I’ve been getting some questions in regards to the ProFootballFocus.com/ESPN Insider report that Tom Brady is no longer a top five NFL quarterback. As much as I usually ignore articles like this, it’s the dead season so I might as well weigh in.
As readers of this blog might know, I generally ignore arbitrary rankings whether they’re of teams or players. There’s an endless quest by sports writers out there to rank everything. They’re great click bait and instantly inflammatory if a fan feels his team or player is ranked too low.
And when you piss off fans your work tends to spread like wildfire and you end up on WEEI talking to D&C.
Do these rankings really matter on any given Sunday? Nope. And how boring would sports be if every team and player was easily rankable and that’s how it always played out.
So generally, I could really care less what PFF has to say. A couple years ago they were killing Vince Wilfork to the point where they had to come out and explain why. They also had Matt Ryan, Phillip Rivers, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Schaub, and Tony Romo ranked ahead of Brady in 2010. You know, the year Brady was the first ever unanimous MVP of the NFL.
PFF certainly has made a good run out of telling everyone how the Patriots really aren’t that good.
I’ve always issued caution when referring to PFF’s grades in general. They are but one analyst’s opinion and not the end-all be-all of football grades. The fact that the grades for each game are available by Monday, before All-22 game film is made available has always bothered me.
Regardless, it’s impossible for ANYONE, even with All-22 to accurately grade every play. They don’t know the play call. They don’t know the defense. They don’t know the coverage. They don’t know if there was a missed adjustment call. They don’t know much of anything except who was closest to the ball when it was complete or incomplete, or who tackled the ball carrier.
We also have no idea who is grading these games, how consistent they are and exactly what their football backgrounds are.
In general, I like PFF to run my own opinions against, but to take every stat and piece of information they pass on as indisputable truth is a stretch. They provide a little piece of the big picture.
Now, as for Brady, I’m not a blind homer. He’s in his late-30’s. It’s inevitable that he’s likely declined a bit in certain areas over the last few years, but to state that his decline is obvious is just hyperbole.
It’s also convenient to pile on Brady after what was unquestionably the most challenging year of his career. Not only for the receiver turnover but all the injuries (especially to Gronk) and that one big glaring arrest.
Is Brady still a Top 5 quarterback? I don’t really give a shit. All I know is that there is no other quarterback I’d rather have leading my team and what he did last year with the new receivers and all the injuries did nothing but cement in my mind that he’s one of the best of all time.