NFL Power Rankings Week 7: Top 32 Starting Quarterbacks Ranked
Entering Week 7 of the 2010 NFL season, power rankings of the league's 32 teams are as volatile as they've ever been this late in the year.
No one's undefeated, only the Buffalo Bills and Carolina Panthers are winless, and 11 teams are either .500 or one game away. Preseason favorites like the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings have flopped while 2009 bottom-feeders such as the Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks have started hot.
The bottom line? We don't know if they are who we think they are, let alone who we thought they were.
With quarterbacks, thankfully, it's a different ballgame. No matter how many interceptions Tony Romo threw (two) in Dallas' Week 6 loss at Minnesota, there's no way the Cowboys would trade him straight-up for San Francisco's Alex Smith.
Despite such tiers of talent, the master list of NFL passers still features plenty of week-to-week jostling for position. As of this next-to-last week in October, here's how they're ranked.
32. Matt Moore (Carolina Panthers)
1 of 32
Last year, Matt Moore piqued the Carolina Panthers' curiosity by throwing for 990 yards and eight scores to only one interception in five games as their starter.
Well, wonder no more. As it turns out, the 2009 Buccaneers and Giants were as hapless as advertised and the Patriots, Vikings, and Saints were all dogging it, having clinched their playoff berths before facing the Panthers. Moore's thrown six picks in just three appearances already.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: San Francisco
31. Jason Campbell (Oakland Raiders)
2 of 32
Sticking a fork in Jason Campbell may be the saddest and most necessary conclusion to be drawn from the 2010 NFL season.
Through six years in the league, Campbell has been greeted with a completely new playbook almost every offseason since the Washington Redskins spent a first-round pick on him in 2005.
At this point, he's interpreting football in five different languages, none of them fluently.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Denver
30. Max Hall (Arizona Cardinals)
3 of 32
Max Hall's 17-of-27 effort in his first NFL start was enough to tread water as the Arizona Cardinals' ground game and defense worked a 30-20 upset win over the New Orleans Saints.
Still, he's got a long way to go before he'll leapfrog an experienced mediocre game manager like Buffalo's Ryan Fitzpatrick.
That the Cardinals yanked flunkies Matt Leinart and Derek Anderson speaks more to head coach Ken Whisenhunt's all-or-nothing style than Hall's potential.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Seattle
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29. Ryan Fitzpatrick (Buffalo Bills)
4 of 32
Given a different set of circumstances, it's not impossible to envision a world where Ryan Fitzpatrick caught on with a team other than the Rams, Bengals, or Bills and settled down as the second coming of Trent Dilfer.
Unfortunately for Fitzpatrick, he's only ever been a placeholder—for Marc Bulger in St. Louis, for Carson Palmer in Cincinnati and now for Jake Locker or Andrew Luck in Buffalo.
The odds are good that someone will be in the market for a 60 percent passer next year, too.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Baltimore
28. Colt McCoy (Cleveland Browns)
5 of 32
Colt McCoy should thank the same gods who stood watch over his bones and ligaments against the Pittsburgh Steelers' defense for garbage time, where he padded the stats from his first NFL start with an irrelevant touchdown.
Then again, all it earned him was another go, this time against the Saints' blitz-happy defense. A low release point and a weak arm won't fare any better in New Orleans, but the Browns might as well get this out of their system.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: New Orleans
27. Brett Favre (Minnesota Vikings)
6 of 32
The trend that will emerge here, of ranking up-and-coming young quarterbacks ahead of the old guard, is no accident.
As veteran quarterbacks age, their bad habits crop up more frequently even as their physical talents fade. Nowehere is this more apparent than in Minnesota, where Brett Favre is getting paid $16 million to slow the Vikings' offense to his 41-year-old crawl.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Green Bay
26. Carson Palmer (Cincinnati Bengals)
7 of 32
At this point, fans in Cincinnati might expect ads searching for the "real" Carson Palmer to start appearing on the sides of their milk cartons.
