Best of the Best

There are 32 NFL teams.

Playing QB for an NFL team is one of the most desired jobs in the world: with it comes an immense salary, instant fame, endorsement deals, and the ability to knock up one supermodel and then dump her for another supermodel...all with a Justin Beiber haircut.

Yet, there aren't 32 guys in the world who can adequately play QB at an NFL level. Check out some of these stat lines from yesterday:

Jake Delhomme: 12 completions, 20 attempts, 86 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT
Jimmy Clausen: 14-24-107-0-1
Matt Flynn: 15-26-177-0-1
Drew Stanton: 10-22-117-1-2 (win)
Kyle Orton: 19-49-166-0-3
Josh Skelton: 15-37-146-0-0 (win)
Jay Cutler: 12-26-152-0-2
Mark Sanchez: 17-44-216-0-1
Chad Henne: 5-18-55-1-0 (win)
Brodie Croyle: 7-17-40-0-0

Not included in this mess is Carson Palmer's 3INT day or Matt Hasselbeck's 4 pick effort.

Only three of those losers were playing because of injury, the other seven were actually their team's first choice at the position.

I don't follow other sports as closely as football, but the difference between the #1 QB and the #20 QB seems to be much more drastic than top-line players in other sports. As you can see, the 20th-best QB in the world is incompetent. Consistent mediocrity would be a huge improvement.

Yet, the 20th-best scorer in the NBA still scores a ton of points. The 20th-best forward in the NHL will score 30+ goals. The 20th-best striker in soccer is a tremendous, brilliant player. The 20th-best first basemen will still field his position adequately and hit .250. Why is there such an immense dropoff between #1 and #20 for NFL QBs?

It makes you really appreciate the teams, like the Cowboys and Eagles last night, that have two good QBs on their roster. And it makes you understand, whether you agree with it or not, why the NFL is so desperate to protect its quarterbacks from injury.

No one wants to pay to see Drew Stanton face off against Matt Flynn.