Sorry,Sports Illustrated: Aaron Rodgers is the best QB in the NFL

July 6, 2015 /   /  Adam - CheeseheadTV, Uncategorized

There has been enough internet ink spilled about Green Bay Packers players hiding behind plants or getting suspended for enjoying something that’s a little more potent than Wisconsin cheddar or Leinenkugel Summer Shandy.

Instead of speculating why the Packers have suddenly come down with a case of our-players-keep-getting-arrested-itis,I’ll take the advice of one of our fearless leaders here at CheeseheadTV and develop a tiered list of NFL quarterbacks.

Aaron Nagler posted his list on Twitter yesterday and later encouraged all football fans to come up with their own. 

 

Sounds like a lot more fun than debating the pros and cons of whether you should hide behind a plant or roll it up and smoke it.

If Aaron’s encouragement wasn’t enough motivation for a post like this,Sports Illustrated ranked all 32 NFL QBs and slotted Aaron Rodgers second behind Tom Brady. These offseason “rankings” or “list” posts are supposed to generate moronic comments debate and silly internet fighting discussion among fans to kill time before training camp opens. 

In the case of the Sports Illustrated list,the strategy worked on me.

So,here goes. Adam Czech’s NFL QB Tiers:

Tier 1
Aaron Rodgers,Tom Brady,Ben Roethlisberger,Andrew Luck

Tier 2
Peyton Manning,Drew Brees,Philip Rivers,Matt Ryan

Tier 3
Russell Wilson,Tony Romo,Cam Newton,Joe Flacco

Tier 4
Ryan Tannehill,Matthew Stafford,Eli Manning,Teddy Bridgewater

Tier 5
Colin Kaepernick,Carson Palmer,Andy Dalton,Jay Cutler

Tier 6
Nick Foles,Sam Bradford,Alex Smith,Derek Carr

Tier 7
Brian Hoyer,Blake Bortels,RGIII,Geno Smith

Tier 8
Josh McCown,Zach Mettenberger

10 observations about my own list

  1. Aaron Rodgers is my No. 1. If he can snap himself out of his recent playoff funk,it will no longer even be debatable that he’s the best in the NFL.
  2. Yes,I put Luck in the top tier over guys like Peyton Manning and Brees. Perhaps I’m giving too much credit for potential future performance,but I’d take Luck for both the short- and long-term over P. Manning and Brees.
  3. I have eight tiers instead of Nagler’s six. I think it provides a little more separation,especially at the top where you have to make some tough calls.
  4. Ryan over Wilson? Yes. Ryan averages over 4,000 yards and 26 touchdowns per season. It’s not his fault his defense hasn’t been able to stop anyone for two seasons.
  5. Newton over Flacco? Flacco is a perfectly fine quarterback. So is Newton,but he’s got the ability to be much more than perfectly fine.
  6. Isn’t Kaepernick a little high? Maybe. But I think if he’s allowed to use his legs like he did earlier in his career,he’ll have a bounce-back season. He also plays the Packers in 2015,so that should help pad his stats.
  7. Where are the rookies? Past performance was part of my criteria,so I didn’t include rookies. If I did,I probably would have put Marcus Marriotta ahead of Jameis Winston.
  8. If I had to predict which quarterback from the bottom tiers will move up after the 2015 season,I’d pick Bradford.
  9. I’m crossing my fingers that I’ve ranked Bridgewater too high.
  10. If I had to predict a quarterback from the top tiers to drop down after the 2015 season,I’d pick Romo (back injuries scare me).

Bonus observation: If Brett Favre announced that he’s un-retiring again,I’d probably put him in tier 5 and drop Cutler down a tier.

Disclaimer: There’s a good chance I forgot someone. If I did,don’t skewer me too bad in the comment section.