Top 10 quarterbacks going into the 2010 season: Part 3 (#9).

Over the next few posts, I'll be ranking from 10-1 my opinion on the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL going into the 2010 season. Today I'll feature the ones that just missed the cut, then the next post will feature the 9th ranked signal-caller.

Rankings are based on a variety of factors, from "Career Stats/Achievements" to "Clutch Factor and Post-Season Performance."

Without further adieu, here is your 9th ranked quarterback.

9.) Donovan McNabb, Washington Redskins

Philadelphia made the wrong decision by trading their quarterback of 11 years away in the off-season. Now a member of the Washington Redskins, Donovan McNabb will get to face his former team twice a year in hopes of making sure they know they made the wrong decision.

McNabb has been very consistent in his 11 year career. He's thrown for over 20 touchdowns five times, less than 10 interceptions six times and is just under 33,000 passing yards for his career. He led the Eagles to five NFC championship games and one Super Bowl, where they fell to the New England Patriots.

The one knock on the former Syracuse quarterback is that he never can stay healthy over the course of a season. Only four times has McNabb played all 16 games. Another knock on him is his the recognition of his playoff failures - despite making five NFC championship games - but he advanced to four of those conference title games with receivers like Todd Pinkston and Freddie Mitchell.

If he could prove he can stay healthy more, then he might be higher on this list. But injuries have pushed a quarterback who could have been a possible top five candidate, back down near the bottom of the top 10.

Top 10 quarterbacks going into the 2010 season: Part 2 (#10).

Over the next few posts, I'll be ranking from 10-1 my opinion on the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL going into the 2010 season. Today I'll feature the ones that just missed the cut, then the next post will feature the 9th ranked signal-caller.

Rankings are based on a variety of factors, from "Career Stats/Achievements" to "Clutch Factor and Post-Season Performance."

Without further adieu, here is your 10th ranked quarterback.


10.) Eli Manning, New York Giants

If you ignore his fumbles (13, 8 lost), Eli Manning had the best statistical year of his career in 2009. Besides that, you see a quarterback that has thrown just 37 more touchdowns than interceptions in his six years of playing.

So why is he in the top 10? Despite a 0 TD/3 INT performance to begin his playoff career and a 0 TD/2 INT game in his last appearance, Manning has proven that he's a good post-season quarterback. I'm pretty sure we all still remember his performance in Super Bowl XLII.

After losing his best receiver, Plaxico Burress, to stupidity mid-way through the 2008 season, Manning has actually improved upon his individual play. When Burress went out, Manning threw seven touchdowns to four interceptions to finish the regular season, ending up with 3238 passing yards, 21 scores and just 10 picks.

Then despite falling to 8-8 after a 5-0 start (which the blame should be placed mostly on the defense), Manning put up outstanding numbers in 2009. He posted career highs in completions (317), completion percentage (62.3%), passing yards (4021), touchdowns (27), and quarterback rating (93.1).

With a young group of receivers, Manning should continue to better his performance and could continue to climb up this list.

Top 10 quarterbacks going into the 2010 season: Part 1 (Just missed the cut).

Over the next few posts, I'll be ranking from 10-1 my opinion on the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL going into the 2010 season. Today I'll feature the ones that just missed the cut, then the next post will feature the 10th ranked signal-caller.

Rankings are based on a variety of factors, from "Career Stats/Achievements" to "Clutch Factor and Post-Season Performance."

Without further adieu, here are your quarterbacks that missed the cut.

Matt Ryan (Falcons)

Ryan is the closest one that could break into the top 10 group by next season. He completely turned around a struggling Falcons team, getting them to the playoffs in his rookie year, and then played through injuries in 2009; still almost leading his team to the post-season. Scouts says his intelligence could rival Peyton Manning's when he hits his prime and he's got a solid group of weapons around him to help him sustain a potentially great career.

Matt Schaub (Texans)

Schaub is injury-prone who falters usually in big games. He puts up outstanding stats, but it helps that he has the best receiver in the NFL, Andre Johnson, to throw to. Usually his tosses to Johnson are short routes - slants as an example - and the yards after the catch (YAC) really inflates his stats. Still, a quarterback who throws for over 4700 yards should at least be in the "Just Missed Out" section of this list.

Carson Palmer (Bengals)

Palmer should be on this list by now. He came out of USC as the number one overall pick and was on track to become an elite quarterback - evident by a 32 TD/12 INT season in 2005 - but a knee injury in the playoffs against Pittsburgh that season turned his whole career around. He's still a solid quarterback, but he hasn't been the same since that injury.

