Philip Rivers
Philip Rivers is the next quarterback in my countdown, and his placement here is pretty interesting, because the man ranked two spots below him, Eli Manning, was traded for him on draft day in 2004. Even though Manning has had more postseason success, Rivers has been far superior in regular season success.
Rivers did not start a game in his first two seasons with San Diego, throwing a total of 30 passes while backing up Drew Brees. When Brees left as a free agent in 2006, Rivers was promoted and immediately became a strong player, leading the Chargers to a 14-2 record in his first season at the helm. They lost to New England in their first playoff game, however, wasting their best chance at a title.
He was pretty solid again the next season, leading the Chargers to another division title, and this time they won a couple playoff games, ultimately falling to the Patriots once again in the AFC title game, coming up just a game short of making the Super Bowl.
The following season was his best as a pro, as he threw for a league-leading 34 touchdowns and led the Chargers to their third straight division title, as well as an upset of Peyton Manning and the Colts in the wild card game. It was also the first time he eclipsed 4000 yards, something he has done 5 more times since.
He has also led the league in passing yards once, with 4710 in 2010, and completion percentage, at 69.5% in 2013. He has reached 4000 yards 6 times, and 30 touchdowns 4 times, while winning 4 division titles and starting every game for 9 straight seasons, which is good for the 4th-longest streak of all time, behind Favre and the Manning brothers. While he has only made it to the conference title game once in his career, he has still been so good for so long that he has earned the right to sit ahead of the man he was traded for, at least for now.
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