ESPN's Top 10 Players

1. Tom Brady, Scout's Grade 95
Brady has an excellent combination of size, intelligence, instincts and arm strength. He is just an above-average athlete but shows enough foot quickness and agility to slide in the pocket and deliver the ball effectively downfield. His poise enables him to find his second and third options.

Brady has excellent vision and reads coverages and pressure packages as well as anyone. He can power the ball into tight spots or use touch on delicate throws. Brady can improvise and deliver the ball from different angles, but isn't an outstanding creator when plays break down. He is excellent at getting rid of the ball to avoid the sack.

2. Peyton Manning, Scout's Grade 95
Manning is primarily a pocket passer and has just enough agility and quickness to step up or to side-step the pass rush. He is not going to extend the pocket with speed or agility very often.

He has a very strong arm and has shown the ability to throw from various angles and launch points while still maintaining his accuracy. Manning understands the offensive scheme and is given a lot of freedom to change plays at the line of scrimmage. He is an elite quarterback and still playing at a very high level.

It will be interesting to see what impact offseason neck surgery has on his performance this season.

3. Darrelle Revis, Scout's Grade 95
Revis has outstanding quickness, agility and speed to challenge the top receivers in the league. He is at his best in press man coverage, in which he can use his long arms to get an effective jam on his opponent off the line of scrimmage.


4. Adrian Peterson, Scout's Grade 95
Adrian Peterson continued to be one of the most productive ball carriers in the league in 2010. He was banged up and missed some time for the first time in his short four-year career but has been extremely durable since he entered the league.

Peterson is an excellent combination of size, strength and athleticism. He has impressive power on contact but tends to carry his pads too high at times. He can break tackles or move the pile. Peterson is an instinctive inline runner with excellent lateral agility to find creases between the tackles. He has deceptive burst and speed to pick up chunks of yards and rip off long touchdown runs. He is a reliable receiver out of the backfield but isn't outstanding in this phase of the game. Look for Peterson to be even a larger part of the Vikings' offense with a new quarterback at the helm in 2011.

5. Aaron Rodgers, Scout's Grade 94
Rodgers has size, strength and athleticism. He makes good decisions and puts the Packers in position to win almost every game. He shows good vision and the ability to read defenses.

Rodgers can power the ball into tight windows with his arm, and he can improvise when plays break down. He is effective in the pocket or off play-action, and while he doesn't have great speed he can pull the ball down and move the chains with his legs.

6. Drew Brees, Scout's Grade 94
Brees has missed just one game in the past five seasons and is consistently one of the leading passers when it comes to completions, completion percentages and quarterback ratings. He can make plays from the pocket and has the foot quickness and speed to extend the pocket and make plays from the perimeter.

Brees has a great working knowledge of the passing game and excels when it comes to reading coverages and adjusting on the move. He knows how to game plan and sees possibilities as they develop. Brees brings a great combination of a physical skill set as well as the mental skills to attack a defense.

7. Andre Johnson, Scout's Grade 93
Johnson brings a rare combination of size, speed and athleticism. He is a good route runner who has the speed to challenge the secondary down the seam yet can run combination routes with excellent foot quickness, agility and acceleration.

Johnson can get in and out of his breaks with foot quickness and a burst to separate from defenders and has a wide receiving radius that allows him to extend to make difficult catches. He can go up and high point the ball in a crowd and has the strength to overpower most cornerbacks when challenged.

8. Ben Roethlisberger, Scout's Grade 93
Roethlisberger is a big, strong-armed quarterback with above average athleticism. He has quick feet for his size and can slide and improvise to make effective throws downfield.

Roethlisberger is the toughest quarterback in the league to get on the ground, with great instincts to avoid pressure and natural body strength to break tackles. He has great vision and patience to find his second and third options but can be a bit of a gambler.

9. Joe Thomas, Scout's Grade 93
Thomas is an excellent combination of size, strength and athleticism. He has great instincts and reactions. His technique is strong for such a young player, and he obviously takes his craft seriously.

Thomas can get to the second level as a run blocker and is adept at hitting a moving target downfield. Thomas could stand to add more strength. He is a physical lineman that can set the tone in the running game.

10. Larry Fitzgerald, Scout's Grade 92
Thomas is an excellent combination of size, strength and athleticism. He has great instincts and reactions. His technique is strong for such a young player, and he obviously takes his craft seriously.

Fitzgerald's biggest asset is his ability to adjust and make acrobatic catches. He has good run skills after the catch and can turn a short catch into a long touchdown with a single missed tackle. He is competitive to the ball when in a crowd and will elevate to high-point the catch.

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nolafan33 said:

Aso > Revis imo.

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Bleacher Creature. said:

No.

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nolafan33 said:

Revis:
125-278, 45.0%, 1423 yards, 537 yac, 7 TD's, 13 INT's, 56 pd, 49.8 QB rating

Aso:
50-87, 57.5%, 592 yards, 207 yac, 1 TD, 2 INT's, 19 pd, 72.6 QB rating

The last three seasons Revis has been thrown at nearly 200 more times than Aso. Aso has given up 831 less yards, and 6 less touchdowns. Aso allows MUCH less production on his side of the field compared to Revis.

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nolafan33 said:

Eh whatever, give me the guy who actually shuts down his side of the field and doesn't get thrown to very often.

Revis was thrown at 4.4 times per game last season and Aso was thrown at 2.1 times per game. Revis allowed 28 yards per game and Aso allowed 13. Revis also allowed three TD's to Aso's zero, and had a higher QB rating than Aso when thrown at last season.

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bosoxlover12 said:

dont know bout you, but I wouldnt care who I had to take.

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Notorious P.U.G said:

no shit. i hate these types of arguments. it doesnt matter who you take, its a win. lol

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bosoxlover12 said:

dont know bout you, but I wouldnt care who I had to take.

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Bleacher Creature. said:

Revis was battling injuries last season and he's going to get thrown at more when he has Antonio Cromartie on the other side than whoever the Raiders were throwing out there last season. Not to mention Aso still doesn't cover the other team's #1 every down.

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