Some traditions we take for granted, like standing for the national anthem. Others are as eagerly anticipated today as they were the very first time they occurred.

I don’t know if these QB Rankings fall in the first or the second category but bugger ya, they’re happening again anyway. For the fourth time too, hooray for annual consistency. This feature is the SL/LA Rams of the NFL written community. Within a game of 8-8, year after year after year.

So to cover a few housekeeping deets, it’s basically as it sounds. Ranking the quarterbacks of the NFL ahead of the new season. The loose parameter is that they’re being judged on which dudes you’d most want to have starting in week one of the new campaign, though there isn’t really a limitation. Wildcard, baby. Let’s do this thing.

Dumb Muppets Who Are No Longer Ranked:

Johnny Manziel (36th last year) – He’s an idiot, no points for that.

Geno Smith (32) – Turns out having feet for hands doesn’t translate into good quarterbacking in the NFL. Who woulda thunk it?

Matt Cassel (29) – Actually got a run for the Cowboys in 2015. Where he displayed in full technicolour why that won’t happen again.

Mark Sanchez (28) – Probably better than a few on the list but was buried on the depth chart at the Broncos. Now he’s gonna be backup to the backup at the Cowboys, which seems like a perfect marriage.

Peyton Manning (3) – Not only did he retire, but he was crap last season anyway. Granted, he did win the Super Bowl…

2016 Rank (2015 Rank)

40 (NA) Paxton Lynch – Denver Broncos

Paxton gets a mention as a quarterback of the future but for now the future is all he’s got. Did alright playing the whole of their final preseason game though, 214 yards from 13/22 passing with 2 TDs and a pick. They rate him in Denver but he’ll be a while in developing.

39 (NA) Trevor Siemian – Denver Broncos

And the reason Lynch is stuck trying to fix his flux capacitor is that Siemian, he of so many disgusting name jokes, has swooped in as the week one starter for Denver. But as an undrafted FA with zero experience, he has to settle for a complimentary place at the back of my QB Queue. I’d honestly not even heard of him until recently. I lied about the zero experience, he took a knee on his one snap of 2015.

37= (NA/NA) Jared Goff (LA Rams) & Carson Wentz (Philadelphia Eagles)

Numbers one and two in the draft, can’t split ‘em. Also can’t judge ‘em until they do something. At least Wentz will probably get that chance in week one, Goff is gonna have to wait a while longer. Mostly because he’s looked awful so far.

36 (NA) – Jimmy Garoppolo – New England Patriots

Best be decent son, you’ve gotta fill in for Tom Brady. This a bloke who’s thrown 31 total passes in the NFL before, but then he’s from the Pats so unfortunately you have to give him the benefit.

35 (23) Robert Griffin III – Cleveland Browns

It’s been a weird few seasons for RG3. After slipping down the approval ratings in Washington quicker than Roger Goodell did in Boston, now he’s a Brown. Yes, that team famous for tearing through quarterbacks quicker than they do Roger Goodell effigies in Boston. This might not end well – although at his best he’s a mobile guy who can hit a moving target downfield and those are still rare things. Don’t give up on him quite yet.

34 (NA) Dak Prescott – Dallas Cowboys

Oh, hell yes. We are living in the days of Dak and soon you’ll all know about it. No Romo and for the first time ever, no problem. Am I overestimating a few great preseason games? Naturally. But this is how things are done in Cowboy Nation.

33 (NA) Case Keenum – LA Rams

First off, the ‘LA’ Rams. Hahaha. Second off, bloody Case Keenum is gonna be their starting QB and that’s completely wild. This fella, riding his luck as an undrafted free agent, has skipped back and forth between the Texans and Rams but was actually decent last season in five starts. Now he’s starting ahead of the number one pick.

