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[robbcs3]

This is what it reads:

Atlanta's Matt Ryan went to the tape of five great players to improve his game. The result? Expect more from this elite quarterback. John Clayton » Clayton mailbag: Tense times » NFL Nation blog »

This guy is ELITE ?! What am I missing?

Link: http://espn.go.com/nfl/

[SaVaGe]

Im not sure if your angry because he didn't mention Flacco, but Flacco is one of [b]his[/b] Elite QB's for the season.

[berad]

Two different posters, one avatar - quite confusing. I'm not sure what the fuss is. If you want a Joe Flacco / Matt Ryan debate, we already have one going. I must admit, Clayton's criteria for 'elite' is very lenient, he's got about half the QBs in the league on his list.

[Alexir]

Why the hell does everyone go into the Ryan/Flacco/Sanchez debate?! Be thankful we have Joe. And what does everyone complain about?! That Ryan went before Flacco!? Good for him, that means we got Joe Flacco and not them! We should be happy.

I still don't get everyone's obsession with what the Jets are doing even though they aren't a rival in the division or a team we have faced in the playoffs...

Off season is slow...

However, if we wanna talk about the article I will say Ryan and Flacco will definitely be the QB's we will be talking about down the road after Peyton and Tom hang up the cleats and Brees is on his way out.

[robbcs3]

I dont want a debate, and I'm not mad Joe wasnt mentioned. Just though it was strange he was mentioned as "elite". According to nfl.com stats Ryan was the 20th best QB in the league, thats good enough to be called "elite"

Stat link:
http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?archive=false&conference=null&statisticPositionCategory=QUARTERBACK&season=2009&seasonType=REG&experience=null&tabSeq=1&qualified=true&Submit=Go

[BuckWilds]

[quote name='robbcs3' date='17 June 2010 - 12:31 PM' timestamp='1276792266' post='422817']
I dont want a debate, and I'm not mad Joe wasnt mentioned. Just though it was strange he was mentioned as "elite". According to nfl.com stats Ryan was the 20th best QB in the league, thats good enough to be called "elite"

Stat link:
http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?archive=false&conference=null&statisticPositionCategory=QUARTERBACK&season=2009&seasonType=REG&experience=null&tabSeq=1&qualified=true&Submit=Go
[/quote]

If you take into consideration career arc, he is elite.

[reediddy]

Clayton calls Flacco elite as well so I'm not trippin over Ryan being named elite as well. Their statistical comparisons are almost alike, though IMO Ryan had the better WR corps last season. Ryan would be held in a higher regard if he had a great defense like ours, giving him the chance to make it to the playoffs.

[reediddy]

Plus, not to put Flacco down or anything, but it's true, he has the playoff wins but he has NOT played well in the playoffs at all. In the NE win last season he did barely enough to help us win. However he will absolutely improve with the presence of Jim Zorn Im sure of it

[robbcs3]

I would just imagine only a handful of qb's could be considered elite. Top ten at the most. Ryan wasn't even ranked in the top half of the league, just seems like the term is being thrown around pretty loosely.

[Token]

Clayton considers both Flacco and Ryan elite QBs

[BuckWilds]

[quote name='robbcs3' date='19 June 2010 - 06:52 PM' timestamp='1276987966' post='423739']
I would just imagine only a handful of qb's could be considered elite. Top ten at the most. Ryan wasn't even ranked in the top half of the league, just seems like the term is being thrown around pretty loosely.
[/quote]

I think Clayton is considering what they will become based on how their performance so far will play out over the next 3-5 years. That might not be the best way to look at it, but he seems to be comparing their first couple of years to those of Marino, Manning, Montana, etc.