FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 20th, 2019

TOM BRADY AT NO. 9 & DREW BREES AT NO. 10 ON CHRIS SIMMS’ TOP 40 QB COUNTDOWN

Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Dak Prescott and Carson Wentz Among Those Ranked #7-14 in the Simms Top 40 QB Countdown This Week Unveiled on Chris Simms Unbuttoned and Pro Football Talk Live

“At the age of 42, I think the guys that I have in front of him are capable of doing things that he is not capable of doing anymore.” – Simms on ranking Tom Brady No. 9

“He’s really to me a little bit more physically gifted version of Andrew Luck.” – Simms on Carson Wentz

Top Two QBs to be Revealed on next Thursday, June 27

STAMFORD, Conn. – June 20, 2019 – Chris Simms’ top 40 quarterback countdown reaches the Top 10 on a pair of NBC Sports’ platforms — the Chris Simms Unbuttoned podcast and on “PFT Live” – this week, with the QBs ranked 7-14.

Among this week’s rankings are Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints and Tom Brady of the New England Patriots at numbers 10 and 9, respectively. “What I would say of Brees and Brady, the system is doing every bit as much for them and maybe more than they are doing for the system,” Simms said. “I wouldn’t have said that four or five years ago.”

“It’s not a career achievement award or what I think your ceiling is going to be in two years,” Simms said of his rankings. “It’s right now going into this season here in the middle of June is how I have them ranked.”

Simms began his ranking of the top 40 NFL quarterbacks three weeks ago and will announce his top two quarterbacks in the league next Thursday, June 27.

Simms’ selections for the quarterbacks ranked 7-40 in the NFL:

7. Matt Ryan, Atlanta 24. Kyler Murray, Arizona
8. Cam Newton, Carolina 25. Joe Flacco, Denver
9. Tom Brady, New England 26. Andy Dalton, Cincinnati
10. Drew Brees, New Orleans 27. Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay
11. Carson Wentz, Philadelphia 28. Case Keenum, Washington
12. Philip Rivers, Los Angeles Chargers 29. Marcus Mariota, Tennessee
13. Dak Prescott, Dallas 30. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore
14. Matthew Stafford, Detroit 31. Jacoby Brissett, Indianapolis
15. Kirk Cousins, Minnesota 32. Josh Rosen, Miami
16. Nick Foles, Jacksonville 33. Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee
17. Baker Mayfield, Cleveland 34. Eli Manning, New York Giants
18. Derek Carr, Oakland 35. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Miami
19. Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams 36. Robert Griffin III, Baltimore
20. Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago 37. Drew Lock, Denver
21. Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 38. Dwayne Haskins, Washington
22. Sam Darnold, New York Jets 39. Colt McCoy, Washington
23. Josh Allen, Buffalo 40. Tyrod Taylor, Los Angeles Chargers

The rankings will continue next week with numbers 6 and 5 on “PFT Live” beginning Tuesday, June 25.

The following are highlights from this week’s editions of Chris Simms Unbuttoned:

No. 14: Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions

Simms: “The way he played last year, he had issues adjusting to the cultural and new style of play that the Detroit Lions have implemented there…Matt Stafford’s talent is Top Five-ish in the NFL. This is one of the great arms in the history of the NFL. It gets overshadowed because he plays in a division with the greatest arm in the history of the NFL (Aaron Rodgers)…I’ve heard Drew Brees and Tom Brady and Dan Marino all talk about Matthew Stafford’s arm because it is that special…He missed some throws last year that I’ve never seen the guy miss a throw like that. He would miss two or three every game last year which is ultimately why I have him at 14.”

No. 13: Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

Simms: “Dak Prescott changed me last year to a true believer. Early on in the year with some of his play, he showed me the ability to go above and beyond what the scheme can do for him…The size and physicality of the human being, I think that’s where it starts for me. The amount of plays where the stat book is never going to quantify, ‘Oh yeah, it was a 15-yard completion, but…nobody was open and he broke three tackles behind the line of scrimmage and then made the 15-yard completion.’…What’s so great about him is he’s an unbelievable leader, he’s tough, he can will his team to win football games…You have to lock him up. He’s selfless, franchise quarterback material. Unbelievable leader with great physical ability.”

