Ineligible Man Downfield

Courtesy of mcmilkd through Webshots.com

If Drew Brees was still the Charger quarterback, I wonder what might have been accomplished, especially with LT at his prime and Antonio Gates blowing up?  Ah might a Super Bowl or two been in our midst?  We can only speculate now.  I know the Chargers and A.J. Smith were concerned with taking a risk after Brees injured his shoulder at the end of 2005-2006 season, but its the type of risk, I’m calling it the Tom Brady risk, that makes a champion.  Now I will have to wallow in mystery and hope the rascal from NC state (who ain’t bad but no Drew Brees), Philip Rivers, and a gimpy LT can pull out even a chance at making the Super Bowl.  I’m aiming low and not even thinking about a trophy at this moment.

But I shall try to keep it positive.

With that said, it is not an understatement when I say the quarterback is the critical central figure of a football team and often this is the reason why teams win championships (unless you were the 2000-2001 Ravens who did it almost exclusively on defense and a right moment right time quarterback aka ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer).  Without a solid quarterback, your team’s season is going to be a long, excruciating painful one.  Though I hate to say it, Philip Rivers actually give me hope .  Too bad I can’t say the same to the Ragin’ Cajun Jake Delhomme.

Everybody has an opinion on where their favorite quarterbacks rank in comparison to others, but is that opinion based on any solid evidence?  Of course CBS Sportsline and ESPN rankings are right?  Yeah right! Not by a mile.  That’s why I’m here, to give you my view after two weeks of football, based on a ranking system decided by performance.  They may not agree with other rankings, but at the very least, its factually based.

My rankings are based on my fantasy football league’s stat performance on Yahoo Fantasy Football.   (I know, a bit corny but I’m not going to pay tons of money for stats when I can get decent ones through Yahoo).  Not to get too much into the technical information, but points are allocated based on yardage and TDs and adversely affected by interceptions, sacks and fumbles.  The total amount of points is a summation and the person with the most points is the best player.  By each rank, I will give a little blurb or explanation why they rank the way they rank (with my Quackster style of analysis).  I hope you will enjoy it as much as I like discussing them.

Now without further adieu, the rankings for quarterbacks:

