The Most Valuable Players In The NFL - Brendan Darr's Blog

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Brendan Darr's Blog

The Most Valuable Players In The NFL Stuck

Posted on August 24, 2012 at 02:09 PM.

(19)

I'm not talking MVP candidates. I'm talking about the guy who the team absolutely cannot do without. The guy who, if he goes down for any extended period of time, will ruin the season for their respective team. Think Peyton Manning last year with the Colts.

The NFL is a Quarterback driven league, so to make sure I don't hear complaints from readers about me being biased to QB's I'll sneak in some positional players as well.

Quarterbacks:

Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos

This new offense was tailored specifically for him, not Caleb Hanie or Brock Osweiler. Hanie has never proven he can be a full time starter. Meanwhile, Osweiler just is not ready to lead this team. The Broncos have talent around Manning, but not enough to still make the playoffs without him.

Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

The Saints, in theory, have one of the most talented teams in the league. However, Brees is the emotional leader that keeps this team afloat. Could Chase Daniel, a preseason legend in Washington, lead this team in Brees' absence? No.

Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

I know what you are thinking -- Didn't Matt Flynn come in and throw for nearly 500 yards in a game in place of Rodgers last season. Well, the answer is obviously yes and I cannot refute that. However, Graham Harrell is no Matt Flynn. If Rodgers were to go down, the Packers would be in a world of trouble.

Josh Freeman, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Dan Orlovsky stinks. I'm sorry Mr. and Mrs. Orlovsky, but how your son still has a job -- let alone a backup job -- in the NFL is mind-boggling. Okay, that was a little harsh. Dan, you're better than Brett Ratliff, so that's all that matters.

Robert Griffin III, Washington Redskins

See: Grossman, Rex.

Non-Quarterbacks:

Cornerback Darrelle Revis, New York Jets

He didn't get the nickname Revis Island by being a mediocre cover corner.

Wide Receiver's Larry Fitzgerald and Calvin Johnson

The two most dominant receivers in the league help mask offensive deficiencies around them. Fitzgerald helps inexperienced/incompetent Quarterbacks around him. Meanwhile, Johnson helps make up for the lack of a consistent running game in Detroit.

Linebacker Patrick Willis, San Francisco 49ers

Willis is the heart and soul of one of the top defensive units in the league. Would San Francisco have a good defense without him? Yes. Would it be elite? No. Carolina really missed Jon Beason last year, so lets not pretend like an inside linebacker couldn't be missed that badly.

Obviously, there are a lot of players in the league that teams would sorely miss. These just stand out amongst the rest.

Follow Brendan Darr on Twitter. (@BrendanDarr)

Comments

# 1 grlacher @ Aug 24

Jay Cutler

# 2 mrmass413 @ Aug 24

Michael vick

# 3 gwhempel @ Aug 24

Not knocking Patrick Willis at all, but I'd say Justin Smith is the heart and soul of that defense, and they would miss him as much if not more than Willis if he went down.

Again, 52 is a beast and I would looooooooove to have him on my team.

# 4 Lionsfan7887 @ Aug 24

Good list. Being a Lions fan it is crazy that Dan Orlovsky is still in the NFL lol

# 5 egkb2753 @ Aug 24

Josh Freeman over the likes of Tom Brady and/or Eli Manning, really? I like Josh, kid has some serious skills and potential, but both Brady and Manning are superbowl winning quarterbacks who both led their respective teams to last years Superbowl while JFree was playing golf in December. If Josh went down, the team would be worse but if Brady or Manning went down...your watching two of the best teams in the league go from the top to the bottom. Considering the expected massive and greater descention in the win column for those two teams, how is Josh more valuable than Tom or Eli?

# 6 holt_4_mvp @ Aug 24

I think Matt Cassell proved the patriots can do just fine without Tom Brady. 11-5 record is pretty good

# 7 Brendan Darr @ Aug 24

@egkb2753 You're missing the point. It isn't about them specifically, it's what the team would be without them. We've seen what Dan Orlovsky can do in this league, and it isn't win. With Josh Johnson gone, if I'm a Bucs fan, I'm hoping nothing happens to Freeman, ever.

# 8 egkb2753 @ Aug 24

holt4mvp, Matt Cassell has proven to be a more than serviceable quarterback in this league when healthy. He lead the Chiefs to their first division champioship in the days of trent green, priest holmes, and tony gonzales 2 years ago, and last year the team got killed by injuries. If you're gonna tell me Ryan Mallett or Dan Hoyer can keep this team high in the win column, you are nuts.

brendar, I didn't miss the point, you didn't understand my explanation. The Pats and G-men would be far much worse off than the Bucs. The question his who is most valuable, and that pretty much means how much each player means to their team and how much worse they would be without them. The pats and giants would struggle to get to 500 and the bucs would probably be around the same, but i'm talking about the severity in the comparison of dropoff between all of the teams.

# 9 calbrs04 @ Aug 25

Niners went 2-1 when Willis was out last year, including the beating to Pittsburgh on MNF.

# 10 jcas007 @ Aug 25

tim tebow,lol

# 11 elgreazy1 @ Aug 25

I'm surprised Demarcus Ware is not on this list. There is no other defensive player on his team who even comes close to half of his sack & QB pressure production.

# 12 egkb2753 @ Aug 25

THANK YOU balcobomber25.

# 13 Brendan Darr @ Aug 25

@Balco and @egkb - Ryan Mallet, with the talent around him, could still win 6-8 games. Dan Orlovsky despite the talent around him couldn't win more than 3-4. That makes Josh Freeman more valuable to his team.

@elgreazy - Thought I had Ware on the list. Looked again and realized I forgot him. Considering I wanted 5 QB's and 5 non-QB's -- that's on me.

# 14 egkb2753 @ Aug 25

Brendan, you just proved my point. You just stated that Dan Orlovsky couldn't win more than 3-4 games this season if Josh Freeman went down with a injury. Correct me if I am mistaken, but wasn't Tampa Bay's win total from last year 4 games, with a healthy Josh Freeman? So based on that logic, the difference and win total wouldn't change whether or not Josh or Dan is the starting qb, there for negating your point.

As for Ryan Mallett, he is a 2nd year backup quarterback who hasn't played in a single NFL game during his short career in the league. Not only that, he currently has a 74 qb rating for the pre-season...not exactly lighting the world on fire. I do like him and I think he could be the heir to Brady's throne one day, but you can't just assume he can win 6-8 games based on the fact that he has talent surrounding him.

Dan Orlovsky, on the other hand, is has had a good preseason with the exception of the 1/5 outing against the Titans. He also has started 12 games throughout his career and was serviceable when called upon. Guy had a pretty good year last year on a team that landed the number one overall pick.

To end this debate, you can't possibly look someone dead in the face and tell them Josh Freeman has more value to his team than Eli or Tom, because if you actually believe that, then you haven't been watching football for the past...oh, I don't know...ever, maybe.