No. 12: Philip Rivers, Los Angeles Chargers

Simms: “He’s a great quarterback. He’s done things the right way, competes, tough, fearless in the pocket. Availability, right? I mean he’s never been hurt, he’s an iron man…He’s gotten back to the Philip Rivers we saw in the beginning of his career where he’s just making unbelievable plays throughout the game and especially at the end of the game in its biggest moments…The negative is the arm, which was never special, is to me starting to lose some miles per hour…and that’s kind of where I worry about him at this stage of his career…Those lack of marquee wins or marquee moments could come back to haunt him. He’s going to be an NFL legend no matter what and I think ultimately he will get in the Hall of Fame even if he doesn’t have this playoff run.”

No. 11: Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles

Simms: “Here’s the thing with Carson Wentz and why he’s number 11. It’s really availability is why he’s number 11. The talent is Top Five talent…I’ve made the comparison many times, he’s really to me a little bit more physically gifted version of Andrew Luck…When you hear a little bit about the leadership and how the team perceives him in the offseason and of course the injury thing has to play into the rankings here…He’s right there fringe Top Five if I got to see a year or two of just, ‘Ok he played, he’s healthy’ because he is that kind of guy…I do think he’s going to have a big-time year this year.”

No. 10: Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

Simms: “We know he’s a Top 10 quarterback of all-time, certainly in that conversation. Still doing great things in the NFL…Do I think the skills are declining to a degree? Yes, I definitely do. I think we saw enough evidence of that last year and that’s why I put him at 10…This is one of the best passers in the history of football…I think his mind is still at a very high level, I don’t know if his body is following it that way along with the inability to back defenses off a little bit…When the Saints wanted to throw the ball deep down the field at the end of the game, Taysom Hill came in the game to do it…He’s still awesome, but that’s why I have him at 10…When (defenses) took away some of the systematic plays that helped out the offense…that’s where I felt like I don’t know if Drew Brees can just physically get it done and make some big plays with his athleticism and his arm anymore like he could a few years ago.”

No. 9: Tom Brady, New England Patriots

Simms: “I love Tom Brady…Really I don’t know if there’s a quarterback I respect more, I don’t know if there was a quarterback I tried to model my game after early in my career more than Tom Brady…(The Patriots) have changed the way they play. They play the game through the run first. They’re telling you, ‘Hey, Tom Brady is awesome, but I don’t think we can win consistently with him throwing it 40 and 45 times a game like we could four years ago or five years ago.’ I think they’re showing you that…Brady, unlike Drew Brees, I think his arm is still pretty top-notch and he can still make plays and throws that can change the momentum of the game and that’s really where I respect Tom Brady, but I don’t think he can do it as much as he used to. I don’t think he moves around the pocket quite as well as he used to…At the age of 42, I think the guys that I have in front of him are capable of doing things that he is not capable of doing anymore…At this point in his career, that’s what I would say of Brees and Brady, the system is doing every bit as much for them and maybe more than they are doing for the system where I wouldn’t have said that four or five years ago.”

No. 8: Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers

Simms: “You can never look at the stats and try to qualify that as that telling you the story about Cam Newton. A lot of the things Cam Newton does for a football team don’t get on the stat sheet…What he does is he makes defensive coordinators play defenses that they don’t want to play…The things he does to set up that team for success and other players on that offense for success, they all benefit because of the skillset that Cam Newton brings to the table…What he does on a game-by-game basis by stressing defenses out is as good as anybody in football…Out of these guys we’re going to talk about going further, I think there are some inconsistencies sometimes with his throwing…That takes him out of the Top Five or Top Six.”

No. 7: Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons

Simms: “When I first wrote the list down, I was like, ‘Man, I can’t put Matt Ryan in front of Brees and Brady and Cam Newton.’…Then I got into the nuts and bolts of the situation and I think the past two seasons have been Matt Ryan’s best seasons of his career. I know three years ago was the year he won the MVP and I think he’s been better the last two years than the year he won the MVP…The plays he’s made that aren’t there systematically, to me, have gone through the roof the last few years…It might not even look cool or pretty, but he makes these movements and gets out of trouble and makes these throws down the middle of the field or finds somebody as he’s about to go down consistently…You know you’re going to see some exciting things from Atlanta when he’s playing and that’s why I have him at number seven.”

To listen to the full player breakdowns on Chris Simms Unbuttoned, click here.

-NBC SPORTS-