1. Drew Brees – My oh my, who would’ve known?  Just kidding, this is obvious as Brees is launching dive bombs left and right like nobody’s business.  Lucky for me, I’m his fantasy handler and obviously he’s a must start every week.
2. Peyton Manning – The man is more cerebral then even some PhDs out there!  Did you see that winning drive where he pulled an audible out of thin air after taking stock of the Miami defense?  This is the stuff of legends.
3. Joe Flacco – Joe cool is moving up in this league.  The surprise for the Ravens this year is having an formidable offensive to go along with that stout defense headed by evergreen Ray Lewis.
4. Tony Romo – I know he’s a bit high considering his “fail” moment at JerryWorld’s grand opening.  Better shore up kid, or Jerry’s going to ship you out.  Don’t worry, he’ll do that to the Pillsbury Dough Boy Wade Phillips first.
5. Eli Manning – I know he dissed Chargers in the draft way back when, but you’ve got to hand it to him for his solid play, especially taking out JerryWorld and his large LED screen.  He’s my backup in fantasy.  Trades anyone?
6. Matt Ryan – He’s continuing to take flight and now that he’s developed a go to guy mentality with Tony Gonzalez and continues to throw those long bombs comfortably to Roddy White, the sky’s the limit.
7. Byron Leftwich – Really?  I have to follow where the data leads me and this is very unlikely.  All I can say is he’s managing the game and doing somewhat a decent job.  Too bad managing doesn’t always lead to wins.
8. Matt Schaub – Always under the radar, but he’s ready to take the next step into stardom with the help of Andre Johnson.  Only problem, we’ve been saying that these last couple years.  A little defense could help.
9. Philip Rivers – May the force be with you young Anakin.  Just make sure you don’t get all crazy darkside on me.  Hold yourself together long enough for a Super Bowl ride.  Please don’t pull a Ryan Leaf on me.
10. Trent Edwards – Underrated for sure, but the stats don’t lie.  He’s a top ten quarterback.  A smart guy that won’t turn the ball over.  Does going to Stanford have anything to do with that?
11. Tom Brady – Wow, not even in the top ten?  Okay, its only been two weeks, but he’s struggling out there.  If he doesn’t get it together, does that mean the dynasty is over?  For me I hope so and I’m sure the rest of you agree with me.
12. Ben Roethlisberger – Big Ben, so aptly named, can take a tidal wave of sacks.  However, he can only take so much and without a decent running game, he’ll topple soon enough.  Timber?
13. Kurt Warner – I thought the hip surgery messed things up and then he went schizo on me.  Completing 24 out of 26 passes last week means all is probably well in the desert.  The thermometer is just heating up.
14. Kyle Orton – Sometimes, all you need is luck and this guy seems to have tons of it up his sleeve.  Is he Irish by the way?  The softy AFC West schedule should provide inflation of grades for sure.
15. Jay Cutler – After a disaster at Lambeau, he’s beginning to get his act together.  It helps when you have decent receivers such as Johnny Knox to help.  Funny how party boy Orton is ranked  higher than Cutler at this point.  Must be Coors Light.
16. Kerry Collins – He’s doing his part.  How bout the rest of the team, especially that once vaunted defense.  Oh yeah, I guess Albert Haynesworth really made a difference ey?  Should’ve paid him the money!
17. Carson Palmer – I wonder if he is thinking of moving closer to Carson, CA right now?  Those winters can be so long out in Ohio, especially with a double-covered Chad Ochocino and a slow poke Laveraneus Coles dropping passes.
18. Aaron Rodgers – The heir apparent is apparently a work in progress .  The first week was spectacular.  Now the defense needs to catch up, Rodger that?
19. Jason Campbell – Though he won last week, the critics continue to build as he’s totaled only 1 TD thus far.  I like the guy, but he’s got to perform.  Interpretation:  his career as a starter is in jeopardy.
20. Mark Sanchez – Who is this guy?  Is this the same Mark that started at USC?  He has great accuracybut where did that arm strength come from?  Is that why Pete Carroll went all mad crazy last year when Sanchez announced he was leaving?  Betcha he still is after that pitiful loss to Washington.
21. Matt Hasselback – I thought those protein drinks are supposed help buddy.  I guess not as he goes down again this year now with a back injury.  Is it time to hang up the jersey yet?  I guess it depends if the wifeyis still on the View or not.
22. David Garrard – Even a bottleneck on the 405 freeway looks faster than the Jags offense.  The season looks bleak at this point in time.  Are the TV blackouts signaling an omen?
23. Kevin Kolb – He is filling in just nicely even with Jeff Garcia looking over his back.  Good experience for him as he might be able to parlay a starting role either in Phili or elsewhere if he can put out a solid game next week.
24. Brett Farve – Can you believe he has only thrown 265 yards after two games.  Not like old times for sure, but that’s not why the old man is playing for the Vikings.  A sleeper pick for the Super Bowl for sure!  Nothing to loose when AP is running for you.
25. Matthew Stafford – Welcome to the NFL.  No wins so far, but gutsy performances make for a brighter future.
26. Shaun Hill  – He doesn’t produce the gaudy numbers we expect out of our tradiational 49er quarterbacks, but he’s not your typical 49er quarterback is he?  Its all about the W and simply, the W is what he’s producing. 9 wins out of 12 to be exact.  Enough said.
27. Marc Bulger – Oh how the mighty have fallen.  This team needs wide receivers man!  Maybe I should try out for the team.  The Greatest Show on Turf has turned into The Gangly Show of Smurfs.
28. Donovan McNabb – This is not fair I know, but if you’re not on the field, you do your team no good.  Eagles hope he comes back soon.  I’m predicting that Phili will trade him if all does not go well this season.  To run for a TD or not, that is the question.
29. JaMarcus Russell – He’s got the right arm strength for Al Davis’ vertical passing game.  Too bad he can’t throw for crap, even if his life depended on it.  JaMarcus makes Shaq’s free throws look good and I’m not talking about the ones he makes either.  Its the ones he clanks off the rim.  Russell isn’t even close.
30. Brodie Croyle – Croyle has stated his case that he’s the quarterback for the future on somebody’s team.  His first week stats are better than Matt Cassel, the appointed one.
31. Matt Cassel – Would he rather have Todd Haley or Belicheck running the show?  This speaks volumes for the Evil Back East as I would like to refer to him.
32. Jake Delhomme – Is the game past him already?  How do you underthrow Steve Smith man?!  Week two is much improved but the INT at the end of the game was costly.  One more outing like that and it might be time to join Trent Dilfer on the sports desk.
33. Brady Quinn – Does this guy really want to play quarterback or does he want to be a male model ?  So far he hasn’t proved anything and the clock is still ticking nevertheless.
34. Chad Pennington – Did you see how he threw yesterday?  Especially at the end of the game?  I didn’t know Chad had arm strength!  Too bad he doesn’t do that for the whole game. Well then again, maybe there’s a reason for the Wildcat.
35. Seneca Wallace – I didn’t know you were still backing up Hasselback.  Poor guy always playing second fiddle.
36. Julian Edelman – I thought you were a WR.  Oh wait you are!  Hey you’re a QB too?  I wonder if he is going to pull a Brady on Tom Brady, if you know what I mean.

There you have it.  It is my quacky rankings.  Let’s havea look later in the season and see how this QBs have progressed. Until next time, let’s hope for a Charger victory!  Am I biased.  You can bet your socks on it!