ESPN's Mike Sando's starting QB ranking

[iowajerms]

Tier 1

t1) Tom Brady (NE)
t1) Peyton Manning (DEN)
t1) Aaron Rodgers (GB)
t1) Drew Brees (NO)
5) Andrew Luck (IND)

Tier 2

6) Phillip Rivers (SD)
7) Ben Roethlisberger (PIT)
t8) Matt Ryan (ATL)
t8) Tony Romo (DAL)
t8) Russell Wilson (SEA)
t8)t Eli Manning (NYG)
12) Joe Flacco (BAL)
13) Matthew Stafford (DET)
14) Colin Kaepernick (SF)
15) Nick Foles (PHI)

Tier 3

16) Cam Newton (CAR)
17) Jay Cutler (CHI)
18) Alex Smith (KC)
t19) Andy Dalton (CIN)
t19) Robert Griffin III (WAS)
t21) Carson Palmer (ARI)
t21) Sam Bradford (STL)
23) Ryan Tannehill (MIA)
24) Josh McCown (TB)

Tier 4

25) Matt Schaub (OAK)
26) Chad Henne (JAX)
27) EJ Manuel (BUF)
28) Matt Cassel (MIN)
29) Brian Hoyer (CLE)
30) Ryan Fitzpatrick (HOU)
31) Jake Locker (TEN)
32) Gino Smith (NYJ)

ESPN Insider: NFL - Anonymous league insiders rank 32 starting quarterbacks into tiers - ESPN

 

[Caliskinsfan]

Seems pretty legit to me, tho I wouldn't have Luck in the first tier myself. I'd just drop him to the top of tier two.

 

[cdumler7]

Uh oh prepare for the onslaught of Seahawks fans being ticked that anybody would rate Russell Wilson out of the top-5 quarterbacks. This is the 2nd article done by experts (one by ESPN and one by NFL.com) that have rated him right around 10th-12th in the league. My guess is those who watch every game and are paid to do so have a pretty good idea where a player is ranked. I understand they all are not the greatest of experts but when you have a wide range of coaches, scouts, GM's, analyst, ex-players, and so on they can come up with a pretty good list.


Looking at it I for the most part would agree. Matt Ryan being so high is not quite where I would put him but at the same time I don't think he has had much talent other than at WR around him. Yet he has a pretty darn good winning record in his career so I think if you give him some more talent on both sides of the ball he really could make some noise. Also disagree some with Cam Newton being so low. He really showed me something this last year as a leader. I think his numbers will be down this year some but that is mostly because he just has no talent around him on offense. I also think RGIII will shoot up this list for next year. The article says he was downgraded because of injury so again when healthy he is definitely top-10 in the league.


Also a big fan of them rating Tom Brady where they did. I know after this last season everybody has been screaming that he is slipping but the guy is a winner. Even on a down year they still found a way to dominate and a big part of that is Tom Brady just willing his team to victory. This year with more time with his WR's and maybe a healthy Gronk they will be a top-5 offense easy in this league.

 

[sonnyblack65]

Seems pretty legit to me, tho I wouldn't have Luck in the first tier myself. I'd just drop him to the top of tier two.

I concur my fine gentleman

 

[gowazzu02]

I concur, the andrew luck hype machine is really impressive. He has tons of potential, but to already rank him along the big 4 is ridiculous.

 

[TDs3nOut]

Kind of funny that the top four spots are a tie. That is a good way to eliminate any of the controversy that typically accompanies such lists.

 

[iowajerms]

I think I would put Ben Roelthlisberger just below Cam Newton. Either have Roethlisberger last of Tier 2 or first of Tier 3. I don't think he is what he used to be.

 

[TDs3nOut]

I concur, the andrew luck hype machine is really impressive. He has tons of potential, but to already rank him along the big 4 is ridiculous.

Probably so, but I think that Luck has a good chance to show whether he belongs in the top tier this year. Hilton, Wayne, Nicks, Moncrief, Allen, and Fleener make up what figures to be a better group of receivers than he has had in the past.

 

[sonnyblack65]

Brady isnt in top 32- HammerDown

Manziel is in top 5 - JohnnyDollaz

 

[Caliskinsfan]

Brady isnt in top 32- HammerDown

Manziel is in top 5 - JohnnyDollaz

LMAO.