As a 16-game starter last year, Palmer seemed willing to play second fiddle to the Bengals' ground game, a winning recipe that produced the team's first playoff appearance since the 2005 season. This year, his three costly picks in Week 5 derailed Cincinnati against Tampa Bay.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Atlanta
25. Donovan McNabb (Washington Redskins)
8 of 32
There is no more overrated quarterback in the NFL than Donovan McNabb.
Despite a below-average 58 percent completion rate and the Redskins' 19 points per game on average, McNabb has been lauded for Washington's turnaround from 4-12 cellar-dweller to 3-3 contender.
He's an upgrade over Jason Campbell only in that the Redskins now end drives with field goal attempt after field goal attempt instead of punt after punt.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Chicago
24. Matt Hasselbeck (Seattle Seahawks)
9 of 32
Since keying Seattle's eye-opening 31-6 beating of San Francisco in Week 1, Matt Hasselbeck has reverted to his mediocre form from the past few years.
Tellingly, he has yet to outgun any of the Seahawks' opponents despite the team's 3-2 record through five games. Even the 49ers' Alex Smith managed more passing yards in that blowout. Hasselbeck isn't bad, just mediocre, but that's enough to leave Seattle stuck at this level of play.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Arizona
23. Alex Smith (San Francisco 49ers)
10 of 32
It's easy to see how the San Francisco 49ers could have decided to draft Alex Smith back in 2005.
On and off the field, the 6'4" Utah product looks and acts the part of a franchise quarterback whenever he doesn't have a football in his hands. He's well-spoken and well-built—and still the Niners' offense stalls out, drive after woe-begotten drive, despite the presence of such weapons as Frank Gore, Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Carolina
22. Vince Young (Tennessee Titans)
11 of 32
To speak in terms that college football fans—Vince Young's chief supporters—can understand, the former third overall pick is the Boise State of NFL quarterbacks.
When analyzing Young's alleged ability to "just win football games," it's impossible to overstate how much opposing defenses are scheming to stop Chris Johnson. It's not unusual for the Titans to see a single-high safety, or even two safeties playing close to the line of scrimmage, on most downs.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Philadelphia
21. David Garrard (Jacksonville Jaguars)
12 of 32
In the aftermath of David Garrard's putrid 7-of-12 outing on Monday Night Football, it's easy to forget that he has the NFL's sixth-best completion percentage (65.6) and his nine passing touchdowns are tied for eighth among quarterbacks.
But his downfield accuracy and sluggish decision-making leave much to be desired, making the Jacksonville Jaguars a prime candidate to draft one of the quarterbacks in next year's rookie class.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Kansas City
20. Sam Bradford (St. Louis Rams)
13 of 32
Before this season started, everyone but NFL.com's Gil Brandt would have expected to see Sam Bradford much further down this list.
This time last year, he was nursing a twice-injured shoulder and wearing street clothes on the Oklahoma sideline. This time two years ago, he was getting plays called in to him from the sideline and taking shotgun snaps.
Bradford has thrown for 1,357 yards and the Rams are 3-3. He's got the goods.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Tampa Bay
19. Matthew Stafford (Detroit Lions)
14 of 32
He's only thrown 15 passes this year, but Matthew Stafford is the most important part in the Detroit Lions' offensive machine.
Of those 15 passes, Stafford completed 11 for 83 yards in Detroit's season opener before getting crushed and sidelined by Julius Peppers. Had the Lions drafted an offensive tackle like Washington's Trent Williams to replace Jeff Backus, Stafford might have stayed upright to turn a few of Detroit's losses into upset wins with the same poise he demonstrated last year against Cleveland.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Washington (Week 8)
18. Matt Cassel (Kansas City Chiefs)
15 of 32
The Matt Cassel who showed up for Kansas City's heartbreaking 35-31 Week 6 loss at Houston is the one the Chiefs traded a second-round pick for last year.
His 20-of-29 effort included two darts to Dwayne Bowe that were more reminiscent of Tom Brady than his goal-line touchdown to linebacker Mike Vrabel, a signature Patriots play.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Jacksonville
17. Josh Freeman (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
16 of 32
Predictably, Josh Freeman's worst outings in 2010 have come in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints—two games in which they were badly outclassed.