32 (14) Colin Kaepernick – San Francisco 49ers

They couldn’t even trade him. Not many have fallen from grace as quickly as Kap has but then at least he has a social conscience. Will be #2 for the Niners though maybe don’t bet on him still being there later in the season. To be honest, he was never that good of a thrower to begin with – Kap’s running has always been what set him apart so if he can find a way to get out of the pocket where oppo defences are so happy to keep him then that’s the difference. For now he’s back up to Mr Gabbert.

31 (33) Josh McCown – Cleveland Browns

He’s terrible, but as far as terrible quarterbacks go at least he’s not Brandon Weeden. Still he’d look a lot better if he hadn’t lost 19 of his 27 starts over the last decade. He’s 2-17 since his brief period of decency for the Bears earned him a few new contracts.

30 (24) Sam Bradford – Minnesota Vikings

You know, aside from a 19 TD/14 INT ration, the numbers aren’t actually that bad for Bradford. But the numbers sometimes lie. I’m optimistic of a minor career rebirth in Minnesota, however in the interest of not embarrassing myself I’ll refrain from trying to justify that claim.

29 (NA) Blaine Gabbert – San Francisco 49ers

Awesome first name, terrible last name. As a player he’s somewhere in between. Wasn’t there a gym leader in Pokemon with the name Blaine? Answering my own question with some quick googling, yeah there was – the fire bloke on the island. You had to answer questions to get to the bastard. Which is fitting because the QB situation in SF has been a bit of a riddle itself, usually a sign that neither’s good enough. Gabbo’s the starter though.

28 (22) Brian Hoyer – Chicago Bears

I like Hoyer, I think he’s a more than decent second choice. In Chicago there are murmerings that he might even be worth a go as the starter – that ol’ love/hate thing with Cutler is strongly trending ‘hate’ these days. Hoyer’s made quite the career out of being just good enough. His season last year was pretty decent, with 2606 yards at 60.7%, 19 TDs & 7 INTs.

27 (NA) Brock Osweiler – Houston Texans

The man who if things were fair and reputations irrelevant, would have been taking snaps in the Super Bowl for the Broncos but he lost his place to a fit-enough Peyton Manning – an inconvenient couple of interceptions in the regular season finale allowing Peyton back into things as a midgame replacement. Brock must not have taken that well because he’s skipped to Houston where genuine starting QBs have been rarer than oil tycoons for as long as memory serves. With only seven career starts, the promise he’s shown is way too slim pickings to say if the Texans’ gamble will payoff but they’ve done okay with worse in the past.

26 (25) Ryan Fitzpatrick – New York Jets

They say he’s the smartest man in football and yet here he is starting for the New York Jets. Tell ya the truth though, Fitzy won ten games last year and while he wasn’t exactly clinical, and he certainly didn’t protect the ball like he ought to, he still threw 31 touchdown passes. His late season form was excellent right up until he threw three picks with a playoff spot on the line in the finale.

25 (17) Ryan Tannehill – Miami Dolphins

Maybe this year, under the new coach (Adam Gase), will be the year that Tannehill finally makes it. Maybe the offensive line will start protecting him, the receivers will start catching his passes and the rushers will make yards and take the pressure off. Maybe. Although he’s running out of time.

24 (20) Jay Cutler – Chicago Bears

The Chicago Tribune ran a piece recently analysing the results of a recent fan survey conducted nationally where they pointed out that Kris Bryant of the Cubs is their most liked athlete (though not the most recognisable, typical baseball) while the least liked dude based in Chicago? That’d be Jay Cutler. Disliked by 31% of respondents nationally, among the worst scores out there – and apparently that’s still an improvement on the year before.

23 (34) Jameis Winston – Tampa Bay Buccaneers

He’s still an immature kid but he’s fast growing into a potential star in his position. Winston’s rookie season saw him throw for 4042 yards, as well as running for another 213 with 6 rush TDs. Cut the interceptions (15 of them) and get that completion rate up and there’s a real game-winner there. By the looks of his preseason there’s reason to be very, very optimistic.

