4 NFL QBs Who Don't Get Enough Respect

The public isn’t always particularly accurate when they think about NFL quarterbacks. There are some guys they love and they should—Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and the like. Then there are guys they like far more than they should—Donovan McNabb before last year, Eli Manning, Mark Sanchez and Jay Cutler, for example.

What I want to focus on here is a third group—guys who aren’t looked upon very kindly who deserve far more credit than they get. Here are four NFL quarterbacks who deserve more respect:

Kyle Orton, Denver Broncos

Orton is getting some good attention this year because he is beating Tim Tebow badly in the race for the starting job in Denver. That misses the point, though—of course he beat out Tebow because he is really quite a good QB. He’d beat out Jay Cutler if forced to as well.

The worst thing that happened to Orton was that he had to start as a rookie for the Bears. He wasn’t particularly successful, but no one could have been. That branded him as a poor quarterback, and he has fought an uphill battle to prove otherwise.

In three years as a full-time starter he has shown improved statistics each year, and he wins games that his team doesn’t always deserve to. Most significantly in my eyes, his yards per attempt have improved each season, and at 7.34 last year he had a very respectable number.

He’s not a truly elite QB in this league, but he is a Top 10 guy, and it’s about time he is viewed as one.

Chad Henne, Miami Dolphins

The criticism that Henne faces drives me crazy. He has a lot of work to do, but he is far better than people think he is.

It has become a popular sport to talk trash about Henne this year—that he can’t be an NFL QB—but people just need to get off his case and let him do his job. I’m not suggesting that he is an elite QB—though I think he could be—but he compares to some guys who get a whole lot more credit than he does. The guy that drives me particularly insane because of the praise he gets is Mark Sanchez. The Jets’ have a future superstar while the Dolphins have a bum in a lot of eyes. Henne has a much better YPA than Sanchez (and a better number than Matt Ryan and Sam Bradford, too), his completion percentage is almost seven percent better and he averages 14 more yards per game. If Sanchez has a bright future then it is totally ridiculous to suggest that Henne doesn’t.

If he can work on throwing fewer interceptions (and he throws more passes per interception already than Eli Manning), then he’ll be one to watch.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, Buffalo Bills

Every year around draft time there is talk that the Bills should draft their quarterback of the future. I think they already have him.

Fitzpatrick is only 28, so he has a lot of time ahead of him. He has been a regular starter for three years—one for Cincinnati and now two in Buffalo—and he has shown real progress each year. His YPA has gone up like a rocket and is now within reach of being solid. His accuracy is acceptable, his arm is strong and he has gotten much better at throwing touchdowns and creating opportunities. The team around him keeps getting better, and they really seem to believe in themselves for the first time in a long while.

If Fitzpatrick continues to improve—and there is no reason he can’t—then people are no longer going to be able to ignore him.

Josh Freeman, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Freeman already gets more respect than the other guys on this list, but he doesn’t get as much as he deserves. The guy is only 23 years old, but he has already amassed some incredible numbers, and he has the chance to be really special. In his first full year as a starter last year he really played well.

His 7.28 YPA, 61.4 percent completion percentage and 26/6 TD to Interception ratio all stack up very well in the league, and stack up nicely when compared to other young QBs of his age and experience.

If you aren’t excited about what is ahead for this guy—especially given the young team that is being built around him—then you just aren’t paying attention.

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