But the moxie he's shown in returning from a broken thumb back in August to lead the Bucs to comeback wins over Cleveland and Cincinnati can't be ignored. This 6'6" second-year passer has the makings of another Big Ben.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: St. Louis
16. Chad Henne (Miami Dolphins)
17 of 32
Two weeks after Chad Henne's three interceptions showed Miami the downside of letting him loose, the Dolphins leaned on an impressive outing from their third-year quarterback in an overtime win at Green Bay.
Henne's 23-of-39 performance this past Sunday earned a passer rating similar to his struggles against New England, but the visual difference was night and day. He seemed to be passing downhill on the Packers, looking for Brandon Marshall often and going back to him confidently, even after incompletions.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Pittsburgh
15. Mark Sanchez (New York Jets)
18 of 32
Like Baltimore's done with Joe Flacco, the New York Jets have given Mark Sanchez a greater degree of freedom to lead his offense in 2010 after playing a dialed-down, grind-it-out brand of football last year.
Six games in, he's all over the place—for better and worse. The nine touchdowns Sanchez has thrown have been impressive strikes, but he's only completing passes at a 55 percent clip. That wouldn't cut it for a team with a less-smothering defense than the Jets' elite unit.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Green Bay (Week 8)
14. Kyle Orton (Denver Broncos)
19 of 32
Head coach Josh McDaniels seems determined to prove that shipping Jay Cutler out to Chicago wasn't a downgrade at quarterback, the Broncos' 2-4 record and their utter lack of a running game be damned.
Kyle Orton's 247 attempts are second only to Indianapolis' Peyton Manning (254) through six games, though his nine touchdowns rank him even with such luminaries as Detroit's Shaun Hill and Jacksonville's David Garrard. He's been more than competent, but Denver could have backed a better horse in 2009.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Oakland
13. Eli Manning (New York Giants)
20 of 32
The past three weeks of Eli Manning's schizophrenic performances, when taken together, manage to perfectly characterize him as a passer.
Manning followed a bland 18-of-30 Week 4 outing against Chicago by going full-tilt the following week at Houston, throwing three scores and two picks in the Giants' blowout win. This past week, he eased back into a game-managing two-TD effort to beat Detroit. He's accurate, if not consistently top-shelf.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Dallas
12. Kevin Kolb (Philadelphia Eagles)
21 of 32
The fact that there's even a hint of a quarterback controversy in Philadelphia after the Eagles' Week 6 win is the most damning indictment of head coach Andy Reid's decision-making to date.
For all the to-do surrounding Michael Vick's gaudy numbers against Detroit and Jacksonville, Kevin Kolb aced his job interview for the starting gig all over again by hitting his receivers early, often, and in stride. Vick, whose footwork leaves much to be desired, has had trouble with that last point.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Tennessee
11. Joe Flacco (Baltimore Ravens)
22 of 32
The most notable development in the Baltimore Ravens' fast start, with wins over the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers under their belt, is that they've taken the training wheels off for Joe Flacco.
He's on pace to throw a few more interceptions (16) than he did in 2009, but the Ravens will gladly take that small downside in exchange for Flacco's confident work with free agent acquisition Anquan Boldin. A bit better accuracy could vault him up these rankings.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Buffalo
10. Matt Ryan (Atlanta Falcons)
23 of 32
Take notes, Vince Young. Matt Ryan's statistics aren't good enough to put him among the NFL's top 10, but he's the kind of quarterback who actually "just wins games" for his team.
Kevin Kolb's weaponry proved superior in Atlanta's Week 6 loss to Philadelphia, but Ryan's command of the offense and smart, incisive passing kept the Falcons in a close contest with the Pittsburgh Steelers and keyed their Week 3 victory over New Orleans.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Cincinnati
9. Tony Romo (Dallas Cowboys)
24 of 32
Because of the 1-4 Dallas Cowboys' struggles in this young season, Tony Romo's improvement under center has been one of the NFL's best-kept secrets.
