Top Five NFL Quarterbacks

Some football connoisseurs will concede that the quarterback position is the most essential position on a football team. The quarterback is the player that either hands the ball off to a half-back or throws the ball to the receiver. Basically, most of a football team's offense revolves around the quarterback and his aptitude.

For some teams in the NFL, quarterbacks come and go. For example, the Miami Dolphins have cycled through at least six quarterbacks since Dan Marino retired in 2000. Jay Fiedler, Ray Lucas, Brian Griese, Sage Rosenfels, A.J. Feeley, and Gus Frerotte have all taken snaps for the Dolphins. Other teams such as the Washington Redskins have also gone through a plethora of quarterbacks in recent seasons. But, there are the quarterbacks who are long-standing. Before Marino retired, he spent over a decade and a half taking snaps for the Miami Dolphins.

Green Bay Packers legendary quarterback Brett Favre has led his team's offense for fifteen NFL seasons.

The stability that Favre and Marino have brought to their organizations is what every NFL team covets.

Below is a compilation of the top five quarterbacks in the NFL today.

1.Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts: Peyton Manning is perhaps the most dominant quarterback of this generation. After legendary quarterbacks such as Dan Marino, John Elway, and Steve Young retired, Manning was the guy who stepped up, and he has not decelerated. Manning's 2004 NFL record-breaking season was just one example of how overriding this guy can be. In 2004, Manning through forty-nine touchdown passes compared to only ten interceptions. Throughout his eight full seasons in the NFL, Manning has thrown 244 touchdown passes compared to 130 interceptions thrown. His regular season quarterback ranking is 93.5. If there was one weakness for Manning, it's his mobility.

Though a large percentage of NFL fans will admit that Manning is the most prolific quarterback in the NFL, his career has been haunted by post-season failures. Only once has Manning led the Colts to the AFC conference title game.

2.Tom Brady, New England Patriots: While Manning has been the dominating force in the NFL regular season, Brady has become NFL's most productive quarterback in the post-season. In just his first full-season as a starter in 2001, Brady led the Patriots to Super Bowl triumph, as they upset the heavily favored St. Louis Rams. In 2003, Brady shined again in the post-season as he guided the Patriots to another Super Bowl victory over the Carolina Panthers. And to put an exclamation mark on the Patriots dynasty, Brady would lead his team to their third Super Bow win in four seasons after defeating the Philadelphia Eagles.

Even if Brady never wins another Super Bowl, he has left his mark in NFL history as a clutch performer. In his six seasons in the NFL, Brady has thrown 123 touchdowns versus 66 interceptions and has a quarterback rating of 88.5.

3.Carson Palmer, Cincinnati Bengals: To place Carson Palmer third on this list could be considered a bit presumptuous. But, there is no doubt that the potential is there. In 2005, Palmer produced very impressive stats as he threw 32 touchdown passes and only 12 interceptions. Palmer led the Cincinnati Bengals to their first post-season appearance since 1991. And many Bengals fans believe that if Palmer did not get injured in their first-round game against Pittsburgh Steelers, they would be the ones celebrating a Super Bowl triumph.

Palmer is still within the very early stages of his career, so time will tell if he will become a paramount NFL quarterback, but if last year was any indication; Palmer will be in the same class as Brady and Manning in the near future.

4.Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle Seahawks: Matt Hasselbeck, Bertt Favre's former understudy, has inaudibly become one of the NFL's elite quarterbacks. Ever since he became the full-time starter in 2002, Hasselbeck has led the Seahawks to three consecutive post-season appearances. But it wasn't until 2005 when they were able to make some noise. Hasselbeck stepped up and led the Seahawks to their first ever Super Bowl appearance.

In 2005, Hasselbeck threw 24 touchdown passes compared to only 9 interceptions and had a quarterback rating of 98.2.

5.Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers: Ben Roethlisberger has emerged into one of the NFL's most versatile quarterbacks. At 6-5 240 pounds, Roethlisberger is a superb scrambler as well as a gifted passer. The man they call 'Big Ben' has only completed two seasons in the NFL, yet he plays like a veteran. It's infrequent that a quarterback can come straight out of college and have this much of an impact on a franchise. As a rookie Roethlisberger led the Steelers to a 15-1 regular season record. The Steelers would appear in the AFC title game, only to come up short against the New England Patriots. This past season, despite suffering through an injury, Roethlisberger and the Steelers would barely squeeze into the post-season. With no games at their home field, the Steelers would sweep through the post-season with wins on the road, including games at Indianapolis and Denver, and into the Super Bowl, where they defeated the Seattle Seahawks.

In Roethlisberger's two year career, he has thrown 34 touchdown passes and 20 interceptions. His career quarterback rating is 98.3.

Honorable Mention: Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints; Jake Delhomme, Carolina Panthers; Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia Eagles; Brett Favre, Green Bay Packers; Eli Manning, New York Giants; Jake Plummer, Denver Broncos

Up next is the Top Five Quarterbacks Of All Time