Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger...rank them

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

All three came into the league as early first round picks in 2004. I am curious where most people would rank the three of them. I am purposely leaving the ranking open ended for you to decide with your own criteria what is most important. Obviously, Eli has two SB titles and SB MVPs, so from an accomplishments perspective, he is clearly ahead of Rivers, though many would argue Rivers is a much better QB who hasn't had the same supporting casts.

Here is my ranking:

1. Roethlisberger (Hall of Fame)
2. Rivers
3. E. Manning

I personally think Roethlisberger is an overall better quarterback than Peyton Manning when you also include their ability to play well in big games under pressure. Eli's career has been far from a disappointment, and to Giants fans, he's a borderline legend.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

sounds about right

 

[Deus Irae]

1. Roethlisberger (Hall of Fame)
2. Rivers
3. E. Manning

Got it in one. Don't be stunned if Eli makes the hall, though. Two SB wins and the NY location...

 

[MUFC7]

1. Roethlisberger
.
.
.
2. Manning
3. Rivers

Manning has been very inconsistent but in the years he delivered he played at a very high level and proved that he can be clutch, contrary to his brother. Rivers hasn't been that great the last few years either, after being a borderline top5 qb for a long time. Rivers was on good teams too. All in all I'd take Manning overs Rivers.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

1. Roethlisberger
.
.
.
2. Manning
3. Rivers

Manning has been very inconsistent but in the years he delivered he played at a very high level and proved that he can be clutch, contrary to his brother. Rivers hasn't been that great the last few years either, after being a borderline top5 qb for a long time. Rivers was on good teams too. All in all I'd take Manning overs Rivers.

In the last two years, Rivers has posted passer ratings of 105.5 and 93.8. Could you imagine what the media would do if Eli put up a passer rating of 105? That is basically the season they are waiting for him to have so they can make a Hall of Fame case, although they will make that case anyway in the end, even if he continues to suck.

 

[RobertWeathers]

1. Roethlisberger
.
.
.
2. Manning
3. Rivers

Manning has been very inconsistent but in the years he delivered he played at a very high level and proved that he can be clutch, contrary to his brother. Rivers hasn't been that great the last few years either, after being a borderline top5 qb for a long time. Rivers was on good teams too. All in all I'd take Manning overs Rivers.

Rivers has better numbers. Eli has won Super Bowls and has also had good seasons.

I think Rivers is the better QB but Eli has delivered in <gulp> big games.

 

[Canuck]

1: Big Ben. Lifetime completion % of 63.7, Passer Rating of 93.9. 3 Elite QB with regular, playoff and SB success.

2: Rivers. Lifetime completion % of 64.7, Passer rating of 95.7. Elite QB with regular and playoff success.

3: Eli. Lifetime completion % of 59.0, Passer rating of 82.4. Avg QB with regular, playoff and SB success

 

[rochrist]

Yeah, Manning has been wretched more often than great.

 

[Froob]

Ben is obviously #1 but then it gets weird....Rivers has done very little in the playoffs past 7 years but he's a top QB in most years while Eli has had like 3-4 really good seasons in his career but two SBs...

 

[neuronet]

Poll it, Ice! Only six options, no?

 

[50-yard-line]

Ben is number 1, but I'd rather be playing Manning or Ben before playing a hot Rivers. Guy is streaky, but when he's on, holy crap, can he light it up.

 

[Concussion Protocol]

Eli comes up so woefully short of the other 2 statistically that I can't even put him in the same tier. Ben and Phil are very similar in my big 2 stats (avg per pass & int %), so the big game performance is the decider. Big Ben.

 

[Ross12]

IMO Rivers has the most innate talent, but Roethlisberger is #1 due to winning 2 SBs and making it to 3, losing only to Rodgers who has the most innate talent of any QB in the league. Manning is above average (what is average in the NFL these days?), and has two SBs to his name as well. If Rivers had the supporting cast and coaching of Big Ben over the last decade, I would think he would've won at least one ring. I would say Roethlisberger, Rivers, Manning.

 

[Nunchucks]

Rivers - Best passer
Rapistberger - there is a reason the Patriots make him look terrible all the time - his first superbowl win..lol
Manning - is just bad

I don't see why you guys are all gaga over Rapistberger, he had one and a half good years and now everybody loves him. He isn't that good.

 

[Deus Irae]

Rivers - Best passer
Rapistberger - there is a reason the Patriots make him look terrible all the time - his first superbowl win..lol
Manning - is just bad

I don't see why you guys are all gaga over Rapistberger, he had one and a half good years and now everybody loves him. He isn't that good.

Your position is contrary to the facts.

