What Defines an Elite NFL Quarterback?

As seen on dailycollegian.com

Hello everyone. I'd first like to apologize for the recent disappearance. With an internship over winter break, a transfer of schools, and the start of a new semester, I've had my hands full getting acclimated to multiple new surroundings. Now onto the good stuff..

With the Super Bowl coming and going, one of the most popular running narratives resides on the shoulders of the lightning rod that is Joe Flacco. After all, America loves focusing on the quarterback, and the drama and controversy that comes with some of the most influential athletes in sports.

With the spotlight, stardom, and face-time comes criticism and debate, especially when fans and pundits alike attempt to determine the "elite" quarterbacks in the NFL. This is no different for Joe Flacco, who's gone from butt of many jokes during the regular season to a potentially top-5 quarterback in the NFL, as deemed by many around the league.

After all, the QB position is defined by winning. The more weighted silver flashing from your fingers, the higher up in the echelon you are of the greatest quarterbacks.

The term which has been pile-driven into the ground to excessive amounts throughout the last few seasons is "elite." Player X is an elite quarterback because of such, and player Y is not yet elite because he lacks in a certain department. What the term elite now represents is a cop-out, an easy, vague, "for lack of a better word" description of a quarterback who in more cases than not, is just pretty good.

What acts as a safety blanket for the term "elite" is the lack of a tangible way to define an "elite quarterback." By definition, Elite means "A group of people considered to be the best in a particular society or category, esp. because of their power, talent, or wealth."

By rule of thumb, most football fans will rattle off Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, and Tom Brady as three mainstays at the top of the quarterback food chain. All three have at least one Super Bowl ring, and are perennial statistical leaders each year. Generally, Drew Brees is added in with these players, despite a regression in 2012 and a smaller body of work for his age. 

After these four, there's a host of second-level signal callers who sometimes creep into the discussion of "elite." This year, it's Joe Flacco. Before Flacco was Eli Manning, and before Eli Manning was Ben Roethlisberger. Soon, Robert Griffin III, Colin Kaepernick, and perhaps even Matt Ryan will attempt to enter this conversation. 

So how do we determine whether these guys are strong enough players to enter the illustrious group of elite quarterbacks?

It's surely some combination of Super Bowl wins, regular season performance, and length of dominance. At the same time, how many QB's is too many when it comes to elite? Can we, in theory, have 7-8 elite quarterbacks in the NFL? That's 25% of the league. If almost 1 in every four QB's is elite, it lessens the value of the highest-level quarterbacks. 

Joe Flacco is the newest addition to the crew. Flacco himself thinks he's elite. Joe Linta, his straight-shooting agent, also thinks he's elite. Conveniently, Flacco is due for a new contract in the coming weeks. He's also the beneficiary of a magnificent playoff run, fresh off the grandest victory in all of sports. Flacco was lights out in the playoffs, creating big plays and taking advantage of his opportunities.

With momentum on his side, let's play a little game. We'll call it the "Anonymous Evaluation" between three players, and take a look at their 2012 season.  

Player A: completed 59.5% of his passes on 551 attempts, threw for 3,702 yards, 21TD's, 13 INT's, and was sacked 35 times. 
Player B: completed 67.2% of his passes on 552 attempts, for 4,295 yards, 39 TD's, 8 INT's, and was sacked 51 times.
Player C: completed 59.7% of his passes on 531 attempts, for 3,817 yards, 22 TD's, 10 INT's, and was sacked 35 times.

Clearly, Player A and Player C are fairly comparable players, and would be considered decent to good starting NFL quarterbacks. Those numbers don't quite compare to Player B, who had a much better completion percentage on roughly the same number of attempts, threw for more yards, and had an abundance of TD's.

With Flacco riding 2012's momentum, some may assume he's Player B. Actually, Player B is Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers, considered an elite NFL quarterback, did indeed put up elite numbers. Player C was of course, Joe Flacco, who was solid in the regular season but not awe-inspiring. In fact, Flacco compared most closely to Player A, Sam Bradford.

Wait, Sam Bradford?

Joe Flacco, elite quarterback, played to a 2012 level close to Sam Bradford? That doesn't make sense. But it's true. Flacco's 2012 season compared most to Andy Dalton, Philip Rivers,Matt Schaub, and Sam Bradford. 

Let's play again. 

Player A: completed 63.3% of his passes on 443 attempts, for 3,265 yards, 26 TD's 8 INT's, and was sacked 30 times.
Player B: completed 59.9% of his passes on 536 attempts, for 3,948 yards, 26TD's, 15 INT's, and just 19 sacks. 
Player C: completed 68.6% of his passes on 583 attempts, for 4,659 yards, 37 TD's, and 11 INT's, with 21 sacks. 

Player C, clearly the best of the three, is Peyton Manning. Coming off four neck surgeries, Manning still excelled this season and clearly demonstrated "elite" performance. Player A and Player B are fairly similar players, despite not being on Manning's level. Player A battled injuries this year, but still managed to match Player B's TD total while throwing less INT's and completing a better percentage of passes. 

Player A is Ben Roethlisberger, and player B is Peyton's little brother, Eli Manning. 

So let's recap here, statistically in 2012, Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers clearly trump the competitors. Ben Roethlisberger was slightly better than Eli Manning, who was comparable to Joe Flacco and Sam Bradford. 

But, because of Super Bowl success, Eli Manning, Joe Flacco, and Ben Roethlisberger are considered on equal footing as the original four, despite clearly lacking the statistical prowess to go toe-to-toe?

I understand that Super Bowl's are heavily weighted for quarterbacks. But if we based historical rank solely off Super Bowl success, we would mention Terry Bradshaw in the same breath as Joe Montana. Clearly, that's not the case. But what's lost on fans today is that it's perfectly alright to distinguish between the truly "elite" quarterbacks, and the good regular season quarterbacks who play well in big spots. 

The emphasis on winning still needs to be there. Which is why Roethlisberger and Eli Manning, during the playoffs, are fantastic choices to lead their teams. But Eli Manning is not an elite quarterback, as his entire body of work does not currently match up with the top of the class. In fact, I'd be willing to say Roethlisberger is equal to, if not slightly closer to elite, than Eli Manning.

As of now, there are four elite quarterbacks in the NFL. Manning, Rodgers, Brees, and Brady, most likely in that order. 

So Joe Flacco, while I admire your self-belief, and envy the way you guided the Ravens through the playoffs this year, you are not an elite quarterback. At 28 years old, it's not out of the question that Flacco steadily improves statistically now that the monkey is off his back. But with what is likely going to be a top-dollar contract on the way, he's not worth it just yet.