Colts' guy the best
Dan Pompei
Chicago Tribune
The safest bet at the quarterback position easily is Peyton Manning.
In addition to being the most productive and most valuable passer in the game, he also has been the most consistent over a long period of time. Manning doesn't go into slumps. He rarely even has bad games. You have to look hard to find bad throws. You have to look harder to find bad decisions.
In terms of consistency, he's as close to a machine as there is at the position. He's off to another typical start this year for the Colts. He hasn't thrown an interception yet. He has avoided sacks well (three sacks allowed). And he has completed 69 percent of his passes.
No team in the NFL is more dependent on its quarterback, and no quarterback carries his team on his shoulders better than Manning.
It's easy: Manning
Nick Fierro
The Morning Call
With nine TD passes, no interceptions and a completion percentage of 69, Peyton Manning is playing better than anyone in the league now and is the quarterback most likely to continue at that level.
This question is too easy. I mean, Manning has been doing the same thing for well over a decade, and he plays in a dome — where he doesn't have to worry about the weather, like Jay Cutler, Michael Vick and Tom Brady do. And Manning is just flat-out better than Drew Brees.
Manning is not without a meltdown or two in his career, and his playoff record isn't that spectacular, such as when he lost to Brees in that famous head-to-head battle last February. But nobody in the league is more prepared than Manning every week. Nobody.
Difficult to choose
Sam Farmer
Los Angeles Times
It's funny that only a few years ago we were talking about the quarterback drought, how there weren't 32 good ones to go around, let alone enough to build any kind of depth at the position. Now, there are so many talented quarterbacks, it's really hard to pick one.
Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees are the three elite ones — their leadership and command of their offense, coupled with their accuracy, sets them apart — but Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers and Tony Romo aren't too far behind, even though none of them has a ring.
Brett Favre belongs in a class of his own, although he's starting to show real signs of aging. If I had to pick one it would be Manning because of what he means to that franchise and how last season he brought along two no-name receivers in Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon and made them legitimate threats.
Brees gets the nod
Omar Kelly
Sun Sentinel
Numbers don't lie. They might fudge the truth at times, but they usually are a good indicator of performance.
The numbers say Saints quarterback Drew Brees is the NFL's most accurate play-caller. And those who know quarterbacks will testify accuracy is the position's most important trait.
A year after setting the record for completion percentage (70.6) in a season, Brees is completing 75.6 percent of his passes. He also has the fifth-highest passer rating (107.6) while running one of the more balanced offenses in the NFL.
His footwork is stellar, his pocket awareness is amazing, and his release is about as quick as Dan Marino's was. But the most impressive part about Brees' recent rise to prominence is the fact he has done it without a big-name, super-productive, high-profile target.