Saturday, July 18, 2015

Top 50 NFL Quarterbacks: #34


Tony Romo

Tony Romo is one of those guys that everybody loves to hate, and most are convinced that he is not and has never been a great NFL quarterback, but neither is true. He has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL for 9 years, and though his playoff success has been nearly nonexistent, he has still done enough to be ranked.

Romo's story is even more impressive when you consider the fact that he was not even drafted by an NFL team, and spent his first three seasons as as third string quarterback for the Cowboys, never throwing a single pass. His hard work finally paid off in 2006, when he was inserted in place of an ineffective Drew Bledsoe, and he has not given up the starting gig since.

It is hard to pinpoint which season has been his best, but a strong contender would be 2007, his first full season as a starter, in which he threw for 4211 yards and 36 touchdowns, which is still his career high. The Cowboys also finished 13-3 that season, their best record under his leadership.

He missed most of the 2010 season due to a broken clavicle, and though he rebounded statistically rather quickly, the Cowboys missed the playoffs 4 straight seasons, but in 2014 he finally got Dallas back over the hump, leading the league with a 69.9% completion rate while throwing 34 touchdowns and only 9 picks, and bringing the Cowboys a division title. He also had his first ever good playoff performance, throwing for 484 yards and 4 touchdowns over 2 games, without turning the ball over once.

While he still cannot be called a real winner, he has had a career of decent length, and has been a strong QB for nearly a decade in the era with the greatest competition at the position in history. For those reasons, he deserves inclusion on this list, but obviously can't be ranked any higher, where many of his contemporaries rank.

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