22 (NA) Tyrod Taylor – Buffalo Bills

A year ago a strong offseason won over Rex Ryan and earned Taylor the starting job in Buffalo. A month ago he signed a six-year, $92M extension. Fair to say things have come quickly for Joe Flacco’s four year backup since he left Baltimore. He’s a good accurate thrower who is fast finding a welcome ally in Sammy Watkins and he’s quick enough on his feet to overcome the odd red zone struggle. 568 yards on the ground in 2015.

21 (26) – Teddy Bridgewater – Minnesota Vikings

I love Teddy and I was toying with whether I should have him higher or not but then this happened and now I’m not sure this won’t be the highest ranking he ever has again:

20 (35) Kirk Cousins – Washington R**skins

This guy. Leading the NFL in completion percentage at 69.8% in 2015. A lot of that is down to fairly boring play-calling and a bit of luck (no red zone interceptions, seems unlikely that holds up) but it was all impressive enough that Kirky finally cemented the R**skins’ starting gig and now it’s a matter of building on it. YOU LIKE THAT, KIRK!

19 (27) Marcus Mariota – Tennessee Titans

Everything about this guy’s game suggests he’ll be in the top ten on this list possibly as soon as next year. He’s already a solid leader, as his prowess in them sneaky no-huddles show, though if you’re gonna poke holes then Mariota needs to learn how to throw deep with accuracy. That might be better now that they’ve gone and splashed the cash on their wide receivers: Andre Johnson, Rishard Matthews, Harry Douglas and rookie Tajae Sharpe give him four new targets to hit. DeMarco Murray getting yards on the ground ought to help him too – granted the Titans are at least a year away regardless of their emerging quarterback.

18 (30) Derek Carr – Oakland Raiders

He’s an odd kinda guy, young Derek here. The kind of pious man who feels the need to correct a reporter who claimed he said ‘damn’ instead of ‘dang’.

He’s also a very good quarterback coming into his third season where you can reasonably expect him to top 4000 passing yards for the first time (he was narrowly short last time). After an iffy rookie season, he took huge strides last time out and chief among that were his four game-winning drives – crucial because his fourth quarter performances have otherwise been a little crap. A quality offensive line ensures he doesn’t have to worry as much about the pass rush that’s caused issues for him in the past though so moving forward, another step in the right direction and the Raiders can settle knowing they have their QB for the next decade.

17 (31) Blake Bortles – Jacksonville Jaguars

The first picked QB of the 2014 draft, he comes in one spot higher than Carr but with a few extra question marks. Bortles came into his own after being mostly kept within himself by the playcallers in his rookie year, even if ‘his own’ wasn’t exactly Peyton Manning. Bort threw deep and he threw deep often and with that he racked up plenty of passing yards (4428 of them) and he also threw at well under 60% completion with 18 interceptions – the most of any quarterback in the NFL for 2015. Now, that’s not the worst because a young fella in the driving seat is gonna take risks that will be eased out of their game with experience and it was also encouraging to see a Jaguars offence that weren’t afraid to do stuff. I’ll put it this way, Bortles is poised to where he could either launch into a very effective player or maybe just be an interception throwing cannonballer. We’ll soon enough find out.

16 (13) Matt Stafford – Detroit Lions

To be fair, Staff just had one of his better seasons. A change in offensive approach led to a career-high 67.2% completion rate and if that came at the expense of some yardage, his 32 TD to 13 INT rate was also pretty fine. His problem was that it didn’t convey into wins. What he really needs is to find that middle ground where his deep threat is there but not overused, that’s one to check up on. Stafford is one of those players that has been polarising ever since he arrived though in recent years that maybe has had more to do with the guys playing around him not being good enough – with the exception of Calvin Johnson who was utterly relied upon for a while there. Well, Megatron’s retired so… you know what? I reckon that might free things up a little. Don’t be sleeping yet.

