NFL Insiders: Tom Brady Is Still Best Quarterback

We had been in the twilight of the discussion surrounding Tom Brady and his "eliteness", but it seems as if we're upping the ante for round two. ESPN's Mike Sando polled 26 NFL insiders, ranging from general managers, to coaches, to team executives, and asked them to rank the starting quarterbacks in "tiers".

Quarterbacks were ranked with a "1" if the evaluator considered them in the top tier of quarterbacks. They were given a "5" if they were in the worst tier. Pretty simple.

According to Sando, he started this process prior to the firestorm of debate instigated by the Pro Football Focus evaluators. Contrary to their opinion and analysis, those in the NFL still hold Brady in the highest esteem.

Twenty-five of the twenty-six polls had Brady ranked in tier one (the best), with the lone dissent opting to only place Peyton Manning in the first tier, while grouping Brady and the other top quarterbacks in the second tier.

Those numbers were good enough to rank Brady in a tie for first overall. With Peyton.

Some of the feedback was that Brady was roughly interchageable with Manning and Aaron Rodgers, which seems to be fine (although I'd argue that could be shortchanging Drew Brees).

Still, first is a good place for Brady to be. Let's hope that he continues to prove it this upcoming season.