Top 5 quarterbacks... RIGHT NOW.

[jy23]

When healthy you can certainly argue that he is. There's nobody in the game who can stand in the pocket and take the punishment that he does without going down, extending the play and finding an open receiver for a big play. His problem is that he can't stay healthy.

But that's the point....not right now. I agree with everything you're saying tho

[benhillboy]

I got the Great Peyton Manning in his own Top Tier.Second Tier, Rogers and Brees.Third Tier, everybody else, at varying degrees of course. I'll let you in on a secret: Brady is a system QB who wouldn't have anywhere near the success he's had under any other coach without a Hoodie. If you study the Patriots' play-calling through the years, they don't even have full confidence in his average arm. He didn't go in the sixth round for nothing.

Edited March 14, 2013 by benhillboy

[AHF]

If Brady's success is really just system driven, that is one #*$ of a system and I fault every other GM for not running that system and leading the league in offense with sub-par RBs every year.

[AHawks89]

Big Ben can flat out play. Injured or Healthy. I might be a bit biased (Steelers fan), but I really do think he's a top 5 - no doubt.

Also, thank you for taking Mike Wallace from us Dolfan.

[Ruckus]

Matt Ryan is top 5 now. Now that we have S-Jax. You will see.

[Admin]

Big Ben can flat out play. Injured or Healthy. I might be a bit biased (Steelers fan), but I really do think he's a top 5 - no doubt.

Also, thank you for taking Mike Wallace from us Dolfan.

I'm beyond thrilled to take Wallace off your hands, although 12 million per is more than I'd ever want to pay a WR. But to have a guy who can take the top off the D and open things up for our numerous weapons we now have I'm pretty psyched for the team and our young QB.

I'm curious to see if the Steelers match Sanders offer with the Pats and to see how Brown does without Wallace to take safety attention off of him.

[Admin]

Matt Ryan is top 5 now. Now that we have S-Jax. You will see.

Until he wins a SB he's not even in the conversation with the guys who've carried their teams to win it all and who were equally as good or better than Ryan without their SB wins.

[Admin]

If Brady's success is really just system driven, that is one #*$ of a system and I fault every other GM for not running that system and leading the league in offense with sub-par RBs every year.

Agreed that's crazy talk. Brady makes that system not the other way around. He probably wouldn't have as gaudy stats in a slower ground and pound style offense but he'd still win a lot if games because he's amazing!

[jy23]

Not in he conversation? I think hats a bit disrespectful...Ryan may be the most cerebral o those other qbs in the second tier, may not be the most talented but quite possibly the smartest. There are plenty of great qbs tht never won a ring including the great Dan Marino...since I know you're a dolphin fan...John Elway didn't win until the twilight of his career but I don't think people were saying he's not a great qb bc of that. Matt Ryan is right there...RIGHT THERE...if he had won the super bowl last year he would be top 5 right now, if he wins it this year he's easily top 5.

[Wurider05]

No one is a bigger Falcons fan than me but Matt Ryan is really overrated. He is an average quarterback with excellent weapons. There is an argument that he he may not be the best quarterback in the NFC south.

He plays scared too much for my liking.

[jy23]

No one is a bigger Falcons fan than me but Matt Ryan is really overrated. He is an average quarterback with excellent weapons. There is an argument that he he may not be the best quarterback in the NFC south. He plays scared too much for my liking.

What's average about Matt Ryan?

[Ruckus]

Y'all are funny. If Big Ben, Flacco, and Eli didn't have the defenses that they have then they wouldn't have won a Superbowl either. If you disagree you are fooling yourselves. Flacco is straight up garbage and he got a Superbowl and largest contract in the league. That doesn't make him elite though. Our defense coughs up leads all the time. The lead we gave up in NFC championship game was epic. We would have definitely danced with the Ravens in the SB. I'm not saying Ryan doesn't have things he needs to improve on but he is a really good QB and with an elite defense we could easily be a dynasty.

[Admin]

Not in he conversation? I think hats a bit disrespectful...Ryan may be the most cerebral o those other qbs in the second tier, may not be the most talented but quite possibly the smartest. There are plenty of great qbs tht never won a ring including the great Dan Marino...since I know you're a dolphin fan...John Elway didn't win until the twilight of his career but I don't think people were saying he's not a great qb bc of that. Matt Ryan is right there...RIGHT THERE...if he had won the super bowl last year he would be top 5 right now, if he wins it this year he's easily top 5.

The problem is that during Dan and Elway and Kelly's time there weren't a bunch of great QBs still playing that had won a Super Bowl or maybe even 2. If we're talking about all of the active QBs who haven't a SB then yeah Ryan is right there, but it's not possible for me to put him above the other great active QBs who have won a SB.

For the record I don't put Marino ahead of Montana either and simply because Dan never carried the Dolphins to a SB win, even though he never had a team that was anywhere near as good as Montana's 49ers.