15 (18) Alex Smith – Kansas City Chiefs

Some people you can always depend on. Smithy is your ideal ‘game manager’ quarterback. Does what he needs to do and little else, valuing a safety first mentality and allowing others to be the ones to make those winning plays. Hence why despite playing at least 15 games in four of his last five seasons you have to go back to 2010 to find a year in which Smithy hit double digits for interceptions. Of course, that leads to people wondering if it’s possible to win it all with a non-risk taking QB and those are very fair questions. Even if those questions overlook that Smith plays for a team that excels in the run game and he’s a big part of that himself – Smith may have only thrown 20 TD passes but nobody rushed for more TDs than the Chiefs.

14 (5) Tony Romo – Dallas Cowboys

It breaks my heart to have the great man lingering so low but we’re at the point now where as good as Antonio Romo is, you cannot trust him to stay fit. The hit he took from Cliff Avril in preseason didn’t even look that bad and now he’s out for ten weeks. The second he’s fit he reclaims the starting role in Dallas but yeah, only a matter of time until he gets the next serious injury it seems. Plus he’s 36 now so that’s another mark against a fragile QB. On the bright side, if his career ends earlier than he means it to then that only means he’ll be sooner into the Hall of Fame.

13 (11) Joe Flacco – Baltimore Ravens

Possibly the dumbest thing that El Flacco ever did was tell the world in 2012 that he thought he was the best QB in the league. Winning a Super Bowl at least showed he wasn’t entirely delusional but you got the feeling that even he didn’t really believe his own words, not deep down. On the negative side, Flacco’s coming off a torn ACL and MCL that prematurely ended what was looking a rubbish season anyway. The plus side is that he’s usually much better in every second year:

2010 – 12-4 W/L, 3622 yds, 25 TD, 10 INT, 93.6 Rating

2011 – 12-4 W/L, 3610 yds, 20 TD, 12 INT, 80.9 Rating

2012 – 10-6 W/L, 3817 yds, 22 TD, 10 INT, 87.7 Rating

2013 – 8-8 W/L, 3912 yds, 19 TD, 22 INT, 73.1 Rating

2014 – 10-6 W/L, 3986 yds, 27 TD, 12 INT, 91.0 Rating

2015 – 3-7 W/L, 2791 yds, 14 TD, 12 INT, 83.1 Rating

2016 - …?

That 2011 season the win-loss record slightly throws off this trend (I’ve left off his first two seasons out of fairness to young QBs still learning the ropes and not yet the players they’ll be remembered as), but remember that was back when they had that outstanding defence at its best. And to only throw 20 TD passes there, bro, come on.

12 (19) Andy Dalton – Cincinnati Bengals

The Ginger Bullet; The Red Rifle. It’s clear enough to anyone watching that Dalton is a talented QB. He took major steps last season too when he drastically cut his interceptions – the INT% in 2015 was 1.8%, almost half of what it was the season before. Missing three games took the kick out of the numbers some but it doesn’t take the gloss off beginning 8-0. Look at those Flacco Quarterback Ratings from the last few years, well Dalton’s 2015 rating was 106.2. Only Russell Wilson’s was higher.

But here’s the damn thing and it’s the same damn thing every year with him:

• 2011 – 9-7 in the regulars, 0-1 in the playoffs
• 2012 – 10-6 in the regulars, 0-1 in the playoffs
• 2013 – 11-5 in the regulars, 0-1 in the playoffs
• 2014 – 10-5-1 in the regulars, 0-1 in the playoffs
• 2015 – 12-4 in the regulars, 0-1 in the playoffs

Last time they came from 15-0 down in the fourth quarter to take a 16-15 lead (they blew a crucial 2pt conversion) before a few dirty flags gave the Steelers the winning field goal with 14 seconds remaining. Controversial but still a choke… in as much as you can choke from that far behind. Good thing for Dalton, who is always blamed for this team’s postseason inadequacies, is that he didn’t play in that one. Maybe that’ll finally earn him a break? I doubt it.

