ESPN NFL

Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando

Once-and-future debate opponent Paul Kuharsky and I agree on this: Drag-and-drop ranking systems are fun. The latest one on ESPN.com lets you organize and rank NFL quarterbacks.

Twenty quarterbacks were available for ranking. Knee rehabilitations have become routine enough for me to trust that Tom Brady will likely return at a high level. Matt Hasselbeck (back) and Carson Palmer (elbow) are coming back from injuries for which neither underwent surgery. That makes the rehabilitation a little less predictable in my medically uninformed view.

Jay Cutler also remains a bit of an enigma. Great talent, unspectacular results so far. And he certainly didn't score points for his handling of the offseason so far.

I ranked the quarterbacks this way, trying to balance recent injuries, potential and career achievement:

1. Peyton Manning. He's healthier heading into this season. That should help.

2. Tom Brady. More than one year will have passed between regular-season starts, enough time for Brady to bounce back.

3. Drew Brees. Always seems to be in command.

4. Kurt Warner. Uncannily accurate when he's on.

5. Ben Roethlisberger. Has taken as many sacks over the last three seasons -- 139 -- as Brees has taken during his NFL career. But he wins.

6. Philip Rivers. Love his fearless attitude.

7. Carson Palmer. Great arm. With a little help and renewed health, he could rank among the top three.

8. Donovan McNabb. Resilient. Started 16 games last season for first time since 2003.

9. Eli Manning. Durable and more effective than impressive, at least to me.

10. Tony Romo. Career seems to be in holding pattern pending playoff success.

11. Jay Cutler. Has the talent to rank among the top five. Just has to do it.

12. Jake Delhomme. Hard to shake recent playoff debacle from my memory.

13. Aaron Rodgers. Answered quite a few questions last season and will move up this list as he gets more seasoning.

14. Matt Ryan. Appears ready to charge up this list.

15. Matt Hasselbeck. Has had two down seasons in the last three years, missing 13 games to injury. Pivotal year ahead.

16. David Garrard. What happened last season?

17. Matt Schaub. Has never started more than 11 games in a season.

18. Matt Cassel. Life gets tougher without the Pats' supporting cast.

19. Trent Edwards. Has the potential to move up the list after completing 65.5 percent of his passes last season.

20. Kyle Orton. Showed improvement in 2008.

Note: The ranker did not include Marc Bulger, Alex Smith or Shaun Hill. I would put Hill somewhere between 15 and 20, probably. Same for Bulger, at least until he starts to turn around his career. Smith hasn't played enough recently to factor into the discussion yet.