NFL's Top 10 Quarterbacks so Far This Season

This year continues to be a wild season for quarterbacks.  Some guys that were considered to be in the "elite" category like Philip Rivers and Matt Ryan, have struggled to live up to that title.  They've been outplayed by guys like Ryan Fitzpatrick and Alex Smith.

The NFL is always unpredictable and players rise and fall with each given week.  Rivers' stock was on the rise again until the fumbled snap at the end of regulation against Kansas City.  He had a chance to redeem himself in overtime, but failed to produce.  Anyway, enough discussing the bad play of Rivers, and let's take a look at the 10 quarterbacks who are playing the best at the midpoint of the season.  

1. Aaron Rodgers

I'm sure everyone in the NFL community can agree that Aaron Rodgers is the best quarterback in the league today.  Rodgers has had a quarterback rating of at least 111.4 in each game this season, while no other quarterback has a rating of 105 for the year.

Rodgers leads the league in completion percentage (71.5%), touchdown passes (20), and yards-per-pass-attempt at 9.93.  In fact, no other quarterback is averaging nine yards per attempt.  Defenses gear up to stop the Packers' passing attack, but no one has been able to.

In fact, the only thing to slow down Rodgers was the bye week he just had.  

2. Tom Brady

It seems as if teams have figured out how to slow down the Patriots' passing attack the last four weeks.  During that span, Brady has surpassed eight yards per passing attempt only once and has been sacked 11 times, including 10 in the last three weeks.

As teams are deploying more man coverage on his receivers, Brady has struggled finding the mismatches quickly, and has been holding onto the ball longer in the pocket.  

Brady is still second in the league with a passer rating of 104.4, but with eight interceptions in seven games, he isn't living up to his lofty standards.

The Patriots have a big game this Sunday against the Giants, and if Brady doesn't have a big day, he may find himself one or two spots down on this list.  

3. Eli Manning

Before the season, everyone laughed when Eli Manning declared that he belongs in the same class as Tom Brady and the other elite quarterbacks.

In fact, one could argue that Eli deserves to be ahead of Tom Brady on this list since he only has one game with a sub-90 passer rating, and none since Week 1.  What makes Eli's performance so impressive is that he's working with two new targets in Victor Cruz and Jake Ballard, the third worst running game in the NFL, and an inconsistent offensive line.

Eli is second in the league with 8.83 yards per pass attempt, and has only five interceptions thus far, with three of them coming in one game.  He's been proving his elite status thus far, but with a big game looming against Tom Brady and the Patriots, he has a chance to prove it against whom he compared himself with.  That game can vault Eli ahead of Brady into the second spot.  

4. Ben Roethlisberger

Although Big Ben is eighth in the league in passer rating, he's been playing like a top quarterback when gauging the circumstances.  Roethlisberger has been sacked more than any other quarterback in the league and has been under constant duress throughout the season.  Despite that, he has posted a passer rating of at least 96 in six of the eight games he's played and has completed 64.4% of his passes.  Big Ben has turned two young receivers in Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders, into two dangerous threats.  

Over the last four games, Roethlisberger has 11 touchdowns and two interceptions.  His brilliant play of late was highlighted by his dismantling of the Patriots defense to the tune of 365 yards, completing 72% of his passes with two TDs, while outplaying Tom Brady in the process.  Big Ben has been consistent over the past month, and it should only get better as those young receivers continue to develop and the offensive line gets healthier.  

5. Matthew Stafford

Detroit signal-caller Matthew Stafford has had a rocky last five games, with two games failing to reach an 80 quarterback rating, and three games failing to average six yards per passing attempt.

In the other games this season, he has a rating of at least 106.1.  What puts Stafford amongst the top five QBs thus far is his 19:4 touchdown-to-interception ratio, which is second only to Aaron Rodgers.  

6. Ryan Fitzpatrick

Ryan Fitzpatrick has been Mr. Consistency all season long, which is what coaches crave at the most important position in football.  Fitzpatrick has completed at least 58.8% of his passes in each game, and at least 60.9% in all but one.

His steady play is one of the main reasons why this Bills team is sitting atop the AFC East, one of the toughest divisions in the league.  He's been able to keep his team in every game, with their two losses each by just three points.

Fitzpatrick has been sacked less than any quarterback in the league and is third in completion percentage at 67.7%.  So he's getting the ball out quickly and accurately.  Fitzpatrick's worst game this season was against the Bengals where he posted a 75.5 quarterback rating, his only rating under 88.7.

Even in that game, Fitzpatrick didn't throw an interception.  When your quarterback's worst game is a game where he didn't turn the ball over and still completed 58.8% of his attempts, you have a pretty good player on your hands.

7. Drew Brees

There are only four quarterbacks in the league after Week 8 to have a passer rating over 100.  The other three are the top three quarterbacks in these rankings.  So why is Brees so far down at number seven?

Numbers are very deceiving so lets take a closer look at things.  Take away that monster game against the Colts, and in the last five games Brees has totaled eight touchdowns with 10 interceptions.  Brees is leading the league in passing yards per game and is second in completion percentage, but those 10 picks are just too much to overlook.

Those 10 picks are the second most in the league and would put him on pace for 20 for the year, which would make back to back 20-plus interception seasons for him.

That's enough to keep him out of the top six quarterbacks thus far.  

8. Matt Schaub

When Andre Johnson got hurt against Pittsburgh, many people assumed Matt Schaub would struggle.  However, Schaub has answered the challenge and has played very well the last few games.

Schaub hasn't thrown a pick in his last three games, and has the Texans in control of the AFC South.  Schaub ranks seventh in passer rating at 95.9, and is fourth in average yards per passing attempt at 8.34 yards.

When Andre Johnson's hamstring finally allows him to suit up, the arrow is only pointing up for Schaub.  

9. Alex Smith

No flashy numbers, nothing spectacular here, but Alex Smith keeps on racking up the wins.  Out of all quarterbacks who have started at least three games, only Matt Moore and Blaine Gabbert average less yards per game.  However, Smith is tied for eighth in passer rating at 95.7 and is eighth in completion percentage at 63.2%.

Smith has just nine touchdowns on the year, but only has two interceptions, the fewest in the league.  Smith isn't asked to do more than manage the game, but he has engineered two big comeback victories against the Eagles and the Lions.

It's hard to argue against the numbers and the 7-1 record the 49ers have so far.  Smith is a big reason why this team is enjoying their success. 

10. Michael Vick

Almost put Cam Newton here who is having a monster year, but his struggles in close games show that he's not ready to be put in the top ten.  Guys in the top ten have to show comeback ability and he's yet to do that thus far.

Vick gets put in this spot based solely on the lack of better options.  I don't really like to put a QB of a losing team in the top 10, but the other teams with winning records haven't really relied too much on their quarterback play.  One can argue Matt Hasselbeck could be here, but he's been struggling for the most part since Kenny Britt's injury.

Although this is a down year for Vick so far, he's still tenth in quarterback rating at 90.0 and is tied for eighth completing 63.2% of his passes.  Eight picks through seven games isn't great, but Vick is looking better of late as the coaching staff is changing some things to help him take less hits.