2009 NFL Season: Top 10 QB's

These are not in any particular order.

1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts
Peyton is just an all around amazing quarterback. He's got every thing that you would want in a pocket QB. Many people don't like him because he doesn't have much speed at all, which of course means he can't get a first down by rushing for it, unless the defense isn’t playing the run at all.

His passing skills are absolutely amazing. Field vision is an absolutely amazing quality that he has almost perfected. Colts fans always know that Manning will find a way to get a pass downfield for the right ammount of yardage without turning the ball over.

Manning has been playing most of his career with wide receiver Marvin Harrison making a lot of catches for him, but this offseason, the Colts decided to shake some things up and release Marvin and let him go to the free agent market. However, many people thought it was a mistake and that the Colts wouldn't have good enough receivers but Peyton has been able to get both of his rookie WR's to have confidence and step up and play very well.

Overall where I place Peyton is probably number one although there are very many QB's who could very arguably be right there with him.

2. Tom Brady, New England Patriots
The New England Patriots had a good year last sesaon even without Brady, but still last year they could have been even better if Brady had been around.

Early in the season Tom Brady tore ligaments in his knee while stepping into a deep throw to Randy Moss, and was sidelined for the rest of the season. Matt Cassell stepped in as the Patriots quarterback, and did a very good job, but looking at the sesaon before last, the Pats probably could have done better with Brady as their QB.

All that being said, Brady is back for the 2009 season, and has been performing decently, but still having problems it appears. In their first regular season game vs. the Buffalo Bills, it was fairly obvious that he wasn't the same Tom Brady as he was in their perfect regular season run two years ago.

This year he's been playing good football so far, but he still hasn't been able to repeat the type of numbers that he had two years ago. He's throwing the ball a lot more than he probably should and the only thing that could be bad is the fact that he could get injured by throwing to much, but so far he's doing a fairly good job, and has shown some good signs and is still making some good passes as well.

3. Aaron Rodgers. Green Bay Packers
Rodgers has had a very hard task of following after Green Bay legend Brett Favre. The situation that Aaron Rodgers is the exact same type of thing that Steve Young had to go through with Joe Montana, and unfortunately for the Packers as a team the result the first time the two QB's came back and played together ended up the same way as well.

So far Rodgers has been very solid in his second season as the Packers starting quarterback. He made it through the first 3 games of the season without throwing an interception then finally against his former mentor Brett Favre's team the Minnesota Vikings he threw his first to Antoine Winfield.

Over the first two years so far he's definitely been more than what most had thought he would turn out to be. Rodgers doesn't just have great passing ability but he has some very good mobility in the pocket as well.

4. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints
Drew Brees has played exceptionally well this season, although may not be able to set the record that looked very possible after his first game. During that first game, he was able to throw for six touchdown passes, which made a lot of people think that he may be able to knock off Tom Brady’s record 49 TD passes in a single season.

Brees doesn’t have much speed, but because of the arm that he has, he doesn’t really have to run all that much. He’s obviously more of a pocket passer, and he loves to take shots downfield to his targets like Jeremy Shockey, Lance Moore, and the rest of the receiving corps that the Saints have assembled for him.

The overlooked part of Brees’ game is the fact that he’s such a leader on and off the field. Not only is he the Saints franchise QB, but he also has the leadership that winning teams have to have out of their star quarterbacks. Something to think about is what if Brees had the receivers that Tom Brady had a couple years ago when he set the record? Randy Moss instead of Lance Moore, adding Wes Welker, and the rest of the Pats WR’s would be amazing and I think Brees could have had an even better season, but unfortunately we’ll just never know.

5.Eli Manning, New York Giants
Eli has really progressed so far in his tenure with the Giants. Originally drafted by the San Diego Chargers, he was traded to the Giants in return for fellow QB Philip Rivers, and over the first two years of both of those QB’s careers, Eli was not turning out to be what the Giants had expected at all.

Looking back at those years, I’ve finally figured out the reason for his struggles. It wasn’t that he couldn’t handle the New York media, it was the fact that the Giants were to comfortable with the weapons that they had for Manning. Guys like Amani Toomer, Ike Hilliard, and Jeremy Shockey just weren’t getting the job done. Finally, the Giants made a move and picked up Plaxico Burress for Eli and I think if you take a look at his numbers before and after the Burress acquisition, you will see Eli’s numbers went up.

This season, Manning has had two young, unproven wideouts make amazing strides to fill the role left by Plaxico who is now serving a sentence in jail and is no longer a member of the New York Giants. Steve Smith and Mario Manningham have come up big, and even their rookie WR Nicks, has had a big impact.

