FJM: John Clayton's QB Rankings

Recently, ESPN's John Clayton ranked 33 quarterbacks in terms of talent. This list could not have made me more upset. Like a cliche sports blogger, I have to add my two cents and tell the author why he's a dumb mo fo and should never talk about sports ever again because he's the dumbest man alive. Plus it's a Saturday night so naturally this is the best thing on my list to do.

Here's Clayton's list

THE ELITE
1. Peyton Manning
2. Tom Brady
3. Drew Brees
4. Ben Roethlisberger
5. Brett Favre
6. Aaron Rodgers
7. Philip Rivers
8. Tony Romo
9. Donovan McNabb
10. Carson Palmer
11. Eli Manning
12. Joe Flacco
13. Matt Ryan
14. Matt Schaub

CHAD PENNINGTON DIVISION
15. Jay Cutler
16. Kyle Orton
17. Matt Hasselbeck
18. Vince Young
19. Jason Campbell
20. David Garrard
21. Alex Smith
22. Matt Cassel

HIT-OR-MISS DIVISION
23. Mark Sanchez
24. Kevin Kolb
25. Chad Henne
26. Matthew Stafford
27. Byron Leftwich
28. Matt Leinart/ Derek Anderson
29. Josh Freeman
30. Sam Bradford
31. Trent Edwards
32. Matt Moore
33. Jake Delhomme

SIDENOTE: This list was created before Leftwich got hurt and Leinart got cut

Now with most rankings you're never going to have someone agree with you on 100% of your picks. Everyone is always going to think that Person X should be above Person Y. So when I look at rankings I look at groupings. Sure, maybe I think Person X should be better than Person Y, but both people are top 10 and I think that's right. But even still, John Clayton, what are you thinking!?

- My hatred of Big Ben is well documented. While I hate rapists and liars (especially those that get away with it), I especially don't like Big Ben because he isn't asked to throw a whole lot so a decreased sample size shows up as good statistical numbers. And admittedly Roethlisberger proved me wrong last year by having a lot of attempts, a still good completion percentage all while leading the league in sacks. So he gets a bump up in my book. BUT NUMBER FOUR!? COME ON JC! I thought we were past the fact that Superbowl rings does not equal good quarterback play. Was your colleague Trent Dilfer looking over your shoulder when you wrote this?

- Aaron Rodgers is AT LEAST a top 5 quarterback. Part of what makes the greats put up big numbers is because of their offensive line. You put Joe Montana or Dan Marino in front of the most recent Detroit Lions offensive lines and they put Jay Cutler-esque numbers. But Aaron Rodgers put up Dan Marino-eqsue numbers with an awful O-line last year. (tied for first last year in sacks with 50 and had the third worst passing offensive line last year). In my heart (especially as a Bears fan) I can't put him ahead of Manning, Brady, and Brees, but I think my head and logic says Rodgers needs to be top 3.

-Matt Schaub is only 14! WHAT!? The only flaw throughout Schaub's entire career (besides the fact that I've heard many people call him 'Schwaub') is that he's injury prone. But this list is not about fantasy football (and seeing how McNabb is at #9, this list is clearly about talent) it's about how well does a QB perform on the field. Schaub was an elite prospect/back up in Atlanta and always performed well on the field with a Detroit Lions-esque offensive line. Top 10 talent.

-The absolute worst ranking on this list is Matt Ryan. No amount of capital letters can begin to describe how much Matt Ryan sucks. I know this isn't fantasy but when you're healthy and Carson Palmer and Jason Campbell outscore you- you suck.

-Speaking of Carson Palmer- he's 2009 L.T. done. He's I-just-finished-an-easy-final-and-now-I'm-turning-it-in done. This is a shame because he was so good early in his career and looked like the best quarterback to come out of USC in the past decade (although he's still looking like that with the week Matt Leinart is having). But he's looked really bad since his knee injury in the playoffs a few years back and has done nothing since to deserve the "elite" tag

-I understand the frustration and hatred with Jay Cutler, as a Bears fan I do. But Jesus Christ the hatred has gone way too far. Yes, leading the league in interceptions and having it not be close is a HUGE knock on you. But he still completed 60+ percent of his passes and threw more touchdowns than interceptions. And Cutler's INT% was such a statistical anomaly that I refuse to believe he repeats his 2009 campaign. But you wanna talk about guys with bad numbers, just look at Carson Palmer and Matt Ryan.

-I'm glad Drew Brees is getting love. He's always been good where ever he's gone and he makes no name wide outs and 7th round draft picks stars. Plus, his kid is cute AS HELL.

- I love the talent of Philip Rivers. I heard he's the biggest douchebag and trash talker on the field but I think he's also a top 5 talent.

- Fuck Brett Favre. Oh, and Clayton's ranking of him sucks as well. At this stage in his career, Favre is barely a top 10 QB. But still light years better than Tavaris Jackson.

-As a real life player (because god forbid we talk about a player's real life value as opposed to his fantasy value), I like Vince Young. He loves to cough more than a man with lung cancer and emphysema, but the man just wins games. Normally, I'd say that how many wins a team has when a particular quarterback starts is just pure luck. But not with Vince Young. When his team is down by 5 in the fourth quarter (granted they are probably down because Young had 2 interceptions and a fumble in the game) Young just puts game winning drives together. It's just what he does. Plus, there's no stat for rushing for three yards on 3rd and 2- which is what Vince Young does. During a debate last week with my buddy, if I had to start a team today (real not fantasy) and get a QB for the next three years, which QB would I take: Young or Ryan? I took Young.

-Chad Henne is too low at 25 and Kevin Kolb is WAY too low at 24

-I think McNabb, E. Manning, and Orton are correctly placed/ right in the area they should be

Here's my list:

1. Tom Brady
2. Peyton Manning
3. Aaron Rodgers
4. Drew Brees
5. Philip Rivers
6. Matt Schaub
7. Tony Romo
8. Brett Favre
9. Ben Roethlisberger
10. Donovan McNabb
11. Jay Cutler
12. Eli Manning
13. Joe Flacco
14. Kevin Kolb
15. Vince Young
16. Kyle Orton
17. Jason Campbell
18. Matt Ryan
19. Chad Henne
20. Carson Palmer
21. David Garrard
22. Matt Cassel
23. Alex Smith
24. Sam Bradford
25. Matt Hasselbeck
26. Byron Leftwich
27. Matthew Stafford
28. Mark Sanchez
29. Matt Moore
30. Jake Delhomme
31. Trent Edwards
32. Josh Freeman
33. Derek Anderson