:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/46353208/usa-today-8361368.0.jpg)
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is still top five in the league at his position- but it's harder to argue that the Patriots have a top five quarterback scenario for the long term.
Offenses are as good as their quarterbacks, and Brady looks to have just a few years left on his body. Other quarterbacks have far more. Old friend Pat Daugherty of Rotoworld took it upon himself to rank the quarterback situations around the league.
It's a fairly simple method: younger quarterbacks offer a better long term situation than older quarterbacks do. To an extent.
Daugherty ranks Andrew Luck #1 and Aaron Rodgers #2 (and I know our comments section will be buzzing with constructive feedback), with the understanding that Rodgers is clearly the best quarterback in the league- but he only has four-five years left, while Luck might have 15 to go.
The soon-to-be-38-year-old Tom Brady comes in ninth, behind Luck, Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan, Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees, Matthew Stafford, and Cam Newton. Ryan just turned 30 on Sunday (happy birthday from a fellow Boston College Eagle!), while Rodgers is 31, Roethlisberger is 33, and Brees is 36. The others are 27 or younger.
Daugherty highlights Brady's deep ball accuracy as evidence of his decline. While I would counter that it was never really a strong part of his game, I'd also admit that losing that tool from his toolbox altogether will make it more difficult to keep opposing defenses from clogging the lanes on the short passes.
One way to evaluate the validity of the rankings is to ask yourself: Legacy aside, would you trade a player with Brady's skill sets for any of the higher ranked players? If so, then they're probably correctly ranked. Let's hear your thoughts in the comments section.