2008 NFL QB Rankings

Now that the NFL season is over, let’s take a look at the top players in the different positions. Today it’s quarterbacks; I will rank the top five quarterbacks today and next week rank the next five. I think you will agree with my explanations for why these plays belong on my best of the best list. The last question that I will answer is how these players will fair next year, because in the NFL you are only as good as your last play.

1. Drew Brees who threw for 5069 yards and 34 touchdowns versus 17 interceptions this season was the best quarterback in the NFL. The team’s coach, Sean Peyton, runs a very quarterback friendly offense, which was tailored to Brees’s deep ball skills and contributed to his success. The injury to Reggie Bush, which limited him to 10 games of action, and the dramatic decline in production from Deuce McAllister, who accumulated 418 yards for the season, contributed to Brees being the best QB this season. Pierre Thomas the team’s leading rusher ranked 34th in the league in rushing, and really has very little prospect of improving those stats in 2009. With all these factors and hopefully a complete complement of wide receivers, I expect Brees to have an even better year passing the ball than this year, but I also expect his team to have the same record of 8-8 as they did this year.

2. Peyton Manning who led his team in to the playoffs by wining 9 straight games was the second best QB in the league this season. He did this without a completely healthy Joseph Addai, who missed 4 games this season, and a Marvin Harrison whose skills noticeably declined this year. Next year I expect Anthony Gonzalez to emerge as the number two receivers behind Reggie Wayne. This combination should prove to be as productive, if not more than the Harrison and Wayne combination. Because of all of these factors Peyton’s numbers should increase slightly from this year's 4002 yards 27 touchdown and 12 interception performance of this season. The continuing improvement of his knee from the last offseason’s Staph infection will not hurt his cause either.

3. Kurt Warner who led the Arizona Cardinals--I repeat, the Arizona Cardinals--to the Super Bowl for the first time in their history was the third best QB in the NFL this season. Warner’s success was dictated by a great receiving core and an unsettled RB situation. There is no doubt that Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin are two of the top receivers in the game, but Steve Breaston is the straw that stirs the drink in this offense. I say this because if your third receiver can get 1000 yards receiving in a season, it is impossible to double cover anyone. The rushing game which totaled 1178 for the season was atrocious, and without the prospect of the rushing game getting any better next season Kurt’s numbers will continue to be exceptional especially if Arizona can pacify Boldin.

4. Matt Cassel is a system QB, just as I see Tom Brady as a system QB. Any other decent QB that New England plugs into its system would produce similar results. I do not feel that I need to further delve into this pick because it is all about the system.

5. Donovan McNabb was the fifth best QB this season and all he does is win games when no one thinks he will. His stats may not be the flashiest but he came one game away from going to the big show. His heart is what made him a successful quarterback this season. He constantly wins without great talent around him, can you name a top flight receiver other than T.O. which he has played with in his career. I did not think you could, because he has not played with one. His statistical outlook for 2009 can only improve with the season long development of DeSean Jackson, who should only improve from his 912 yard performance of his rookie season.

Johnson is a contributor to The Sports Information Hub and can be contacted at johnsonthesportsguy@gmail.com