NFL Top 10 Series: Quarterbacks - #7

Welcome one and all to the much talked about and much anticipated (maybe not so much) debut of the NFL Top 10 Series. We’ve gone through the motions since the middle of the month of April with honorable mentions posts, which if you’re reading this post right now you have probably read through most if not all of them. So once again, thank you for the page views. It is appreciated. Now with three down and seven to go we shift towards some of the very best that the NFL has to offer. What you will notice, and yes, I will spoil it a little bit, the next few quarterbacks will all come from the very same draft class. And with that comes a sense of “to each their own.” Frankly, the next three quarterbacks could be ranked in any order that you can choose to rank them. For me I have chosen to rank them the way that I have but that does not mean that it is set in stone. I think each of these players has a case to be in the Top 5 discussion. With that said, let’s get ze show on ze road.

Quarterback #7 – Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers

Thanks to an "off year," people have forgotten just how good Philip Rivers is. "Prisoner of the Moment" syndrome is in full effect.

The 2004 NFL Draft class will go down as one of the greatest draft classes in the history of the National Football League. Just because Philip Rivers is the lone quarterback to not have a Super Bowl Championship under his belt, doesn’t mean that he’s slighted or disrespected, and does not surely mean that he isn’t one of the important reasons that the 2004 class is so great, either.

There was an argument going for a while that Rivers is the best of the three.

If you take out the championships, it isn’t absurd to say.

When the North Carolina State product was sent to San Diego in the epic 1st round trade that sent Eli Manning to the New York Giants, he walked into a Chargers team that was sluggish, and yet rich with talent at the same time. We all know what occurred from there on, and in 2006, Rivers was given the chance to run with the ball alongside the at-the-time-best running back in the league, LTBNRLT (LaDainian Tomlinson). For the last five seasons he has taken the ball and ran with it about as well as Charger fans could have asked for.

And standing tall at #7 means that, in my opinion right now he is the best quarterback in the National Football League without a Super Bowl Championship under his belt.

Philip possesses plenty of physical abilities that help him to be as good as he is. He’s quick with his feet, he has a very strong arm despite his unorthodox throwing motion, and his size doesn’t deter him. When the game is on the line, there are only a couple quarterbacks that would be taken off the board before Philip Rivers would. We all remember the DirecTV commercial that advertised Philip Rivers “going all PHILIP RIVERSSSSSSSSS,” don’t we? That wasn’t too long ago and it isn’t like Rivers has not proven his worth recently.

But, wait, he had a below average 2011 season. Why is he still in the Top 10? There are a bunch of quarterbacks that have exceeded him right? Not so fast. Let’s not get carried away here. Just because Rivers had one below-average season up to his ability level doesn’t mean that he automatically is dropped out of the Top 10. Just like there is no reason to bump someone up into a Top 10 because of one good season either. You can’t ignore his four straight 4,000-yard seasons, his incredible 2008 season where, inexplicably he was left off the Pro Bowl roster (once again showing how awful that game is) where he threw for 34 touchdowns with only 11 interceptions, as well as a strong 2010 campaign where he threw for 30 touchdowns to only 13 interceptions. In fact, even last year, sans the 20 interceptions, he was still excellent for being on a mediocre Chargers team.

Perhaps it’s the win-loss record the last two seasons for the Chargers that has skewed people’s thoughts on Rivers. Which is a shame to me.

The only knock I could find on Rivers is that, at least last year, Rivers was anemic under pressure. Rivers was sacked 16% of the time that he was pressured last year on 181 dropbacks, which was ninth worst in the league last year. Let’s just say he didn’t fare well. Rivers’ TD:INT ratio while being pressured amounted to 21st among quarterbacks, throwing for four touchdowns and being intercepted six times. Rivers’ completion percentage was also no better than average, completing 66/148 passes (44.6%). Playing behind a bad offensive line can hinder these results of course and the Chargers’ offensive line, according to Pro Football Focus, was ranked 20th against the pass, as they dealt with injuries and awful play from Jeromey Clary, Brandyn Dombrowski and Marcus McNeil. Hopefully, for Rivers’ sake, the offensive line woes do not continue.

The Chargers lost Vincent Jackson in the offseason, so Rivers is now left without a legitimate target. We’ll see what Rivers is made of, but I don’t expect anything but what we have seen from #17 from America’s Finest City. Don't get caught up in "Prisoner of the Moment" syndrome at all.