11 (10) Philip Rivers – San Diego Chargers

He could have been in second but I dropped him down a spot for every child he’s got. And this isn’t like an Antonio Cromartie situation (“at least 12 kids with eight different women” – he even had twins after his vasectomy!), poor Mrs Rivers has had to birth the whole lot of them. As for footballing facts, Rivers had a statistically solid year with only four wins to show for it and while the Chargers are in a bit of strife these days you still expect a little more when you have a bloke throwing 4792 yards at 66.1%. There were some very close games in there – hey lost eight games by a touchdown or less and that often falls on the quarterback to get that final crucial play in. Having said that, there are much bigger issues with the SAN DIEGO Chargers than the guy at QB.

10 (9) Matt Ryan – Atlanta Falcons

Last year was not a good one for Matty Ice. When that’s your nickname, then throwing four red zone interceptions should not be a part of the equation. The only player with more in 2015 was Eli Manning and he always does that kinda thing, while Aaron Rodgers had four but he was hurling balls to guys that had walked in off the street. Having begun at 5-0, they lost six in a row at one stage to finish dead even at 8-8 and out of the playoffs. So much for toughening up that defence, but it was the quarterback that took the most heat and he really needs a bounce back season if he’s gonna justify his regular placing in the top ten of this list. But I’m giving him one more season to prove himself. I’m a generous fella. See, while the Falcons have gotten drastically worse in the past three years, I don’t know if Ryan’s stats are as telling as people think they are:

2010-12: 36-12 W/L, 64.3% comp, 12601 yds, 89 TD, 35 INT, 94.2 Rating

2013-15: 18-30 W/L, 66.6% comp, 13800 yds, 75 TD, 47 INT, 90.8 Rating

The TD/INT thing is the drama here. Perhaps Julio Jones only playing five games in 2013, Tony Gonzalez retiring before the 2014 season and a rather awful 3.8 yards per rush in 2015 all contributed to something or the other. Hey, we’ll give him 16 more games to figure it out.

9 (16) Eli Manning – New York Giants

Finally, after all these years, Eli is the best Manning in the NFL. He’s also the one steady factor in the NFC East where Romo is always injured now for the Cowboys and the whole Matt Cassell/Brandon Weeden didn’t really work, the Eagles are preparing their fifth starting QB in the last four years having gotten rid of both guys to take opening possession snaps in 2015 and the Washington Pro Football Team have now gone all in on Kirk Cousins only a few years after being all in on RG3. So by that measure, Eli and the Giants should be the heavy favourites in this division right? It’s never that simple with Eli. He’ll be doing it without Tom Coughlin after he was sacked as a consequence of four years out of the playoffs… though Eli sneakily had one of his best seasons with a career-high 35 TDs, as well as his second best passing yardage and third best completion percentage. Clearly having Odell Beckham Jr is helping that offence. Imagine if they only had a semblance of a running game…

8 (15) Carson Palmer – Arizona Cardinals

4671 passing yards with 35 TDs and only 11 INTs, those are great stats but the most important stat is that Carson Palmer played all 16 games in 2015 and the second most important stat is that those 16 games provided 13 wins. In fact Palmer has won 26 of his last 31 regular season starts and with that he gets a well-earned spot in seventh. At his age (and several years after he threatened to retire if the Bengals didn’t trade him) it is probably a short window, though that’s hardly a problem when the Cardinals are as good as they have been recently. Top four last time, thrashed by the Panthers in the Conference Finals where Palmer had a nightmare. Like, a for-real living worst case scenario. I dunno though, I still reckon that as long as Palmer stays fit they should be able to match that in 2016.