[Admin]

Y'all are funny. If Big Ben, Flacco, and Eli didn't have the defenses that they have then they wouldn't have won a Superbowl either. If you disagree you are fooling yourselves. Flacco is straight up garbage and he got a Superbowl and largest contract in the league. That doesn't make him elite though. Our defense coughs up leads all the time. The lead we gave up in NFC championship game was epic. We would have definitely danced with the Ravens in the SB. I'm not saying Ryan doesn't have things he needs to improve on but he is a really good QB and with an elite defense we could easily be a dynasty.

The problem with your theory is that it's not only completely wrong but also in all but Ryan's rookie year the Falcons have had a better and often much better defense than the Ravens, Steelers and Giants in their SB years. So it must be saying something that Eli, Big Ben and Flacco took teams with inferior defenses than the Falcons and got them to the SB and won 4 out of 5 times. As to the Falcons and an elite defense, they finished in the top 10 in scoring defense in 4 of these 5 years so they've been more than good enough to give the team a chance to win it all.

The 2012-2013 Ravens (SB win) were a middle of the pack defense this year, 17th total defense and 12th in scoring. Flacco absolutely carried that team throughout the playoffs and won the Super Bowl. They had a few lucky plays but that happens to just about every Super Bowl winner sometime in the playoffs. The Falcons had the 8th total defense and 7th in scoring defense.

In 2011-2012 the Giants (SB win) had one of the worst defenses, 27th total defense and 25th in scoring defense. The Falcons had the 10th total defense and 7th in scoring defense.

In 2010-2011 the Steelers (SB loss) were 14th total defense and 12th in scoring defense. The Falcons had the 16th total defense and 5th in scoring defense.

In 2008-2009 the Steelers (SB win) were 22nd total defense and 20th in scoring defense. The Falcons had the 6th total defense and 10th in scoring defense.

In 2007-2008 the Giants (SB win) were 16th total defense and 14th in scoring defense. The Falcons had the 23rd total defense and 29th in scoring defense.

[Ruckus]

Wow. I guess stats can really prove anything. So Atlanta has an elite defense. That's a new one. I think most fans and analysts alike would beg to differ.

[Admin]

Wow. I guess stats can really prove anything. So Atlanta has an elite defense. That's a new one. I think most fans and analysts alike would beg to differ.

I didn't say they're elite did I? But compared the defenses you claimed those QBs had the Falcons sure look elite in comparison.. I noticed you had nothing to say about how wrong you were about those QBs and their defenses being the reason they won the SBs as you claimed, why is that?

[jy23]

The falcons defense isn't terrible by any means and I think we've been improving, but the thing is that those stats are a little deceiving. Teams didn't score a lot on us bc we played a heavy heavy running style offense and controlled the clock and opponents possessions on those early years. And being real that Baltimore defense played at a much higher level in the playoffs than they did in the regular season...they balled hard in the post season. And I gave those top 4 guys their props but to say Matt isn't in the conversation I think is ridiculous. And how did they not play with guys that had won multiple super bowls? Was Montana and aikman not playing back then? And also there were guys like Steve young and Brett Favre winning at least one....but even still Marino is one of the best qbs of ALL TIME

[Admin]

Aikman 92-93, Favre 96, Young 94, etc got their SBs later on when Marino was past his prime and had an awful defense and no running game. Hes one of the all time greats but because of poor drafting he never had a team beyond 85 who was truly good enough to win it all. There weren't many great QBs in the 80s and other than Montana none of them had won squat. Unless you consider Phil Simms a great QB and I certainly don't. Kelly got his Bills to the SB multiple times but not till the 90s, Elway didn't get his until 97-98. No the Falcons aren't an elite D but they have been more than good enough to win with the past 3 years. Not putting that all on Ryan but he hasn't elevated his game or the team in the playoffs. Sure the Ravens D stepped up in the playoffs but they weren't elite or even close to it. But look at Flacco's numbers in the postseason and tell me he wasn't absolutely elite. In fact here's a great article about how good he was. http://www.advancednflstats.com/2013/02/joe-flaccos-playoff-run-was-truly-elite.html?m=1 Now with that said he's still not top 5 but he's closer than Ryan is.

[Admin]

Btw I want to say that I really like Matt Ryan, but I would probably pick 8-10 QBs ahead of him if I were looking for one for my team at this point in his career. He could easily go on to win 2-3 SBs and it wouldn't surprise me, but I also wouldn't be shocked if he never wins one.

[Ruckus]

I didn't say they're elite did I? But compared the defenses you claimed those QBs had the Falcons sure look elite in comparison.. I noticed you had nothing to say about how wrong you were about those QBs and their defenses being the reason they won the SBs as you claimed, why is that?

What's there to say? The stats obviously tell the whole story. But thats why I choose not to be a stat head. Stats or no stats, those teams are known for their defenses and the defenses were absolutely the reason those teams won there prospective Superbowls. Come on now.I'm not arguing with you, Dolfan. Ryan wasn't on my top 5 list right now either. My original comment was something to the effect that he will be top 5 now that he has a legit rushing/pass blocking threat in SJax. And I still believe that. You kind of took that and ran with it.But I would absolutely take Ryan over Flacco, Eli, or Big Ben. Not over Brees, Brady, or Peyton though. After those 3 it gets interesting. Personally though, I will not judge based on Superbowl victories when a team is made of 50+ players.