 

[Caliskinsfan]

Uh oh prepare for the onslaught of Seahawks fans being ticked that anybody would rate Russell Wilson out of the top-5 quarterbacks. This is the 2nd article done by experts (one by ESPN and one by NFL.com) that have rated him right around 10th-12th in the league. My guess is those who watch every game and are paid to do so have a pretty good idea where a player is ranked. I understand they all are not the greatest of experts but when you have a wide range of coaches, scouts, GM's, analyst, ex-players, and so on they can come up with a pretty good list.


Looking at it I for the most part would agree. Matt Ryan being so high is not quite where I would put him but at the same time I don't think he has had much talent other than at WR around him. Yet he has a pretty darn good winning record in his career so I think if you give him some more talent on both sides of the ball he really could make some noise. Also disagree some with Cam Newton being so low. He really showed me something this last year as a leader. I think his numbers will be down this year some but that is mostly because he just has no talent around him on offense. I also think RGIII will shoot up this list for next year. The article says he was downgraded because of injury so again when healthy he is definitely top-10 in the league.


Also a big fan of them rating Tom Brady where they did. I know after this last season everybody has been screaming that he is slipping but the guy is a winner. Even on a down year they still found a way to dominate and a big part of that is Tom Brady just willing his team to victory. This year with more time with his WR's and maybe a healthy Gronk they will be a top-5 offense easy in this league.

From your lips to gods ear...

 

[Caliskinsfan]

Kind of funny that the top four spots are a tie. That is a good way to eliminate any of the controversy that typically accompanies such lists.

Noticed that, think it's a pretty fair assessment myself

 

[SonnyCID]

Kind of funny that the top four spots are a tie. That is a good way to eliminate any of the controversy that typically accompanies such lists.

Yeah but, those guys are not all equal. Its just a way to pussyfoot around and avoid making a definitive statement.

 

[cdumler7]

Well the tier thing is definitely helped in tier one isn't just 1 player where a person can rate 4-5 guys per tier kind of thing. I don't consider Brees to be on the same level as Manning, Brady, and Rodgers but at the same time I definitely agree he deserves to be ranked in a tier above all those other guys so it is understandable that people would give him a 1 instead of a 2.

 

[TDs3nOut]

Yeah but, those guys are not all equal. Its just a way to pussyfoot around and avoid making a definitive statement.

I agree that it's kind of a cop out to have the top four QBs ranked as a tie. If it's worth trying to rank all of the QBs, seems to me that one ought to be prepared to say that one of them is the best. At the same time, there really is no "definitive" ranking.

 

[David_son]

I would have RG3 and Newton higher. I think they are in the second tier to me. If you are going to downgrade RG3 for an injury why not Eli or Flacco for bad years.

 

[Caliskinsfan]

I agree that it's kind of a cop out to have the top four QBs ranked as a tie. If it's worth trying to rank all of the QBs, seems to me that one ought to be prepared to say that one of them is the best. At the same time, there really is no "definitive" ranking.

It's highly subjective IMO

 

[TDs3nOut]

It's highly subjective IMO

Sure it is, but here's the "correct" ordering:

Manning
Rogers
Brady
Brees

 

[iowajerms]

Uh oh prepare for the onslaught of Seahawks fans being ticked that anybody would rate Russell Wilson out of the top-5 quarterbacks. This is the 2nd article done by experts (one by ESPN and one by NFL.com) that have rated him right around 10th-12th in the league. My guess is those who watch every game and are paid to do so have a pretty good idea where a player is ranked. I understand they all are not the greatest of experts but when you have a wide range of coaches, scouts, GM's, analyst, ex-players, and so on they can come up with a pretty good list.

When I think that, I always think about one of the last time I watched HBO's show Inside the NFL.

Collinsworth was talking about how he did a fantasy team just to see how good he would do. He mentioned his overall rank, which was something like 10,000 something. It was really bad. He was like, "It's my job to know this stuff. I get paid to look at film and I am doing that bad..." He like could not stand it for around the next 5 minutes.

 

[Caliskinsfan]

Sure it is, but here's the "correct" ordering:

Manning
Rogers
Brady
Brees

I actually agree with ya here in my own subjective opinion.