Manning has decent leadership as well, but we’ll just have to wait and see how this plantar facciitis will affect his playing performance.

6. Carson Palmer, Cincinnati Bengals
Finally, Carson Palmer has come back and is completely healthy for a change, and it’s showing. I’ve been very impressed by the 4-2 Bengals, especially when it comes down to those times in the game where they have to make a play and they do make the play, and so far this year, it’s been a lot of highlites from Carson Palmer.

Not only has he made my top ten list because of his passing, but I’ve noticed that Palmer has great speed, and is making the right decisions to run for the clutch first downs, which is something a lot of quarterbacks can’t do.

Some people might not have Palmer on this list, but another thing to look at is the record that Cincinnati has. Last year they were one of the worst teams in the entire NFL, but now, they have one of the better records 4-2 and only have two losses because of that tipped pass touchdown pass vs. the Broncos in the final seconds, so honestly they should be 5-1.

7. Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings
Favre has made lasting impression on, and off the field as well. Brett was a long-time member of the Green Bay Packers before getting traded to the New York Jets, but then after one year with the Jets, he decided to head back to the NFC North, as a last attempt to go back and beat his former team, and not only beat them, but beat them with their arch-rivals the Minnesota Vikings.

Aside from the drama of all the reasons for signing in Minny, Favre has been extremely good football for Minnesota. If he had played like this all his career, he probably would have just about the same kind of numbers, except fewer interceptions. Some reasons that he’s playing so good this year are because teams have to respect the running game of Adrian Peterson, so that opens Brett up for something he hasn’t been used to in the past, less coverage.

Many thought that the Vikings receivers wouldn’t be enough for Brett, but so far he’s been fine with what they’ve given him. Percy Harvin, Bernard Berrian, Vishante Shianco (bad spelling), Sidney Rice, and even Adrian Peterson out of the backfield have really stepped up for him, and not to mention Bobby Wade who made a spectacular game winning touchdown pass vs. the 49ers.

Overall Brett wasn’t expected to be anywhere close to this list, but because of his patience, and desire to win, he’s still a top ten QB in my opinion.

8. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers
The defending Super Bowl Champions have started out kind of slow this season but that has nothing to do with what Big Ben has been doing out there on the field.

Roethlisberger is still making great decisions, and completing passes, it’s just that they don’t have their running game going at all with Willie Parker injured. Big Ben has been putting up big numbers, with great passing yard games, touchdowns, and even some rushing yards and TD’s as well, which is something he can do because he is such a big guy.

Over the course of this season, I’ve seen some great things from Roethlisberger. He seems to have developed into even more of a leader for the Steelers, and I’ve noticed him explaining things to the younger guys on the team, and really being a leader for them, which is something I always thought he needed to do more of.

Basically what it comes down to for this spot going to Ben, is the fact that he may not put up the best numbers from week to week, but he still definitely puts up solid numbers every single week, and as far as I know, has never lost a game for his team, especially not this year.

9. Matt Schaub, Houston Texans
This is an obvious top ten pick in my opinion. While Schaub isn’t the biggest name, and probably one of the smaller quarterback names in the NFL, he still has an amazing talent.

Many people believe that the only reason that Matt Schaub has any kind of decent games, is because of the fact that he has top 3 WR Andre Johnson catching passes from him, although that is very incorrect. If you go back and watch some of the Texans’ games from this season, many of his passes go to either his TE Owen Daniels, or his other WR, Jacoby Jones.

While Johnson is a big play threat, and you will see Schaub get some big numbers from throwing to him, you have to take a look at the way he spreads the ball around. There are more players that he throws to for good yards than just the two that I mentioned above, so in order to see what I mean, go take a look at his WR, TE, and even RB receiving stats, and I think you’ll be surprised what you see.

10. Shaun Hill, San Francisco 49ers
To be honest, I never thought that Shaun Hill would break my top ten QB’s list heading into this season. The 49ers looked like a train wreck waiting to happen, but they have come out on fire so far this year. Sure, they’ve suffered two disappointing losses, but Shaun Hill has still played amazing football this year.

Now I will admit that one big factor of Hill’s success is in the backfield with Frank Gore, who is probably the most underrated running back in the NFL, but he still makes some big plays without Gore’s help.

Over the last few weeks, not this past one though because they were on a bye, I’ve seen Hill make some amazing downfield passes to his favorite two targets, Vernon Davis, and Josh Morgan. Those two receivers/tight ends are not the best in the NFL, which makes what he’s doing even more impressive.

Quite a few people may not agree with my choice of Hill to be the last part of my top ten quarterbacks this season, but then again, they don’t have to do they?