Judging by the "panic" talk surrounding them, you'd never guess that the Cowboys are a few plays away from 4-1 and that Romo has been nearly as accurate (143-of-206) as New Orleans' Drew Brees. He's thrown five picks the past two weeks, but he's balanced them with 626 yards and six scores, as well.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: New York Giants
8. Philip Rivers (San Diego Chargers)
25 of 32
At this point, fans in San Diego can only hope that Philip Rivers' career won't be defined by the only throw he can't make.
Rivers has been a prolific downfield passer this year, racking up 2,008 yards on 220 attempts through six games. But the Chargers' four losses have come against well-organized defenses who preyed not only on Rivers' poor protection, but his inability to hit the "honey" hole" between short and deep zones outside.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: New England
7. Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers)
26 of 32
Considered one of the league's top passers in fantasy football circles, Aaron Rodgers' raw yardage, touchdown, and turnover totals in the past two seasons have been elite.
Hiding behind those numbers (and the Green Bay Packers' leaky offensive line) is the fact that he's every bit as skittish as Jay Cutler, and with less arm strength to compensate. Rodgers is an uncanny scrambler and perhaps the smartest runner at his position.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Minnesota
6. Jay Cutler (Chicago Bears)
27 of 32
There's not a quarterback in the NFL who's been dragged down by his teammates as much as Jay Cutler has been by the Chicago Bears' offensive line, which has allowed a league-worst 27 sacks.
Cutler's tools to play the position are unique and unmatched, from his rocket launcher arm to his deceptive scrambling ability and backpedaling short drops. But his body language can be pouty and his internal clock isn't tuned to Chicago's poor protection.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Washington
5. Matt Schaub (Houston Texans)
28 of 32
As a pure distributor of the football, there's not much to dislike about Houston's Matt Schaub. A lanky 6'5" drop-back passer, there isn't a throw that Schaub can't make with authority, and he spreads his attention around all of the Texans' targets.
Arian Foster and Houston's improved ground game have eaten into his statistical production: Schaub is on pace to finish 500 yards and five scores short of the marks he set in 2009, his first full season as a starter.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Indianapolis (Week 8)
4. Tom Brady (New England Patriots)
29 of 32
Deion Branch's nine catches for 98 yards and a score conjured up memories of the turn-of-the-century New England Patriots who won three Super Bowls. Led by Tom Brady, that offense was uglier and more effective than the current iteration.
As recently as 2007, Brady seemed to have every defense's number. This year, he looked downright mortal in New England's Week 2 loss to the Jets and at times last week against the Baltimore Ravens.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: San Diego
3. Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh Steelers)
30 of 32
After just one week as a starter this year, it'd be a big-cojones move to put Ben Roethlisberger any higher in these rankings. He threw for three scores against the Cleveland Browns' underrated secondary, but there's still a little rust he'll have to shake off.
For some, it probably looks like a bold move to put him this high. But considering the field behind him—and even in front of him—it's hard not to like one of the last genuine football players at this overprotected position.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Miami
2. Peyton Manning (Indianapolis Colts)
31 of 32
Sorry, Colts fans. Finishing second behind Drew Brees is nothing new for Indianapolis' Peyton Manning, and—nitpicky though it might be—his dominance at 6'5" is less impressive than Brees' success as a mere six-footer under center.
As long as we're splitting hairs, Manning's shaky playoff performances stand in stark contrast to Brees' Super Bowl campaign. Still, there's no denying his potential Hall of Fame talent and historic statistics.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Houston (Week 8)
1. Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints)
32 of 32
As the most important player on the signature unit for last year's Super Bowl champions, Drew Brees entered the 2010 season as the (unofficial) top-ranked quarterback in the NFL.
Through six games, there's no reason he should drop from that spot. The New Orleans Saints have lost in disappointing fashion to the Atlanta Falcons and Arizona Cardinals, but Brees is the only starter in the league who's completed over 70 percent of his passes.
Previous Rank: N/A
Next Opponent: Cleveland
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