7 (4) Andrew Luck – Indianapolis Colts

Injuries and bad play blighted Luck’s 2015 season. Just seven games played before a kidney injury and a torn abdominal ended his season early – and he’d already missed two games with a shoulder blow by then. So maybe his 15 TD/12 INT thingy can be put down to that? The 55.3% completion rate was also worse than every other qualified starter. Worse than Ryan Mallett. Worse than Nick Foles. Worse than Josh McCown. Luck isn’t a QB that at this stage of his career cares about that too much, he takes risky throws that a player of his ability can make which others wouldn’t even consider. In 2014 Andrew Luck was at 61.7% with 40 TDs and 16 INTs. A fully fit Andrew Luck just happened to lead the NFL in preseason comp% (21 of 26) last month so perhaps that’s reason to think he’s ready to take that step into the top tier now. That’s what Colts fans are banking on anyway.

Thing is, that’s a bit of an issue as for too long they’ve relied entirely on Luck’s brilliance to save them and the guy who is now the highest paid player in the NFL still doesn’t quite have the ability around him to bring out his best. But after being on the verge of the sack last time, coach Chuck Pagano is at least doing what he can – bringing in four new offensive lineman in the draft. Finally, they’re putting some stock into the general concept of pass protection. It really helps, lads. Honestly. Not only for Luck but also for RB Frank Gore who never averaged under 4.1 yards per carry in San Francisco yet stumbled to a mere 3.7 y/c in Indy. Even when Luck was putting up his finest figures in 2014, he was playing with a 26th ranked offence in terms of yards per rush attempt and one that were tied first in fumbles lost. The Colts can trust in their Luck… but they can’t do it with Luck alone.

6 (8) Drew Brees – New Orleans Saints

The Saints have sunk into something close to mediocrity recently, two 7-9 finishes in a row, and with that the tendency is to say that Drew Brees at age 37 is probably on the decline. That’s not true. The reality is that Brees was magnificent again last campaign (68.3%, 4870 yds, 35 TD, 11 INT – and he missed a game in there too which was the only reason he didn’t extend his league leading yardage into 5k territory for a fifth time in his career. For context, there have only been eight 5k seasons ever). Also, he did it with a four man WR group of which three were aged 23 years or younger. Just Marques Colston the lone old fella (and he’s gone now). Also, Mark Ingram was their leading rusher with 769 yards (in 10 starts).

Brees is doing his thing like he’s always done while Sean Payton and co. try to rebuild a weak squad around him. And that’s no quick fix because to be honest, offensive playmakers are not the glaring weakness in NO – defensive ones are. The passing game is their most reliable aspect. In the decade of The Big Breesy, the Saints have never had a passing yardage ranked less than fourth best in the NFL. Across an entire DECADE! The guys around Brees are getting even younger with Colston and Benjamin Watson gone and in their place come second round WR Michael Thomas and former Indy TE Coby Fleener, but if there are a million questions about this team, the one position that’s never in doubt is their quarterback.

5 (6) Ben Roethlisberger – Pittsburgh Steelers

Big Ben has long been one of the toughest, strongest quarterbacks in the NFL but in the last few seasons he’s also emerged as a premier pocket passer as well. Add in that while that was happening, the Steelers were also accruing a top five running back in Le’Veon Bell and potentially the best deep threat WR in the league in Antonio Brown and that, ladies and gentlemen, is why the Steelers should be your best bet to top the league in total offence. Remember that they came third last time with Bell and Roethlisberger missing 14 games between them. Now, Bell’s gonna miss the first three games due to the typical “violating the league's substance-abuse policy” thing, but that might not be the worst thing to get a little extra rest after an MCL injury. As for Benny, he might legitimately threaten 5000 passing yards as he almost did in 2014. Aside from the missed games, the only blip on the radar in 2015 was a few too many interceptions (like three in one game against Cincy). Presuming he’s something close to 100% then there’s no reason to suggest that Big Ben will be anything less than one of the very best QBs in the game, as he usually is.

4 (2) Tom Brady – New England Patriots

39 years old now, you realise? And yet nothing ever seems to change after the bugger threw 4770 yards last time with only seven interceptions against his 36 TDs. He threw 22 touchdowns before he threw his third pick, that ain’t even human. Luckily for the rest of us, he’s also a filthy cheating deflater and will finally serve his four games in 2016, just going to show that you can’t outrun justice.

