise, leadership to lead your team to a touchdown drive in the Super Bowl"
Eli Manning can do that.. Tony Romo finds ways to lose it, Hasselback and Mcnabb didn't win the big one, Brees has only 2 playoff wins...
about 1 month ago
good article, all i can say
from about 1 month ago
Thanks, Tom, for the praise. That means a lot.
about 1 month ago
No, I just meant that there was nothing to criticize. I'm not gonna start explaining why you are right, because you pretty much did it in the article
about 1 month ago
So a teams record doesn't matter when determining the best QB's?
Part of the reason Brees had alot of completions was he was throwing the ball more every game because they were behind and had little running game. Romo had 8 more TD's in 132 less attempts (8 less per game) with only 212 less yards than Brees. Then there is the matter of 13-3 vs. 7-9 for a team that was picked as a contender and then fell apart (not all on Duece's injury)
McNabb had decent numbers but Westbrook carried the offense all year, which is why McNabb had less interceptions---he attempted and completed far less passes.
A case can be made for Hasselbeck who was solid as usual in a short passing system, but Romo clearly had a better season than anyone on the list.
You also ignored the most comprehensive stat--QB rating
Romo-97.4 (5th in NFL)
Hasselbeck-91.4 (8th)
McNabb-89.9 (9th)
Brees-89.4 (11th)
Eli-73.9 (25th)
More Like
Romo (Look at the numbers, the team record)
Hasselbeck (Over Brees because he had good #'s with low INTS and won games)
Brees (Big #'s but alot of 40+ attempt games as they struggled to win--maybe 3 quality wins all year)
McNabb (Alot of Westbrook and only a few above average games)
Manning (Yea he won the SB, but so did Trent Dilfer and he is not on anyone's list...)
from about 1 month ago
It seems my article wasn't as in-depth as you would have liked. A friend who read the article said the same thing. You bring up some good points. But my rankings stand based on the stats in the article.
about 1 month ago
Not sure how Payton Manning, Tom Brady and Brett Farve got left off the list
You have to have something like finding a way to win games that are all but lost (pulling it out factor)
I would pick these guys before Brees, McNabb (all though he finds ways to pull them out)or Hasselbeck
from about 1 month ago
Perhaps you should have the titled "Analyzing Sporting News's Top Five NFC QBs" more carefully. Notice the NFC part of it, it doesn't say NFL. Yes, Brett Favre is a great quarterback, but I was more interested in reordering Sporting News's original rankings to my opinion, not mix-matching other QBs into and out of the list. Now that you mention it I'm curious about why Favre was left off the list (perhaps the rankings were projections for 2008-09, in that case Favre wouldn't have been there considering he is still technically retired even though he wants to play again).
write a new comment