The athletic QB is a fad.

[KB21]

This is a continuation of an argument below.

Things go in cycles. Due to college coaches placing their best athletes at the QB position, QB skills be damned, the result has been an increase in the number of athletic, running QBs at the college level. Glorified RBs is what I call them. Michael Vick is the last example, and may be the last one for a while. Because the real QBs - the drop back pocket passers - are coming back.

The best QB in the NFL today is Brett Favre. He is a pocket passer that has the athletic ability to create when things break down, but he is a passer first. Donovan McNabb can only hope that he becomes another Favre, but to do so, he must improve his pocket ability. Troy Aikman, another great pocket passer in his time, was going on and on the other night about McNabb struggling when throwing from the pocket. The Eagles will never win a Superbowl unless McNabb learns to throw from the pocket.

The drop back passers on the horizon:

1. Byron Leftwich 6-6 250 Marshall -- Best QB in college football right now. Completed around 65% of his passes for 4,000 yards, 42 TDs, and only 9 INTs. Great arm strength, accuracy, and pocket ability. Stands in the pocket till the last minute to give his receivers time to get open.

2. Eli Manning 6-4 220 Ole Miss -- Will be a better QB than his brother, who is a top 3, if not the best, QB in the NFL right now. As a first year starter, completes 64% of his passes for 31 TDs and 9 INTs. This is with no talent surrounding him. He'd be a legitimate Heisman candidate if he played for Tennessee instead of Ole Miss.

3. Rex Grossman 6-1 225 Florida -- Lack of height and experience taking the snap from under center will hurt him, but this kid has the ability. Very strong arm and an extremely quick release. Reads defenses almost as quickly as Eli Manning.

4. Dave Ragone 6-5 240 Louisville -- Strong armed lefty passer who is very accurate.

5. Chris Simms 6-5 220 Texas -- Another strong armed lefty. Should rate higher but needs to improve his readability skills.

6. Carson Palmer 6-5 230 Southern California -- Big, strong armed passer who could be another Troy Aikman if he puts it all together.

7. Kyle Boller 6-4 225 California -- Extremely strong arm and pocket tools. This is his year to break out.

8. Brian St. Pierre 6-2 218 Boston College -- A prospect that is not on anyone's radar at the moment but will be a 1st round pick when April rolls around. Overshadowed by William Green last year.

9. Ken Dorsey 6-5 213 Miami -- Very accurate passer with Joe Montana like intangibles. Arm strength is the only question mark.

Not only are these guys potential first round draft picks, but you have other QBs on the horizon like:

Phillip Rivers 6-5 235 NC State

Casey Clausen 6-4 225 Tennessee

Derek Anderson 6-6 235 Oregon State

Jeff Smoker 6-3 210 Michigan State

David Greene 6-3 215 Georgia

Brock Berlin 6-2 215 Miami

Gino Guidugli 6-5 210 Cincinnati

Ben Roethlisberger 6-5 190 Miami (OH)

Kevin Fant 6-2 215 Mississippi State

All of these QBs could be first round picks within the next 3 years.

Once these guys join the NFL, then the league will start to look like it did 10-15 years ago when Marino, Kelly, Moon, Elway, Aikman, and Montana were the top QBs.

[Guest]

Farve just throws the ball in the air half the time.Those 5-6 INT's

againest the Rams were horrible and that type of game was due

to him just throwing the ball in the air half the time.Favre is alittle

overrated now.He can't get the job done in the playoffs anymore.

Farve is not the best QB in the NFL.

[KB21]

I disagree.

Favre bounced back from an off season in 2000 to throw his normal 30+ TDs and near 4,000 yards with a 62% completion percentage and a 94.1 QB rating. When you name the top 5 all time QBs, his name will be there with Marino, Montana, Elway, and Unitas.

The guy is simply a great, great, great QB. He has started every game for the Packers since game four of the 1992 season. His durability has no rivals at this position.

[Gray Mule]

For an ex Falcon, I guess he has done right well for himself.

He wasn't "Good enough" to stay with Atlanta. Guess

you never know what you have, at least sometimes, then

you loose it and it's too late.

Gray Mule

P.S. I believe, as F. Bisher said in the A.J.C., right now

Vick is not the best QB on the Falcon's squad. A very

great talent, but he needs to grow into the job. Falcons

may be pushing him too much.

