Y2K QB Rankings!!
These are preliminary only and will be updated periodically prior to the opening of the season.
1)Peyton Manning, IND. With the skills of his supporting cast, he can only get better. Expect a tremendous season, especially if a #2 receiver shows up to take the pressure off Harrison.
2)Kurt Warner, STL. Is there any chance for a repeat? I can't see a reason why he won't have another phenomenal year with Bruce, Holt, Hakim, Proehl, AND Faulk all very capable receivers. The only reason he isn't sitting atop is he has only proven for 1 year.
3)Brett Favre, GB. A personal favorite of mine. If you consider what he did last year with an injured thumb, Levens, Chmura and the loss of Brooks you might think twice about how good he really is. Especially since the only real weapon he had was Freeman. Bradford, Franks and Davis should all contribute this year.
4)Steve McNair, TEN. This guy has a huge arm, good strength and runs better than most fullbacks. If he stays healthy it will be a terrific year. He has good recievers to help out. He doesn't pass for a ton of TD's but makes up for it by running them in. (8 rushing TD's last season)
5)Rob Johnson, BUF. Has a solid team to take over here. Moulds is as all-pro while Price will only get better. Ground game could improve. Rob should beat out flutie for starting job.
6)Rich Gannon, OAK. Another QB with a career year at 34 years old. Recievers just got a lot better with the signing of Robert Brook (if hes really healthy), and 1-2 running game of Wheatley and Kaufman should once again open up airways. Could repeat numbers.
7)Tony Banks, BAL. Look for this ranking to get higher as training camp proves to us that Banks is the same player we saw in the last half of last season.
8)Mark Brunell, Jax. If this guy can produce like we all know he can, AND Fred Taylor can stay healthy, he could be a top 5 QB. He'll never get much rushing yardage again with all his injuries but all they need him to do is get the ball to their other offensive weapons.
9)Brad Johnson, WSH. Should have another good year, but only if Westbrook can stay out of trouble, and they dont replace him with Jeff George. Connell really showed up last year and was one of the main reasons Brad had a great year. If Davis can keep it going on the ground, look out!
10)Jake Plummer, AZ. This may surprise some having the snake in the top ten, but I think it's break out time. Look past last years injury, and the aquisition of RB Thomas Jones should really improve running game. The recievers have been solid in the past, should stay that way this year.
11)Drew Bledsoe, NE. Man what happened here? He was supposed to be great, but last year was downright awful. Statistically he was the worst QB the last half of last season. A lack of great offensive talent may hold him back again this year, but he'll still get his yardage.
12)John Kitna, SEA. The big question here will be whether Holmgren can work his QB magic one more time. He is a great coach but it's Kitna on the field. another 3300 yards isn't out of reach especially with Mayes and Dawkins returning.
13)Jeff Blake, NO. He was really lucky to go to the Saints. He gets a team on the rise and could be the final piece there. Another team with a threat at every offensive position this year. If Blake reverts to his pro bowl self this team will make waves.
14)Elvis Grbac, KC. See John Kitna. Actually Kitna and Grbac has nearly identical stats last season, just over 3300 yards 23 and 22 TD's and 15 and 16 INT's. Elvis, besides not having as good of a coach, seems less talented to me. Still, 3300 yards with 22 TD's should be reached again and those are some pretty decent numbers.
15)Cade McNown, CHI. This team could surprise this year. The receiving corps is tough, and Enis could finally show what he was drafted for. McNown is still learning but sits in this position due to the lack of good QB's this year and the fact that he has Robinson catching everything he throws.
16)Troy Aikman, DAL. What I say is he is darn lucky to have two good recievers in Galloway and Ismail. This is the first time since harper was decent that I remember that Aikman will have two quality receivers. Emmit isn't slowing as much as everyone says and this should be Aikman's biggest passing year in a long time.
17)Kerry Collins, NYG. If it were just about any other QB in NY he would be a few spots higher, just because of the talent on the Giants squad. Collins has never really impressed me so he sits at 17. This may be the first time in his career that he has had this much talent around him though, and his stats may end up showing it. At 28 years old he is still very capable of salvaging a limited career and turning himself into star material.
18)Steve Beuerlein, CAR. With Jeffers injured last years numbers are impossible to duplicate. Rumor has it that he is not fully recovered from the 5 offseason surgeries. at his age this pick looks risky, no matter how well he did last season.
19)Charlie Batch, DET. The key here will be whether he can stay injury free. Since its training camp time and he's already injured it looks like the answer is gonna be no for the third year in a row. If he's not a lot better by preseason this rank drops. If he gets better, he should be a very effective QB, especially with Crowell emerging last year. He seemed to have a nice repor with Johnnie Morton and Herman Moore should be healthy this season.
20)Tim Couch, CLE. I think Tim was the best QB in the pool of rookies last year and this year the main thing limiting him will be the talent surrounding him. Kevin Johnson is good might be great soon and he's the one who's gonna get Couch his Numbers.
21)Daunte Culpepper, MIN. Culpepper had the benefit of sitting for a year behind Cunningham and George and it might start to pay off for him. We know Minnesota has lots of offensive talent but word is Culpepper is still raw talent, and the offense will bottleneck through him. Still, if he can get on track it could surprise some.
22)Shaun King, TB. This guy is a victim of circumstances, and great ones at that. Already having a darn good team last year they really boosted the offense by adding Keyshawn Johnson. They become much more explosive now, and have a legit threat at every offensive position. Thats rare, and could land them in the big game. On the other hand hes been performing poorly in preseason so this rank drops.
23)Akili Smith, CIN. Akili has great strength and touch, and he could be just what this team needed to get back to having a respectable record. He showed at Oregon that he can produce and learn fast, since he started only 1 year at QB there. He should greatly improve on his two TD's of a year ago simply by starting the year as the #1 QB. The loss of Pickens and scott won't help but Warrick and Smith could develop a better team relationship this way.
24)Donovan McNabb, PHI. His only real recieving threat here is, Duce Staley? yep. the RB has a legit shot to lead the team in receiving yards this year, but thats not because he's such a great receiver. Philly's WR's just aren't that good. Torrance Small is decent and Johnson could be much better. Look else where for a QB...this year.
25)Chris Chandler, ATL. Look for him to rebound, but not likely to his '98 self. Jamal Should be good again, and adding Jefferson at WR should help out. I think asking Chandler and Jamal to play like they did 2 years ago would be too much, although he could end up playing at a much higher level than I have him ranked here.
26)Vinny Testaverde, NYJ. This guy could perform well this year after his achilles injury last season. But I don't think so. At his advancing age, injury history, lack of a good passing history and on top of all that the loss of Keyshawn, I think almost any QB would be a smarter pickup on draft day. (besides Kordell Stewart)
