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New crop of QBs are 'spectacular'

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A Tribune wire report

Published: October 25, 2009

This is not an easy admission for Jason Taylor.

He has spent more than half of his life making life miserable for the pretty boys who play sports' most glamorous position. He has chased, jarred and slammed them, all while striving to separate them from the football - and if they got separated from a limb in the bargain, so be it. If Wile E. Coyote had offered him some spare Acme products for an inflated price, the Dolphins' defensive end probably would have tried those, too.

So what does Taylor think of the current crop of NFL quarterbacks?

"There's a handful of guys now that are really spectacular," he said.

This season, the Dolphins already have faced three: Matt Ryan, Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers. Today, they draw Drew Brees, the leader of the NFL's top offense, not just this season but since his New Orleans arrival in 2006. Brees has a cartoonish passer rating of 118.4, which would rank second in history to Manning's 121.1 in 2004.

But it's hardly just Brees.

"There are some really good quarterbacks in this league," Brees said when asked how nine guys could have passer ratings of 99.0 or above this deep into the season.

ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer, a former NFL quarterback who was drafted by the Bucs, believes that "quarterback play right now is arguably as good as it's ever been in the history of the league."

Dolphins coach Tony Sparano has noticed that some teams have philosophies "where they're throwing the ball 50 times and running the ball 20 times and it is OK for them."

"Teams are throwing to set up the run, when it used to be the opposite," former NFL coach Dan Reeves said.

Sparano pointed to another factor: improved supporting casts, in the form of ultra-athletic receivers who turn short gains into long ones, and interceptions into completions. Ex-NFL QB Joe Theismann sees QBs making throws that he wouldn't make, including many to receivers' back shoulders.

"There was a time when you didn't do that," Theismann said. "Before it was throw it to the open receiver. Now it's throw to your best receiver. The pressure's off the quarterbacks. It's on the receivers."

REDSKINS: Defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth is questionable for Monday night's game against the Philadelphia Eagles with a sprained ankle.

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