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2002 Top 10 Quarterbacks
| Rank |
Team |
Player |
Ht |
Wt |
Age |
Exp |
Style |
| 1 |
MIN |
Culpepper, Daunte |
6-4 |
260 |
26 |
4 |
R&P |
| 2 |
OAK |
Gannon, Rich |
6-3 |
210 |
38 |
15 |
P |
| 3 |
ATL |
Vick, Michael |
6-0 |
215 |
23 |
2 |
R&P |
| 4 |
IND |
Manning, Peyton |
6-5 |
230 |
27 |
5 |
P |
| 5 |
BUF |
Bledsoe, Drew |
6-5 |
240 |
31 |
10 |
P |
| 6 |
NO |
Brooks, Aaron |
6-4 |
205 |
27 |
4 |
R&P |
| 7 |
TEN |
McNair, Steve |
6-2 |
229 |
30 |
8 |
R&P |
| 8 |
NE |
Brady, Tom |
6-4 |
225 |
26 |
3 |
P |
| 9 |
SF |
Garcia, Jeff |
6-1 |
195 |
33 |
4 |
R&P |
| 10 |
KC |
Green, Trent |
6-3 |
217 |
33 |
9 |
P |
| 11 |
PHI |
McNabb, Donovan |
6-2 |
226 |
27 |
4 |
R&P |
| 12 |
GB |
Favre, Brett |
6-2 |
225 |
34 |
12 |
P |
An interesting trend develops here. I have highlighted
those quarterbacks that are the more productive rushers
in addition to passing versus the "pure passers".
There are two distinct kinds of quarterbacks that are doing
well and they are rather different from each other. For
a pure passer, the taller the better as none in the top
ten were less than 6'3" and the more experienced that
they were, the more likely they did better. Peyton Manning
and Tom Brady break the mold some, but Manning has always
been a cut above and Brady was not able to sustain good
numbers all season long.
| NFL |
Player |
Ht |
Wt |
Age |
Exp |
Style |
| BAL |
Boller, Kyle |
6-3 |
234 |
22 |
R |
P |
| ATL |
Vick, Michael |
6-0 |
215 |
22 |
2 |
R&P |
| HOU |
Carr, David |
6-3 |
223 |
23 |
1 |
P |
| JAX |
Leftwich, Byron |
6-5 |
231 |
23 |
R |
P |
| SD |
Brees, Drew |
6-0 |
221 |
24 |
2 |
P |
| DET |
Harrington, Joey |
6-4 |
220 |
24 |
1 |
P |
| WAS |
Ramsey, Patrick |
6-2 |
217 |
24 |
1 |
P |
| NE |
Brady, Tom |
6-4 |
225 |
25 |
3 |
P |
| DAL |
Carter, Quincy |
6-2 |
213 |
25 |
2 |
R&P |
| CLE |
Couch, Tim |
6-4 |
227 |
25 |
4 |
P |
| BAL |
Redman, Chris |
6-3 |
223 |
25 |
3 |
P |
| MIN |
Culpepper, Daunte |
6-4 |
260 |
26 |
4 |
R&P |
| DAL |
Hutchinson, Chad |
6-5 |
237 |
26 |
1 |
P |
| PHI |
McNabb, Donovan |
6-2 |
226 |
26 |
4 |
R&P |
| NYJ |
Pennington, Chad |
6-3 |
225 |
26 |
3 |
P |
| NO |
Brooks, Aaron |
6-4 |
205 |
27 |
4 |
R&P |
| SEA |
Hasselbeck, Matt |
6-4 |
223 |
27 |
4 |
P |
| IND |
Manning, Peyton |
6-5 |
230 |
27 |
5 |
P |
| CAR |
Delhomme, Jake |
6-2 |
205 |
28 |
4 |
P |
| DEN |
Plummer, Jake |
6-2 |
212 |
28 |
6 |
P |
| CLE |
Holcomb, Kelly |
6-2 |
212 |
29 |
6 |
P |
| NYG |
Collins, Kerry |
6-5 |
248 |
30 |
8 |
P |
| CIN |
Kitna, Jon |
6-2 |
220 |
30 |
6 |
P |
| TEN |
McNair, Steve |
6-2 |
229 |
30 |
8 |
R&P |
| CHI |
Stewart, Kordell |
6-1 |
217 |
30 |
8 |
R&P |
| BUF |
Bledsoe, Drew |
6-5 |
240 |
31 |
10 |
P |
| MIA |
Fiedler, Jay |
6-2 |
225 |
31 |
7 |
P |
| PIT |
Maddox, Tommy |
6-4 |
220 |
31 |
6 |
P |
| STL |
Warner, Kurt |
6-2 |
220 |
31 |
5 |
P |
| ARZ |
Blake, Jeff |
6-0 |
210 |
32 |
11 |
R&P |
| JAX |
Brunell, Mark |
6-1 |
217 |
32 |
10 |
P |
| KC |
Green, Trent |
6-3 |
217 |
32 |
9 |
P |
| GB |
Favre, Brett |
6-2 |
225 |
33 |
12 |
P |
| SF |
Garcia, Jeff |
6-1 |
195 |
33 |
4 |
R&P |
| TB |
Johnson, Brad |
6-5 |
226 |
34 |
11 |
P |
| OAK |
Gannon, Rich |
6-3 |
210 |
37 |
15 |
R&P |
| CAR |
Peete, Rodney |
6-0 |
230 |
37 |
14 |
P |
The running quarterbacks were all distinctly younger than
the pure passers. Jeff Garcia at 33 is the lone wolf in
a crowd that does not otherwise exceed 27 years of age.
There are a couple of reasons for this - the quarterbacks
coming out of college have been much better runners than
in the past in many cases. Teams are using their running
skills to make them double threats. The quarterback rich
class of 1999 provided four of the top eleven quarterbacks
and all of the were runners as well as passers.
The other first round quarterbacks in the 1999 draft were
Tim Couch (first overall, pass only), Akili Smith (bust
but could run in college) and Cade McNown (pass only).
This is relevant to the size issue because the only QB's
that are not prototypically tall are the rushing QB's that
have done pretty well for themselves. You cannot consider
size until you recognize what sort of quarterback you are
evaluating.
If there is anything to take away from this, it is that
size matters for a pure passing quarterback but
less so for a quarterback who often runs. If a quarterback
runs, he is more likely to be under the age of 30 which
is practical considering the physical requirements of being
a good runner and the more punishment that these players
receive.
For pure passing quarterbacks, normally the older the
better they are. This too makes sense as complex offenses
require time and in spite of the hurry-up world of the
NFL, it takes time to develop a great passer (not named
Peyton). These passing quarterbacks that are most successful
are almost always 6'3" tall and weigh more than 210.
Their weight is always in proportion to their height as "skinny" quarterbacks
like some coming out of college are not succeeding. The
increase of running quarterbacks that perform well each
season will begin to slant the position away from the traditional
veteran pocket passers in some cases. The greater the need
for young, fresh legs, the less likely a quarterback will
have the lengthy career as we have seen in the past.
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