Joe Flacco (Ravens)

Joe Flacco is improving and has gotten another big play threat in Anquan Boldin during the off-season, but you can't ignore his horrible play in the post-season. He only has thrown one touchdown - against Nick Harper, which shouldn't count in my opinion - and six interceptions. Another candidate to be up in the top 10 next season, but he'll need to get into the playoffs and improve upon his disappointing performances.

Robert Morris hires the youngest head coach in NCAA Division I.

After former Colonial head coach Mike Rice announced that he was leaving the university to take the same position at Big East bottom-feeder Rutgers, Robert Morris stayed in house to replace him.

Andrew Toole was named the new head coach of the men's basketball team, after spending two seasons (2008-10) as the associate head coach and one season (2007-08) as an assistant. At 29 years, eight months and three days, Toole becomes the youngest active head coach at the NCAA Division I level, just edging out new Appalachian State hire Jason Capel (30 years, three months, 29 days).

“Coach (Andrew) Toole has had as much to do with the success of the Robert Morris program the last three years as anyone. His tireless commitment to improve the program, whether it was recruiting, player development or game day preparation, was unmatched by any other assistant. Robert Morris basketball is in great hands.” - Mike Rice, Head Coach, Rutgers University

Toole started four years at two different programs in his collegiate playing career. He started his career at Elon (1998-2000) then transferred to the University of Pennsylvania (2000-03) to finish his education. With the Quakers, Toole helped lead them to two consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and a 7-1 overall record against the Philadelphia Big 5 (LaSalle, Penn, St. Joseph's, Temple and Villanova). The only loss came in 2002-03, when they fell to St. Joseph's.

After graduating with his Bachelor's in Political Science, he spent 2004 through 2006 around the game of basketball. He was the director of the Eastern Invitational Basketball Clinic; the nation's largest high school exposure camp. He also was the director of Rebounds, which is a 28,000 square foot facility where high school players work on their development.

Before finding a job with the Colonials in 2007, he spent a season with Lafayette College of the Patriot League. He was the coaching staff's main recruiter and his players led the Lepoards to the 2010 Patriot League Tournament championship game against Lehigh.

Toole has a very talented nucleus to work with, led by sophomore guard Karon Abraham. After speaking with Coach Toole last November, I was impressed with his charisma, dedication and passion for not only the game of basketball, but Robert Morris in general. There's no doubt in my mind that he'll do a fantastic job with the Colonials and that Athletic Director Craig Coleman made the right hire.

Mike Rice to Rutgers.

On April 9th, Robert Morris extended head coach Mike Rice's contract through the 2016-17 season. Less than a month later, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette announced that Rice was leaving Moon to take the head coaching vacancy at Rutgers. It's a real tough break for Colonial fans as the Scarlet Knights' job was filled by Fred Hill, but he resigned after an altercation at a Rutgers baseball game.

After winning 73 games in just three years at Robert Morris, Rice was a candidate for many coaching vacancies in the off-season. The most likely destination was two other Big East schools - Seton Hall or St. John's - but they spurned the former Fordham guard and went with Kevin Willard and ESPN analyst Steve Lavin respectively.

Under Rice, the Colonials have won two regular-season NEC titles (2008-09), a share of a third (2010), and two NEC tournaments (2009-10) which resulted in automatic bids into the NCAA Tournament. Receiving a 15 seed both times, they weren't completely overmatched like most of the other lower seeds, losing by 15 to national runner-up Michigan State in 2009 and losing to Villanova by just three in overtime this season.

Now as big of a loss this is for Robert Morris, they should be alright if they hire the right guy to replace Rice. They have some very good assistant coaches in house, especially Andy Toole (who was rumored to be a candidate for the Penn vacancy) and Jimmy Martelli (son of St. Joseph's head coach Phil).

Whoever inherits the position will have a lot of talent to work with, starting with NEC rookie of the year Karon Abraham. Joining him in the projected starting lineup are fellow sophomores Velton Jones and Russell Johnson and senior Gary Wallace; Jones being a starter last season. In addition to those four, they return sophomores Brad Piehl and Lijah Thompson and might get a pleasant surprise if Jimmy Langhurst gets granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA.

Five players either have given verbal commitments or have signed a letter of intent to play for the Colonials next year, including Canadian forward Yann Charles, who chose Robert Morris over multiple schools, including Notre Dame. So fear not Colonial fans because with the right hire, Robert Morris should continue to run the NEC for years to come.

Although Mike Rice left kind of unexpectedly, I knew this would come sooner or later and am happy for him. I wish him the best of luck with the Scarlet Knights and believe he will resurrect that program.