QB rating 90+ in 9 of 11 seasons
QB rating 95+ in 7 of 11 seasons
106-52 record as a starter (.671 win percentage)
10-5 playoff record

 

[Nunchucks]

Philip Rivers had over
100 QB rating in 5 of the last 11 seasons
90+ Rating in 7 of the last 11 seasons
80+ in 9 of the last 11

So...whatver..the eye test tells me that Rapistberger plays playground football...making his bones getting out of the pocket and throwing to guys when the coverage slacks off.....Patriots keep him in the pocket and wreck him good.

 

[Concussion Protocol]

Philip Rivers had over
100 QB rating in 5 of the last 11 seasons
90+ Rating in 7 of the last 11 seasons
80+ in 9 of the last 11

So...whatver..the eye test tells me that Rapistberger plays playground football...making his bones getting out of the pocket and throwing to guys when the coverage slacks off.....Patriots keep him in the pocket and wreck him good.

That's as silly as saying "Tom Cheaty is a system QB....making his bones stepping up in the pocket and throwing 5 yard passes.....Giants rush him up the middle and wreck him good". QBs have different styles, and Ben is great at what he does. The Pats' dominance over the Steelers has been because Brady owns LeBeau, not because of Ben.

 

[lillloyd]

Philip Rivers had over
100 QB rating in 5 of the last 11 seasons
90+ Rating in 7 of the last 11 seasons
80+ in 9 of the last 11

So...whatver..the eye test tells me that Rapistberger plays playground football...making his bones getting out of the pocket and throwing to guys when the coverage slacks off.....Patriots keep him in the pocket and wreck him good.

First of all, I want to underscore what a "1st world" QB discussion this is...many teams would have been happy to have *any* of the 3 QBs from the '04 class, which will certainly go down as one of the better QB classes in draft history.

I certainly wouldn't find it outrageous or shocking if some analysts or fans rated Rivers (or Manning, for that matter) higher than Roethlisberger -- it's not like we're comparing him to Geno Smith or E.J. Manuel. (FWIW Rivers was often linked to Pittsburgh ahead of the '04 draft -- there were rumors that Cowher preferred Rivers to the other two QBs -- and I'm guessing Pitt may have won a couple of SBs with Rivers at the helm as well.)

My argument for Roethlisberger is less statistical than subjective -- I believe he has been historically good against pressure and against the blitz (I pointed his statistics out in the other thread - he was #1 in the league against pressure in 2014 with a passer rating 28 points better than then next highest QB...and this is consistent with hist against-pressure performance in prior years.) I think this is an extremely positive, rare "wildcard" attribute that helps when teams advance deeper into the playoffs against stouter defenses.

I also think the "playground football" stereotype is a dated viewpoint. I think people see crazy highlights, and assume that is how he plays his overall game when in fact he does most of has passing from the pocket:

• Under Haley, Roethlisberger's 2014 time to attempt was 2.43 seconds -- 6th quickest in the league, and just a shade under a tenth of a second behind Brady. (per PFF)
• Roethlisberger (like Brady) is rarely blitzed -- a nod to his success against it -- but his performance on *non* blitz snaps was #1 in the league, by a fair margin. (per PFF)

I think sometimes stereotypes about a team or player stick for years beyond their relevance, and that's probably the case with Roethlisberger. For example, people still think Pittsburgh has a "stout" run defense due to a nominally high (#6) yardage ranking, when in fact their run defense has been leaky for a couple of years running now. Their high ranking belies the fact that they allowed 4.4ypc, and many teams simply elected to pass since Pittsburgh's pass defense was atrocious.

Just so you don't think I'm being a homer here, I personally think Roethlisberger's late game efforts have been subpar over the past several years, relative to his early years...but nationally he's retained a reputation as one of the current great late-game QBs. The reality is that reputation was built mostly on games through 2010 or so.

 

[Rob0729]

Depends on which Rivers we get. When he is at his best, he is far better than the other two despite being the only one without a single Super Bowl appearance when the other two have two with two wins. But he went through a two or three year slump where he was very average.

 

[Deus Irae]

I certainly wouldn't find it outrageous or shocking if some analysts or fans rated Rivers (or Manning, for that matter) higher than Roethlisberger -- it's not like we're comparing him to Geno Smith or E.J. Manuel. (FWIW Rivers was often linked to Pittsburgh ahead of the '04 draft -- there were rumors that Cowher preferred Rivers to the other two QBs -- and I'm guessing Pitt may have won a couple of SBs with Rivers at the helm as well.)

I understand you want to be polite, so I'll say it for you:

Anyone who puts Eli Manning over Roethlisberger is someone who's opinion should never again be taken seriously.