Some of that previous sentence was exaggerated (just like Brady’s own sentence) but whatever. This is what you get when you force the rest of us to hear a hundred different DeflateGate podcasts from Bill Simmons. We can only endure so much. Of course, the second that Brady returns from suspension you can assume he’ll do so with a vengeance and having made the most of his enforced rest. More than a little frightening, that thought.

3 (7) Russell Wilson – Seattle Seahawks

He impressed enough as a rookie to win the starter’s job over Matt Flynn, who’d been signed in free agency. Then he went and won a Super Bowl in his second season. A drop in their offensive threat in 2014 might have distracted a couple of people – specifically when it came to throwing a Super Bowl defining interception (RUN IT WITH MARSHAWN!) but anyone who thinks that Wilson is anything less than one of the very best is certifiably insane. He was the top quarterback in the NFL last season, only Cam Newton was on the same level. The overall stats are incredible but if you can find me a better seven game stretch than the one Wilson ended the 2015 regular season on than I’ll buy you a beer:

70.97% comp, 1906 yards, 24 TDs, 1 INT, 132.8 Rating.

He did that in the space of seven games. Like, that’s unheard of. The emergence of Thomas Rawls at RB should – fitness pending – cover for the retirement of Marshawn Lynch and even if the Legion isn’t what it once was, the offence should more than cover for that. The only doubt with Russell Wilson is that his very… tension-relieving… marriage in the offseason has significantly reduced his testosterone levels. But we’ll have to wait on that account. Just like Russ did.

2 (12) Cam Newton – Carolina Panthers

MVP. MVP. MVP. Just a shame he didn’t add a Super Bowl to that. Looking at the passing stats, Newton doesn’t find his way to the top of almost any of them. Tied second in touchdown passes with 35, that’s mightily impressive even if his comp% was sub-60. 15 men attempted more passes, 15 men threw for more yards. Only 10 interceptions was outstanding but of QBs to start 16 games, that’s still more than Bridgewater, Wilson, Smith, Rodgers and Brady. Ah, but that all ignores the 636 yards and 10 touchdowns picked up with his feet.

A better way to judge his influence is this: 15-1. That was the Panthers’ record, winning their first 14 games before an unexpected defeat in Atlanta. They then beat the Seahawks and Cardinals (23 combined regular season wins) in the playoffs before being beaten in Super Bowl 50 by the Denver Broncos. You can have the quarterback who throws 70% in a loss if you want or you can take the guy whose team scored more points (500 exactly) than any other team last season. They don’t give that MVP out to any random joker, you know.

And this season you can guarantee he’ll be motivated to go one further. Plus his best wideout, Kalvin Benjamin, is back from injury – bear in mind that neither Tedd Ginn or Devin Funchess caught even half the passes thrown to them last time and Newton still tossed 15 TDs their way. Chances are he won’t have another Most Valuable season but he could well be better in an undercover way.

1 (1) Aaron Rodgers – Green Bay Packers

Boring, I know. But find me the justification for anyone else over Aaron Rodgers. He also missed his best WR last time in Jordy Nelson and as a result he had probably his worst season since before he won his ring. But like, you try completing over 60% and throwing 31 touchdown passes to a group consisting of James Jones, Randall Cobb, Davante Adams and Richard Rodgers. Even harder when Eddie Lacy was running the ball like he was stuck in traffic at the McDonald’s drive-thru.

And here’s the thing: they still made the playoffs. They still beat the R**skins in the first round. They only lost to the Cardinals in overtime. That Green Bay roster wasn’t even that good, relatively speaking. This time around Mike McCarthy is back on playcalling duties, Eddie Lacy is in much better shape, Rodgers (as well as receivers Nelson and Adams) is back to peak fitness himself and, well, you never count out a legend. Not one who is capable of throwing a pass like this:

Mate, you can count on one hand the players in history who can do that. That’s the best in the business right there, no arguments.