Are There Any Truly Elite Quarterbacks In The NFL Today? By Kenneth Jackson Sr June 16, 2014 7:38 pm 
One of the most contentious and debated topics in professional football circles has been and is the designation of NFL Quarterbacks as “Elite.” Joe Flacco, Eli Manning, Matt Ryan and others have been confronted during “on air” interviews with the question “Are you an ‘Elite’ Quarterback?” In each case, the slightly embarrassed, “ambushed” Quarterback dodges the question (Ryan), half answers it (Flacco) or answers the question by declaring himself “Elite” (Eli Manning). Of course the question is both subjective and loaded. No one, in or outside of the NFL, can definitively explain what an “Elite” Quarterback is, nor can they identify a universal ly recognized criterion for determining if a Quarterback is or is not “Elite.”This debate, which is primarily driven by media organizations and their desire to stir debate and controversy, would have some merit, if the contracts for starting Quarterbacks reflected the quality of their “body of work”. However, NFL contracts are based more on potential and projected success rather than the quality of the players’ work to date. Because of this dynamic, largely unproven players like Colin Kaepernick, Cam Newton and Andy Dalton expect to be paid commensurate with Rogers, Brady and Brees.So the debate; this wrestling match of opinions and conjecture, continues. Does the NFL have any truly “Elite” Quarterbacks and, if so, who are they? In an attempt to answer that question, I developed a criterion for “Elite” passers. I then reviewed the career passing records for Quarterbacks that qualified and were “full time” starters in 2013. To be included on this list, a Quarterback had to spend at least three years as a full time starter and the player’s entire body of work in the NFL was considered. Any year in which there were no statistics was not counted (e.g. entire years that were missed with injuries, years the player was on the roster but did not play, etc.) and no rushing statistics were included.The statistics used for compiling the list of “Elite” passers was obtained solely from the official NFL.com website and only included regular season numbers. Seven criteria were used to make the evaluation: pass completion percentage (64% or higher), yards per completion (minimum of 7.5), yards per game (at least 250), touchdowns per season (25 minimum), touchdown percentage based on attempts (5% or more), interception percentage based on attempts (2.5% or lower ) and passer rating (95.0 or higher). Using these criteria, only four current NFL Quarterbacks qualified as “Elite”:• Aaron Rogers (Green Bay Packers)• Peyton Manning (Denver Broncos)• Tom Brady (New England Patriots)• Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints)Aaron Rogers has a career passer rating of 104.9 which is by far the best in the league. He has a career pass completion rate of 65.8%; second only to Drew Brees’ 65.9%. Rogers throws a touchdown pass on 6.4% of his attempts but only threw an interception on 1.8% of his attempts. Both figures are the best among NFL starters that qualified. Rogers has also thrown for 257 passing yards per game averaging 8.2 yards per completion (best among the “Elite” passers.)Peyton Manning, who has long been recognized as an “Elite” passer is second only to Aaron Rogers (based on career statistics). Manning has a passer rating of 97.2 with a completion rate of 65.6%. He leads the pack in average career touchdowns per season with 33 and leads Rogers in yards per game with 271. However, he trails Rogers in TD percentage (5.8%), yards per completion (7.7) and interception rate (2.6%).The third Quarterback in our list of “Elite” passers is Tom Brady. Brady sports a passer rating of 95.7 with a pass completion rate of 63.4% and throws an average of 26 touchdowns per year. He averages 254 yards per game with 5.0% of his attempts resulting in touchdowns and only 2.0% of those attempts resulting in interceptions.Our last “Elite” passer is Drew Brees who has a passer rating of 95.3 and a completion rate of 65.9% (best among the “Elite” passers.) Over his career, Brees has averaged 275 yards per game resulting in 28 touchdowns per season and a touchdown rate of 5.3% of attempted passes. His interception rate of 2.6% of attempts is a bit high but his prolific passing numbers make up for this shortcoming.Two other Quarterbacks fell just below the threshold for “Elite” passers: Philip Rivers (San Diego Chargers) and Tony Romo (Dallas Cowboys). In addition, Matt Ryan (Atlanta Falcons) and Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh Steelers) graded out as “Quality” passers while Joe Flacco (Baltimore Ravens), Cam Newton (Carolina Panthers), Andy Dalton (Cincinnati Bengals), Sam Bradford (St. Louis Rams) and Matt Schaub (Oakland Raiders) fell into the “Above Average” category of our evaluation.This list probably will not quiet any of the debate about which NFL Quarterbacks should be considered “Elite”; however, it is a start in establishing a base line for use of the term “Elite” in evaluating the passing skills of Quarterbacks in the NFL. This list can and probably will change from year to year as new Quarterbacks like Russell Wilson, Colin Kaepernick and Robert Griffin III qualify. “Elite” is truly in the eyes of the “beholder”; however, going forward, we will at least have a clearer picture of what we are seeing in NFL Quarterbacks.link
