As expected during my family’s Thanksgiving get-together this past week, our debates turned to Dallas Cowboys quarterback and local sports punching bag Tony Romo. I am a Romo supporter and my cousin thinks he is awful. During the discussion it was brought up about where Romo would rank in the current list of quarterbacks in the National Football League. I said easily top ten, Clint didn’t give a number but made it clear he isn’t even average (meaning he is ranked less than 16th as there are 32 starting quarterbacks; for the purpose of our discussion Peyton Manning is still considered the Indianapolis Colts quarterback), and my brother said he probably wouldn’t put Romo in the top ten (making it sound as if he is right outside of that group).
Realistically, Romo is certainly behind Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, and Drew Brees. After those four QBs the list will start to become more personal for every fan. The rest of the pack that is even in discussion to be among the top ten in the league include (in no particular order) Romo, Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers, Matt Ryan, Matthew Stafford, Matt Schaub, Michael Vick, Jay Cutler, and Joe Flacco. That's a total of 14 quarterbacks and three of those have to be grouped with Romo to be among the ones not good enough to be considered the top third in the sport if my brother and cousin are correct.
I have compiled some statistics from this year’s season that will show how Romo is faring among his peers. Obviously, stats alone don’t make an argument for an athlete’s merits. There are other intangibles that can’t be put onto paper that weigh in favor and against a player in the minds of the public, but this will give you an idea of how Romo’s year is going. The numbers listed include passing yardage, yards per attempt, completion percentage, touchdowns, interceptions, sacks, and QB rating, both by the NFL’s standard system and ESPN’s new QBR system.
Because Peyton Manning has not played this year due to a neck injury, no stats are available for him. It should also be noted that some players like Vick, Schaub, and Cutler have missed a few games due to injury and rookie Cam Newton has been omitted from the discussion despite putting up some impressive numbers, but he has to be around for more than half a season to be considered for best in the league. After 11 games this will be a good litmus test for Romo.
Passing Yardage
Romo ranks ninth in yards with the Elite 3 (Rodgers, Brady, and Brees) taking the top three spots:
Brees – 3,689
Brady – 3,627
Rodgers – 3,475
Manning – 3,358 (4th)
Rivers – 3,211 (5th)
Stafford – 3,119 (6th)
Roethlisberger – 3,070 (8th)
Romo – 3,026
Ryan – 2,887 (10th)
Flacco – 2,737 (11th)
Schaub – 2,479 (17th)
Cutler – 2,319 (19th)
Vick – 2,193 (20th)
Yards Per Attempt
Romo is seventh in passing yardage per attempted throw:
Rodgers – 9.6 (1st)
Brady – 8.62 (2nd)
Schaub – 8.49 (3rd)
Manning – 8.35 (4th)
Brees – 8.02 (5th)
Roethlisberger – 7.97 (6th)
Romo – 7.96
Rivers – 7.66 (9th)
Cutler – 7.39 (11th)
Ryan – 7.33 (13th)
Vick – 7.31 (14th)
Stafford – 7.04 (18th)
Flacco – 6.66 (25th)
Completion Percentage
Ranked behind the Elite 3, Romo comes in at fourth:
Rodgers – 71.8%
Brees – 70.2%
Brady – 65.8%
Romo – 64.5%
Roethlisberger – 63.6% (6th)
Manning – 62.9% (8th)
Ryan – 62.4% (9th)
Stafford – 62.3% (11th)
Rivers – 61.1% (13th)
Schaub – 61% (15th)
Vick – 60.3% (19th)
Cutler – 58% (26th)
Flacco – 56% (29th)
Touchdowns
Again trailing the Elite 3, Romo is ranked fifth:
Rodgers – 33
Brady – 28
Brees – 27
Stafford – 26 (4th)
Romo – 21
Manning – 20 (6th)
Ryan – 18 (tied for 8th)
Roethlisberger – 17 (10th)
Rivers – 16 (tied for 11th)
Schaub – 15 (tied for 13th)
Cutler – 13 (tied for 15th)
Flacco – 13 (tied for 15th)
Vick – 11 (21st)
Interceptions
Despite a reputation for coughing up the ball too much, Romo has kept his picks down to only nine thus far, which is good enough for tied at 17th (a lower ranking is better):
Rivers – 17 in 419 attempts (1st)
Stafford – 13 in 443 attempts (6th)
Vick – 11 in 300 attempts (tied for 9th)
Brees – 11 in 460 attempts (tied for 9th)
Brady – 10 in 421 attempts (tied for 12th)
Manning – 10 in 402 attempts (tied for 12th)
Roethlisberger – 10 in 385 attempts (tied for 12th)
Ryan – 10 in 394 attempts (tied for 12th)
Romo – 9 in 380 attempts
Flacco – 8 in 411 attempts (tied for 20th)
Cutler – 7 in 314 attempts (tied for 24th)
Schaub – 6 in 292 attempts (tied for 27th)
Rodgers – 4 in 362 attempts (tied for 35th)
Sacks
Romo’s scrambling gets him out of a few hits every game, giving him a lower ranking at tied for 18th than other immobile quarterbacks (again, low rank is preferred):
Roethlisberger – 32 (2nd)
Rivers – 28 (tied for 4th)
Rodgers – 27 (7th)
Cutler – 23 (tied for 12th)
Ryan – 22 (tied for 14th)
Flacco – 21 (tied for 16th)
Stafford – 21 (tied for 16th)
Brady – 20 (tied for 18th)
Romo – 20
Manning – 20 (tied for 18th)
Brees – 19 (21st)
Schaub – 16 (tied for 24th)
Vick – 15 (tied for 30th)
NFL QB Rating
Romo is right behind the Elite 3 at fourth:
Rodgers – 127.7
Brady – 105.1
Brees – 103.6
Romo – 97.5
Schaub – 96.8 (5th)
Manning – 95.5 (6th)
Roethlisberger – 92.2 (7th)
Stafford – 90.7 (9th)
Ryan – 89.3 (10th)
Cutler – 85.7 (12th)
Rivers – 80.8 (20th)
Vick – 79.8 (21st)
Flacco – 78.9 (22nd)
ESPN QBR
Again, Romo comes in fourth behind the Elite 3:
Rodgers – 85.6
Brees – 79.1
Brady – 74.7
Romo – 73.1
Schaub – 66.7 (5th)
Ryan – 66.2 (6th)
Roethlisberger – 65.8 (8th)
Manning – 64 (9th)
Cutler – 59.5 (11th)
Vick – 58.1 (14th)
Flacco – 55.6 (16th)
Stafford – 54.5 (17th)
Rivers – 49.6 (19th)
In total, Romo’s rankings include three fourths, a fifth, a seventh, and a ninth, excluding the interceptions and sack rankings due to being inverted.
