Once thought to be among the strongest QB divisions in the NFL, This book now has four very different chapters.
The Champion, The Pretender, The Flash in the Pan and The Overhyped.
Let's begin with The Champion. Drew Brees. Saints. The only reason to write any further is to use up space on this page. Since arriving in NOLA in 2006, Brees has been nothing short of brilliant. His numbers are off the charts. His leadership is Pattonesque. Football IQ? Einstein. His hunger insatiable. This has and will continue to be a first ballot Hall of Fame career.
The Pretender. Matt "Matty Ice" Ryan. Atlanta Falcons. The media darling of the NFC South. Every year, pre-season forecasters pick the Falcons to win the division and some have them going to the Super Bowl. Why? Matt Ryan. Why? I have no clue. Ryan has good stats in the regular season but pretenders are exposed in the playoffs. With him under center, the Falcons are winless in the post season. They have been outscored 102-47. Ryan's passer rating plummets from 88.4 to 59. As defenses toughen in the playoffs, Ryan melts away.
The Flash in the Pan. Josh Freeman. Tampa Bay Bucceneers. The Bucs QB had what was thought to be a breakout year in 2010. He completed 61% of his passes for 25 TDs and only 6 interceptions. The problem is breakout years are supposed to be followed up. Freeman regressed in 2011. Although his completion percentage improved slightly, his TD/Int ratio dropped to 16/22. Even worse was his 2009 nine season. Ten TDs compared to 18 interceptions. What do you call it when a QB has one good season squeezed between two bad ones?
The Overhyped. Cameron "Cam" Newton. Carolina Panthers. How can a rookie QB with a 60% completion rate be overhyped? Numbers. Except for six games, his numbers are very ordinary. Newton's passer rating exceeded 100 six times. In those games, Carolina was 4-2. The four wins came agianst such powerhouses as 5-11 Washington, the 4-12 Bucs and the winner of the "suck for Luck" sweepstakes, the 2-14 Colts. The two losses were to 8-8 Arizona and 3-13 Minnesota. Big numbers against bad teams. In the 10 Panther losses, Newton's rating was only 79, the lowest a 44.6 verses Atlanta. So why the hype? Newton's ability to run. He ran for over 700 yards in 2011. That's a downright homage to Mike Vick. But, as of this wrting Vick is already hurt. Just two games into the pre-season. Vick, though is 5'11", a smaller target. He is also faster and quicker than Newton. At 6'6" and 240lbs, Newton moves incredible well. But being 6'6", he is a huge target, his ankles are exposed and even at 240 he won't be able to withstand the constant punding of NFL hits. As NFL defensive coordinators figure out he can't read a defense, they will figure out the spread option then force Newton to win with his arm. That's called that the sophmore slump. Newton's will be five star.
My NFC south QB rankings:
1.Brees
2. Ryan
3.Newton
4. Freeman
That was easy.
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