Is Ben an ELITE QB?

With a recent debate in a different thread about Peyton vs Ben I thought I'd ask Steeler Nation is Ben truly an elite QB.

There's 32 starting QB's so being "elite" would be the top 5 ( top 15% ). An argument could be made top 3 QBs (10%) is the most allowed so let's just keep it at 5 for now.

If you believe Ben to be an Elite QB please list your top 5 including Ben.

Cajun-

 

P. Manning
D. Brees
Rogers
Ben
Brady

If any other top five QB had the offensive line Ben has played behind for the last couple of years they would not even be mentioned in the top five.

 

manning
brady
brees
rodgers
luck
kapernick
rg3
ben

 

I agree that in order to be elite you must prove you're among the best of the best for more than just a couple years. No doubt Luck is gonna be Elite and watch for RG3 and Wilson.

You also have to look hard at Stafford and Ryan & Rivers who has shown they can put up huge numbers over a decent amount years. What about Eli? His OL this year is worse than Ben's so is he as good as Ben or Better?

To me Elite means Best of the Best. John Clayton put out a list of Elite QBs and there were 12 QBs on that list. Sorry, but there may be 12 Great to Very Good QBs but to be Elite you must be in the very top tier, Best of best list. I chose 5 because it's top 15 %. No doubt top 3 -10%- is Elite but I felt top 6-20%- was blurring the lines between Elite & Great.

It is subjective but I had to draw a line and its my poll so that's where and why I did it.

Cajun-

 

The way he is playing this year there is no way he is an elite QB.

 

Peyton
Brady
Brees
Rogers
Ben

 

Top 10 my selection

(Elite's)
Peyton
Brees
Brady
Rodgers
Ben

(Level 2)
Flacco
Luck
Wilson
Ryan
Kapernick

 

Ben falls into the 2nd tier of top QB's in the league.

 

I voted no..... I think he's a Great QB but until he gets a bit more accurate on his passes and reads the defense pre/post snap a little bit better I have to keep him off the ELITE lists.

My Elites are:
Peyton
Rodgers
Brees
Brady
Eli

My border line elite guys are:

Ben
Rivers
Stafford
Ryan
Flacco

My young and potential future Elite:

Luck
Wilson
RG3
Newton
Bradford

I went with Eli over Ben only because eli is a bit more accurate and I think he reads the defense better. Eli is good when the Play breaks down but Ben is better here. It was almost a coin toss for me.

Cajun-

 

I think Eli falls into the 2nd tier of QB's a long with Ben. Eli doesn't play with the consistency necessary to be considered among the best QB's in the league.

 

Totally agree about Eli. Yesterday someone showed me a meme that had a picture of Eli and and "It's confirmed. He's adopted." LOL! As for Ben though, I think that he's definitely elite.

 

I would guess that people will say that because he doesn't always make the quick read. Just my guess though. Personally I think Ben might see the quick read but since he's so enamored with the big play he will bypass it.

 

My idea of an elite qb is would other teams want to have BEN as their qb.
I think that after 3 or 4 teams every other team in the league takes BEN
so YES he is elite

 

I don't know how you want to define ELITE. Do you have to a top 5 QB to be Elite? In that case Ben is no higher than #5, after Peyton, Brady, Brees and Rodgers.

After those 4 there's a muddle, Ben, Flacco, Eli, and a several young guys who could emerge with them, Wilson, Kapernic.

The problem is, Ben's arrow is heading down of late. Can he turn it around? Sure. But there's no guarantee.

Besides as a Giants fan once told me 'You can't spell Elite without Eli!'

 

Yes, but he is not playing like it this year. Upgrade the talent around him and he would show it.

 

IMO Peyton, Brees and Rodgers all have only one Super Bowl each to Ben's two. These 3 also have had better surrounding players, ie.receivers, running backs and OL. Harrison, Wayne, Driver, Jennings, Nelson, Colston, Graham, Finley and so on. Ben has had Hines and Heath, sprinkled in with Holmes and Wallace ( no comparison ) Rodgers and Ben have dealt with marginal OL's. I'm not as high on Marcia as most with Spygate hovering over his 3 SB. Ben also gets extra points, having to run Haley's offense. My top 5 in order are
1 P Manning
2 Big Ben
3 Rodgers
4 Brees
5 Marcia Brady

 

So Eli is not Elite..... He is the NYG alltime leader in TD's and completed passes. He holds the NFL record for most 4th QTR comebacks.

He not only led his team to 2 SB victories but was named MVP in both, only 5 QBs to ever do that in history.

Say what you want but I feel if you're a 2 time SB MVP AND holds the all-time record for 4th QTR comebacks that puts you into an ELITE Class.

Who are your Elite QBs?

Cajun-

 

Right now, the only elite QBs are Peyton, Brady, Rodgers and Brees. I've referred to Ben as an "almost elite" quarterback and I'll stick to that assertion. The biggest thing that holds Ben back from being an elite quarterback is the fact that he hasn't learned how to use his gray matter adequately enough and relies too much on sheer physicality.