Pro Bowl Roster 2012: Power Ranking the QBs in Sunday's Game

With the 2012 Pro Bowl just a day away, let's to turn our attention to the quarterback position. Six players will be on the roster, and since Pro Bowlers Tom Brady and Eli Manning will be meeting in Super Bowl XLVI, they will be replaced with a couple of unlikely names.

As Brady and Manning get ready to duke it out for the World Championship, let's rank the quarterbacks that missed out on the big dance but got a Pro Bowl nod for outstanding regular season performances.

6. Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals

Andy Dalton had a surprisingly good rookie season, and I almost ranked him ahead of the next player on this list.

Dalton recorded 3,398 yards, 20 touchdowns and 13 interceptions through the air in his first season while rushing for another 152 yards and a touchdown on just 37 carries.

Those aren't eye-popping numbers, but the thing that impressed me most about Dalton was his maturity despite being such a young player at such an important position. He made good decisions all year, developed a strong rapport with budding star AJ Green and ultimately led his team to the playoffs.

His three-interception performance against the rock-solid Houston Texans was not near as bad as the numbers suggested, and the ceiling is ultimately very high for this kid.

5. Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers

Despite looking like the next JaMarcus Russell, Cam Newton came in and dominated right out of college for the Carolina Panthers, proving himself worthy of the No. 1 overall pick.

Newton did struggle with interceptions for most of the year, but a poor defense certainly didn't help that number. He still finished with 21 touchdowns to 17 picks to go along with 4,051 passing yards. Add 706 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground, and you have yourself a fantasy dream player.

Beyond the numbers, though, Newton definitely improved throughout the year and has an extremely high ceiling. If he keeps improving, he might be included in the elite group before long.

4. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers

I will very likely get a lot of rebuke from Steelers fans for putting Big Ben this low, but rest assured I'm not one of those people that is just hating on him because of the sexual assault accusations.

The bottom line is, I'm just not as high on Roethlisberger as other people are. He has solid numbers, throwing for 4,077 yards, 21 touchdowns and 14 interceptions with a 90.1 quarterback rating, but they aren't as eye-popping as some other players ahead of him.

Obviously numbers aren't everything and wins are, and Roethlisberger is a Super Bowl-winning quarterback. However, it was puzzling to me why the Steelers were having so much trouble moving the football this year despite having Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders at receiver and Rashard Mendenhall at running back.

It obviously can't all be blamed on Roethlisberger, but you have to wonder whether a guy like Tom Brady would be able to do a lot more with the same team.

With all of that being said, the guy is a Pro Bowler for good reason.

3. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers

Say all you want about Philip Rivers' poor string of games in the middle of the season and San Diego's epic collapse, but I'm inclined to think that was more the fault of the coaching staff than Rivers and the rest of the team.

Despite his mid-season struggles and that attitude that rears its ugly head at times, Rivers finished the season with 4,624 yards, 27 touchdowns and 20 interceptions through the air.

Rivers definitely has to shoulder some of the blame for this year's disappointing collapse, but one bad season shouldn't define a player's career. Rivers' solid 88.7 quarterback rating broke a string of three seasons in which he had a QBR of over 101.

In that sense, you could argue that Rivers has been a steady constant for this shaky team over the past few years. That has to count for something.

2. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

Between No. 2 and 1 on this list, it's a complete toss-up. Take your pick, but I'm going with Drew Brees at No. 2.

Brees had an amazing season, breaking Dan Marino's single-season record for passing yards, with 5,476, which included 46 touchdowns and 14 interceptions on a 71.3 percent completion rate. His quarterback rating was 110.6.

It certainly helped that he had an incredible array of offensive weapons to work with, but the numbers were impressive nonetheless, and he piled up wins to validate those numbers.

Brees' season was ultimately cut short in San Francisco, and if you think back to an ugly loss to the St. Louis Rams, the Saints may have been preparing for the Super Bowl right now if they had won that game.

Still, that doesn't take away from Brees' outstanding season.

1. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

It's really a shame the Packers and the Saints didn't end up getting a rematch in the playoffs, because otherwise we would have had the privilege to see the top two quarterbacks on this list battle for an NFC Championship or Super Bowl berth.

Rodgers had an unprecedented season as well, throwing for 4,643 yards, 45 touchdowns and just six interceptions on a 68.3 percent completion rate. Even more impressive, however, were his 9.25 yards per attempt and his 122.5 quarterback rating, the highest season average in NFL history.

What Rodgers brings to the table that Brees doesn't is running ability, adding 257 yards rushing and three touchdowns on a 4.3 yard average.

Rodgers, like Brees, benefits from a dominant list of receiving options, but he doesn't have the running game that Brees had, so it was even more impressive that he could have put up such efficient numbers. He also finished the season with a disappointing loss, but his regular season speaks for itself.

It's pretty hard to go wrong with Brees or Rodgers, but if you told me to pick one, I'd have to go with Rodgers.