Which Draft had the Best QB Class? (2005-2010)

By Kalen Patrick

So I was just browsing over the previous few seasons drafts, and noticed quite a lot of big names in the 1st round. What I thought was interesting was maybe comparing each year and see which one looks the best. I left out the rookies this year, while guys like Andy Dalton and Cam Newton have been very impressive, 8 games just isn't enough of a sample size in my opinion. So here are the candidates?

2005 - Aaron Rodgers, Alex Smith, Jason Campbell

SO MUCH HOPE AND PROMISE AT THE TIME

2006 - Jay Cutler, Vince Young, Matt Leinart
2007 - Jamarcus Russell, Brady Quinn
2008 - Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco
2009 - Matthew Stafford, Mark Sanchez, Josh Freeman
2010 - Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow



What year to you jumps out to be the best of that whole bunch? Between all those QB's only 1 has a Superbowl Victory (Aaron Rodgers). In my opinion immediately you gotta wipe out 2007. Jamarcus Russell was a colossal bust and Brady Quinn will be a #3 QB at best.

The next year that I would take out would be 2006. Leinart is barely in the league any more. While Vince Young has an impressive W-L ratio, it looks like personal issues and what not will keep him from ever being a consistent starting QB, as for one Jay Cutler? The guy has talent, serious talent, but he is way too erratic and is over confident in his abilities. So now we have 2 down.

Before this season I would have gone with 2005 (will explain later), but now I will go with 2010. Tebow doesn't look like an NFL QB, still has a super slow wind up, he can make throws, they certainly are not pretty. He reminds me of Shaun Hill a lot, Hill had some solid games for the 49ers and Lions. Unfortunately Tim Tebow is such a big name, it will be hard for him to fly under the radar as a backup QB. As for Sam Bradford? Yeah the dude has talent, but overall it's hard to come away too impressed after 22 games. He has a 75.3 QB rating and in his last 11 games he has only thrown 4 TD's to 9 INT's. I don't know whether this is sophomore(ish) slump, or the NFL figuring him out or what. But those numbers are concerning.

Now I will have to go with 2009 (yes! shock! horror!) but hear me out. Mark Sanchez has average at best numbers. Luckily he has played for teams with awesome defenses and running games. He hasn't been asked to do much and even with that he can't display good numbers (like Alex Smith this year). Josh Freeman was looking to be a future stud, but this year has been nothing short of a disaster for him. His incredibly inconsistent play has held the Bucs back this year. I will admit Matthew Stafford is playing stud like this year, but Stafford alone is not enough to carry this group.

Next comes 2005. Now this group includes the QB's of the 2 teams with the top records in the NFL, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers are 8-0, and Alex Smith and the 49ers are 7-1. Aaron Rodgers is the best QB in the NFL right now and Alex Smith is now playing at a level never thought possible for him. He has 10 TD's with only 2 INT's. He has been very efficient (64.1% Completion) with a very respectable 97.3 QB rating. Then finally we have Jason Campbell, Mr. Mediocre. Well  I think we can all see what the loss of Campbell is doing to the Raiders now, essentially since he has gone down, the Raiders have been humiliated in back to back games against division rivals Kansas City and Denver. You have Jason Campbell in those games, and I bet they win one if not both.

THESE QB'S HEADLINE THE MOST SUCCESSFUL QB CROP IN RECENT YEARS

So that leaves 2008 as the winner and lets face it, Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco have had nothing but success since coming in to the NFL. Leading their respective teams to impressive records, multiple playoff appearances and many more to come. Both of these guys, while they can be shaky at times, in general are very capable and going to be good for a long time. I think it's only a matter of when not if one of these guys is hoisting a Lombardi trophy. And there we have it, so let's sum up the rankings:

1 - 2008
2 - 2005
3 - 2009
4 - 2010
5 - 2006
6 - 2007