If you exclude all quarterbacks who have attempted less than 250 passes and rank by fewest interceptions thrown, Romo would be considered tied for ninth, with only Rodgers, Cutler, Schaub, and Flacco (listed in order of best to worst) being the quarterbacks included in this discussion of best in the league throwing fewer picks.
Utilizing the same criteria of 250 pass attempts or more and inverting the rankings of sacks taken, Romo would come in at a tie with Brady and Manning at ninth. The quarterbacks ahead of these three and in the top 10 discussion include Vick, Schaub, and Brees (listed from best to worst).
Looking at all of the information above, Romo consistently falls in the top ten. He makes the top five of more than half those rankings.
So let’s consider all the information above and find a reasonable spot for Romo to be placed among NFL quarterbacks. Obviously, Rodgers, Brady, and Brees make out the top three. Even without playing a single down this season, Peyton Manning is included in the most elite of quarterbacks. This leaves six spots left.
Roethlisberger is considered a bus driver for his offense and many don’t give him much credit for the Steelers success. I think he is a bit overrated, but two Super Bowl rings and a third trip to the championship game is one of those things you cannot rank. I would put Roethlisberger ahead of Romo at least until Romo shows more postseason success. We are down to five spots left.
Philip Rivers is having an awful season. I don’t know what is going on in San Diego, but Rivers has not lived up to the expectations his talent level gives the Chargers fan base. If Rivers continues to tank the rest of this year and shows no sign of turning things around in 2012, I will move Romo up, but for now I have to give Rivers the nod. That leaves four spots.
With a Super Bowl win on his resume, many would position Eli Manning ahead of Romo. I think Manning has a lot of skill, but like Romo, his mistakes are given the biggest headlines due to where he plays, and Manning has some really awful stinkers throughout any given season. Among the quarterbacks left in the pool, I think little Manning is the closest in competition with Romo.
Schaub is a gifted quarterback who shows signs of brilliance in a season, but those signs usually are short-lived as he is always injured. Since 2005, in the seven seasons he has been the starting quarterback of the Houston Texans, he has only stayed healthy for 16 games in four of those. His shortened seasons include 2007 (11 games played), 2008 (11), and 2011 (10). Other than a three-game absence in 2008 and last year’s season-ending injury after only six games, Romo has been a gamer, working on his sixth complete season this year and even having to tough it out through broken ribs and a punctured lung to do so. Even if Schaub is the better quarterback in mechanics, I can’t put the fragile Texan ahead of the tough Cowboy.
Like Schaub, Stafford isn’t reliable enough to complete an entire season. Stafford was put on injured reserve in both his rookie and sophomore seasons. His talent is obvious, but until he starts contributing for an entire season it is impossible to rank him higher.
I would like my team’s future if Ryan were the Cowboys quarterback. He is young, has a lot of the key components it takes to be a winner in the NFL, and seems to be improving as each season concludes. There isn’t a lot to dislike about Ryan, but when it comes down to it, I think Romo right now is the better player.
Vick isn’t a great quarterback. He is a great athlete who plays quarterback. He can make some big plays, but he also performs with reckless abandon which can result in costly mistakes. His style of play is also a recipe for injury, much like this season is showing.
Flacco, Flacco, Flacco. He isn’t flashy. He doesn’t put up gaudy numbers. He just goes and gets the job done. If he were the recipient of Super Bowl championships like Roethlisberger I might rank him above Romo, but without the skins on the wall he just isn’t good enough to be counted among the greats in the league right now.
I see a lot of Romo in what Cutler does every Sunday. You take the good with the bad. But it seems like Cutler’s bad is so much worse. He turns the ball over at a rate that would make Brett Favre proud. He was actually looking very good for the start of this season, but his injury has put things on hiatus for now. Until he shows better decision making, Cutler doesn’t crack the top 10 for me.
So my list looks something like this:
1a. Tom Brady
1b. Aaron Rodgers
3. Drew Brees
4. Peyton Manning
5. Ben Roethlisberger
6. Philip Rivers
7. Tony Romo
8. Eli Manning
9. Matt Schaub
10. Matthew Stafford
11. Mat Ryan
12. Michael Vick
13. Joe Flacco
14. Jay Cutler
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