Ben and Eli

http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/post/_ ... or-big-ben

Nice article. Mentions both will be first ballot HOF'ers. What surprises me the most is with 8 more games, Manning has 5 fewer victories. One can only wonder where's Ben's win list would be had he not had that accident in 2006.

I am surprised that the article makes no mention of the other QB drafted in 2004. Not that he belongs in the conversation, but at least they could have said he hasn't won anything yet.

 

remember Matt Shaub was also drafted that year. turning out to be a pretty nice qb class.

 

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap100000 ... ed-as-best

 

I was kind of surprised when I just looked at Shaub's stats. He needs to win in the payoffs and have a longer career to get into the conversation for HOF at this point.

 

When I think of Ben, I think of what he did in the waning minutes of the SuperBowl against Arizona. This wasn't the final moments of a regular season game, or even the AFC Championship, it was the on grandest stage of all -The SuperBowl- Darn right Bens a Hall Of Famer

 

wasn't rivers in that class as well?????? oh wait he sucks

 

I always suspected QBs were taking payoffs So it's Shaub is it ? lol

 

Roethlisberger vs. Manning matchup reignites QB class warfare
November 4, 2012 12:14 am
By Gerry Dulac / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


The day that changed a decade: Eli Manning, left, and Ben Roethlisberger on Draft Day 2004 in New York. Manning went first, Roethlisberger 11th and between them they went on to win four Super Bowls and play in five.


It is inconceivable, if not largely impossible, that any draft class will replicate the passing numbers produced by the three quarterbacks who were selected in the first round in 1983 -- John Elway, Jim Kelly and Dan Marino.

In 64 combined years in the NFL, the trio accumulated 148,303 yards passing -- or 84.3 miles -- and 957 touchdowns. They rewrote record books, appeared in 10 Super Bowls and were all first-ballot inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The 1983 class didn't just include Elway, Kelly and Marino. Three other quarterbacks were also drafted in the first round -- Todd Blackledge of Penn State (No. 7 overall), Tony Eason (15th) and Ken O'Brien (24th) -- though none had the success approaching the more famous trio.

But, for all of their success, the quarterback draft class of '83 produced just two Super Bowl victories -- both by Elway. Kelly made four consecutive trips with the Buffalo Bills from 1991-94 but never won. Marino's only appearance was 1984, his second season, when the Miami Dolphins lost to Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers. Elway was 0 for 3 until the Denver Broncos won back-to-back titles in his final two seasons, 1997 and '98.

Maybe that's why, as unlikely as it might have appeared 10 years ago, that another ballyhooed quarterback class has a chance to exceed the level of greatness established by the one from 1983. If it hasn't already.

The 2004 class that produced Eli Manning, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger.

"I'm old-fashioned when it comes to evaluating quarterbacks," said former New York Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi, the man who acquired Manning in a draft-day swap with the San Diego Chargers. "I don't evaluate stats -- that's a baseball concept. This is a team sport. I evaluate quarterbacks based on championships. Ben and Eli have won four; that whole class won two. I think this class is going to turn out to be the best and most illustrious class."


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/spo ... z2BGtWxiV3