I don't think most fans have extensively studied the rest enough to be able to say with certainty how much gap there is between Luck and the rest. I know Rafael likes Barkley as a solid option after Luck and to me he knows QBs better than anyone else here. CK also likes Barkley a lot.
As usual I think Cote is totally full of sh!t. Fat idiot bastard is just looking for something to write about and stir things up.
PFF currently ranks Ryan as the 8th QB this season and Flacco is 34th with only Tebow, Feeley, Collins and Gabbert below him.
Flacco is not having a good season. I don't even think the Baltimore fans would say he's better than Matt Ryan.
Greg Cote wrote that. He's a washed up old fart who was, until recently, bashing anyone who thought the Dolphins weren't a good team. He finally had to come to terms with reality, that's he's a dumbass, and had to accept Suck for Luck. Now he writes an article that basically says, "it's the dolphins! we don't ever get anything right!" what a joke. oh and filled with misinformation. The Colts DO NOT have the SoS tie breaker. That is completely up for grabs and we could very well end up with it if we tie. *throws article in garbage* would be nice if these newspapers fired these old farts and send them into retirement already. crappy writers. when they aren't writing garbage like this, they are busting out their pompoms and trying to sell to you dolphin kool-aid.
What we are seeing Mr C, is the young Qb's who previously had relied on a strong running game to bolster their games, are failing once they have to do the heavy lifting, Flacco, Ryan, Sanchez, all not having very good seasons when asked to be "the man". As for the article, A) he's probably right, no team disappoints their fans as much as the Miami Dolphins B) even if he is right, 9 games left, there are million things that can happen between now and then. A good example is our running game and defense have recently showed signs of life, if they continue to improve we could win some ballgames..the horror!
I look at my QBs a little differently. For me there are the "Franchise guys" - guys you, obviously, build a franchise around. Then there's the "Top Tier guys" who aren't quite franchise QBs but still very good in their own right. From there you drop into the category of "Serviceable," meaning that these guys are pretty good, but there's some sort of flaw that keeps them from jumping up to one of the first tiers. Anything beyond that is "Replaceable," of which the meaning should be quite obvious. There are 7 guys I would classify as Franchise QBs - Brees, Rodgers, Peyton, Brady, Vick, Rivers and Roethlisberger. After that there's the second tier consists of Ryan, Eli, Freeman, Stafford, Schaub, and Cutler. If Stafford can remain upright and put together a couple seasons he's well on his way to becoming elite. Next up are the serviceable guys, and Flacco comes in somewhere below those 13 names, probably rounding out the top 15. There's sever other guys like him, Romo, Sanchez, Cassel, Newton, Fitzpatrick, Palmer, and Bradford. Newton is well on his way to becoming a breakout star and moving to one of the top tiers, but he needs to demonstrate some consistency first. Romo falls to the serviceable category due to his big game reputation. Rookies like Andy Dalton, Chrstian Ponder, and Blaine Gabbert aren't in my list, as they haven't really gotten a lot of playing time, though Dalton is most likely a third-tier type guy right now and possibly a second tier type player down the road. Everyone beyond that is in the "Replaceable" category - this includes Tarvarus Jackson, Tim Tebow, Matt Moore, Colt McCoy, Kevin Kolb, Matt Hassellbeck (borderline), John Beck (or Rex Grossman, your pick) and Alex Smith. With the obvious exception of Peyton, every other Top Tier QB is either leading their division or should challenge for a playoff spot. I don't think that's an accident at all.
Very good breakdown of the current QBs in this league. Only minor disagreement I find in your list is I think Palmer might fall into the replaceable category by season's end but that could really go either way. I just don't think his heart is in it anymore, and I'm not basing this on his 3 interception performance game before the bye, but his previous year's performance and attitude towards playing this year.
I've argued many about Ben being an absolute top 5 QB, and that Rivers is completely overrated..This season is showing a lot...Berger is top 5, and Rivers never should of been.
Not sure I agree with your analysis if you are referring to Flacco. Stat wise, they are neck 'n neck, but I'd personally rather have Ryan. Higher ceiling and better leadership skills IMO. BUT...Baltimore did wise to make the move up to get Flacco when/where they did. He's in the perfect situation to succeed IMO. They both are really. And, at the end of the day, that's all that matters. http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/11252/joe-flacco http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/11237/matt-ryan
I totally do not agree with you there. He isn't doing well this season, by his past standards, but he is still a franchise QB that most teams would give their left nut to have. Just watching him play, if any current QB reminds of watching Marino, it would be Rivers.
It has been my belief since the owner of the Colts stated he would draft Luck if given the opportunity, the Colts will end this season 0-16 and get the first pick in the 2012 draft. Without Manning at QB, the Colts are the worst team in the NFL. The Colts organization already have seen what having a franchise QB will do over the long term for them and I don't think they have any desire to lose the opportunity to draft the next true franchise QB coming out of this draft. The Dolphins will be left deciding between Barkley and Jones as their pick in the first round. I prefer Jones and I hope that he is still available when the Dolphins make their pick in the first round. Neither Jones or Barkley will be the QB in the NFL Luck will be, but both should be better than any of the QB's who have started for the Dolphins since Marino retired.
not my left nut M.r C, just don't like his game when the pressure mounts,don't think his skillset is championship caliber.
I don't see the fuss over Landry Jones. To me, Tannehill looks like just as good a passer and is much more athletic to boot. But I am just a fan not a professional scout, nor have I ever played one on TV. Barkley is much better than either IMO and should be the consensus 2nd QB on draft day. Weeden is also a much better passer than Jones or Tannehill. Griffin III is probably better too, and the best athlete of the bunch. Weeden would be the 3rd QB if I ranked them, followed very closely by RGIII, then Tannehill and Jones.
Well with news that even more players are falling to injury...possibly our best O-Lineman Pouncey and now Hartline may have sprained his ankle...this is how a team that should be a .500 team continues a downfall. Once you start losing it's hard to break, and when you have a staff that will be gutted in January and the worst QB situation in the NFL it makes it even worse. So we're still in it...but I can't help but fear we won't get that #1 pick.
Well some of the things he said in the article, I've been saying long before that. Don't care for him too much but it is a fact that the Dolphins have had NO LUCK since the 70's...
That dumbass must be a great bull****er because he's been doing it for a long time. I don't care for him much but all that, he's an old fart, fire him is something your doing because he wrote an article you do not believe in. It is a fact that the Dolphins have had no luck since way back in the 70's. The one season they land the number 2 pick in the draft and there is no Qb's worth taking and Rb's that were supposed to be all world, all sucked... I can see it going down to the wire and Miami missing out by inches. If they're in the position to be that close to the number one pick, I hope it does not happen but most likely it will.