[Guest]

He also throws enough INT's and it's been a while since those

trips to the SuperBowl.Sorry he isn't the best in the league

now.Top 5 but not the best.I'd also like to see Warner without

a Pro Bowl offensive unit around him....Plus they should have

3 titles right now instead of 1 if they had only used Marshall

Faulk more.

[KB21]

Doug Johnson is a better QB right now than Vick is. He's more accurate, can read the entire field, and doesn't make dumb mistakes like Vick will.

In fact, I wouldn't mind it in the least if my Miami Dolphins made a deal for Johnson and made him their starter over Jay Fiedler, the worst starting QB in the NFL.

[KB21]

It isn't the talent around Warner that makes the Rams offense go. It is Warner.

That's why that team loses when Warner doesn't play. Warner is the MVP of that team. Not Marshall Faulk. They can win without Faulk. They can't win without Warner.

1. Brett Favre

2. Kurt Warner

3. Peyton Manning

They are the only elite QBs in the NFL right now.

4. Steve McNair

5. Daunte Culpepper

6. Donovan McNabb

7. Aaron Brooks

8. Drew Bledsoe

9. Mark Brunell

10. Kerry Collins

That's the last of the QBs that I consider starting caliber.

9. The rest of the league is playing with a bunch of back up QBs or young guys that have a lot of room to grow.

[TomahawkChop]

LMAO, Collins a Top 10 QB. Yeah right, NICE TRY.

[Guest]

But even I know McNair is not the 4th best QB in the league.McNabb

is alot better than him.Arron Brooks is overrated....Where is Jeff

Garcia???

McNair is a good all round QB(and underrated by most)and doesn't

have to run out of the pocket every single time to get the job done

but can make plays with his legs.I was very impressed with him

last year despite our record.21 TD's and 12 INT's with Dyson/Mason

and a injured and not so great Eddie George.

1)Donovan McNabb

2)Kurt Warner-His team should have two more super bowls

3)Jeff Garcia

4)Brett Farve

5)Peyton Manning-Throws too many INT's seems like

6)Drew Bledsoe

7)Mark Brunell

8)Steve McNair

9)D.Culpepper

10)Chris Chandler-He is better than what people give him credit for.His

playaction passing I am a fan of.

Overrated List:

Arron Brooks-Has accomplished nothing in this league and is overrated

Kerry Collins-He has ALOt of talent but just doesn't seem to get the best out of it

Tom Brady-He isn't that good.

Brad Johnson-Continues to do nothing no matter what team he is on.

PS who is the Rams backup?Not so good of a player.Besides Warner

has failed to get the job done two str8 years when it is clear he had

the most talented team.The Rams should be working on a dynasty

right now.The Rams had alot more talent than we had two years ago

but they were DAMN LUCKY to win that game.A half of a yard.

[Traceman]

Sure he is more advanced than Vick at this time but Doug has had 3 full seasons in Reeves' offense to Vick's one. When Doug was a 2nd year guy he had a great arm but he made some HORRIBLE decisions with the ball. In addition, why do you think Spurrier stayed on his a** all the time? Doug always had a great arm but he would kill a drive in a minute with an ill advised throw. Wait until Vick is going into his 4th season and see who the better quarterback is.

[Traceman]

Mentioning him with Favre or Warner is just ridiculous. He's one of the most overrated QBs in history up to this point. What has he ever won? T Martin was a better college QB as proven by his ability to beat Florida and win a National title. Manning looks pretty just like Bledsoe but until he wins a big game (not necessarily a Super Bowl), he is NOT an elite player. He has an incredible amount of talent around him now just as he did at Tennessee and yet he can't lead his team to victory in a big game.

I'd rather have Favre, Warner, McNabb, Garcia, McNair or Culpepper (in that order) than Manning and with the exception of Warner, all the other guys are much more than just pocket passers.

[Traceman]

Warner may have been voted MVP but Faulk is the one who makes the Rams special. Both players are key to the Rams' success but the Rams and Warner without Faulk would be just like the Dolphins and Marino were without a good back. Faulk protects Warner because defenses can't just pin their ears back and rush the QB, they have to account for Faulk first. Faulk may go down as the greatest all-purpose back in history and while Warner is great, I still don't think he's better than Favre is right now, let alone the best QB in history.