Pro football fans will all remember the 2004 NFL Draft when three quarterbacks were selected within the first eleven picks of the first round: Eli Manning by the Chargers-and-then-to-the-Giants, Phillip Rivers by the Giants-and-then-to-the-Chargers, and Ben Roethlisberger by the Steelers. Each of them lived up to their billing, and each of them achieved success in their NFL careers. Each of them will probably, eventually become Hall of Famers.
The circumstances of that particular convergence of QB talent in one draft was discussed much this past season when (a) it seemed that Eli Manning was struggling with the Giants over the past two seasons and may well be washed up, (b) when Phillip Rivers led the Chargers to a double digit win season and the playoffs, and (c) when Ben Roethlisberger piled up impressive statistics while also throwing a lot of interceptions as the Steelers had a late season collapse.
So, of those three QB's, who was/is the best? Which one did the most for his team? Which one would you pick today if for your team if each was in his prime? Such questions just screamed for a Grandstander Spreadsheet, so here you go (all stats are according to pro-football-reference.com)...
| Ben Roethlisberger | Eli Manning | Phillip Rivers | |
| Games Played | 216 | 232 | 212 |
| Games Started | 214 | 230 | 208 |
| Completion % | 64.4 | 60.3 | 64.5 |
| Total Passing Yards | 56,194 | 55,981 | 54,656 |
| TD Passes | 363 | 360 | 374 |
| TD Pass % | 5.1 | 4.5 | 5.3 |
| Interceptions | 190 | 239 | 178 |
| Int. % | 2.7 | 3.0 | 2.5 |
| QB Record | 144-69-1 | 116-114 | 118-90 |
| Winning % | 0.675 | 0.504 | 0.567 |
| QB Rating | 94.2 | 84.1 | 95.6 |
| PLAYOFFS | |||
| Games | 21 | 12 | 11 |
| Completion % | 62.4 | 60.5 | 59.4 |
| TD Passes | 30 | 18 | 14 |
| Interceptions | 24 | 9 | 10 |
| Record | 13-8 | 8-4 | 5-6 |
| Winning % | 0.612 | 0.667 | 0.455 |
| Super Bowl Record | 2-1 | 2-0 | 0-0 |
Like most sets of statistics, you can bend these numbers any way you'd like to make a case for one guy over the other two. Rivers has more TD passes and a higher QB rating, but a losing record in the playoffs, Manning has a perfect record in Super Bowls, Roethlisberger has more passing yards, has won more games, has a higher winning percentage, and has played in and won more playoff games. All things considered, I'm glad that the team for whom I root, the Steelers, had Roethlisberger over these last fifteen seasons that either of the other two.
Oh, and just for shits and giggles, I thought that I would add one more name to the spreadsheet, that of a guy who is a contemporary of that 2004 triumvirate, albeit he has played nineteen seasons as opposed to the fifteen seasons of Ben/Eli/Phillip.
| Ben Roethlisberger | Eli Manning | Phillip Rivers | Tom Brady | |
| Games Played | 216 | 232 | 212 | 269 |
| Games Started | 214 | 230 | 208 | 267 |
| Completion % | 64.4 | 60.3 | 64.5 | 64.0 |
| Total Passing Yards | 56,194 | 55,981 | 54,656 | 70,514 |
| TD Passes | 363 | 360 | 374 | 517 |
| TD Pass % | 5.1 | 4.5 | 5.3 | 5.5 |
| Interceptions | 190 | 239 | 178 | 171 |
| Int. % | 2.7 | 3.0 | 2.5 | 1.8 |
| QB Record | 144-69-1 | 116-114 | 118-90 | 207-60 |
| Winning % | 0.675 | 0.504 | 0.567 | 0.775 |
| QB Rating | 94.2 | 84.1 | 95.6 | 97.6 |
| PLAYOFFS | ||||
| Games | 21 | 12 | 11 | 38 |
| Completion % | 62.4 | 60.5 | 59.4 | 63.3 |
| TD Passes | 30 | 18 | 14 | 72 |
| Interceptions | 24 | 9 | 10 | 31 |
| Record | 13-8 | 8-4 | 5-6 | 28-10 |
| Winning % | 0.612 | 0.667 | 0.455 | 0.737 |
| Super Bowl Record | 2-1 | 2-0 | 0-0 | 5-3 |
Is there any doubt who the greatest quarterback of this century, if not of all time, is? Brady has led his team to EIGHT SUPER BOWLS (and has a good chance of making in nine in another couple of days). Let that sink in. That is just an unbelievable fact, and I doubt that it will ever happen again. Ever.
Oh, pro-football-reference.com also shows figure for "Comebacks" and "Game Winning Drives", although it didn't mention how they define the two stats. Regardless, and given some intuitive thinking of what those terms mean, you may find those numbers of interest as well.
| Brady | Roethlisberger | Manning | Rivers | |
| Comebacks | 35 | 31 | 27 | 26 |
| Game Winning Drives | 44 | 42 | 37 | 30 |
If you believe that a quarterback really and truly earns his keep late in the game, when your team is down, when their back is to the wall, and any other cliche you care to use, then you see that Roethlisberger, given four fewer seasons in the league, is right there with Brady in these particular categories. However, we all know what the Brady-Ben record is when these two guys have gone head to head over the years, and it is pretty one sided in Brady's favor.
Just some numbers for you to chew on to make the case for your favorite quarterback, or a case against a guy you might not like.
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