Shopping with quarterback, secondary stats in pro football by Ted Sevransky of The Gaming Today

The pecking order for NFL quarterbacks is well established.

Peyton Manning in Denver, Eli Manning in New York, Tom Brady in New England, Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay, Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh, Drew Brees in New Orleans and Joe Flacco in Baltimore all wear Super Bowl rings and play on perennial playoff teams lined at 8.5 wins or higher again this year.

The next QB grouping isn’t as easy to establish. There’s Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan, Matt Schaub, Tony Romo, Philip Rivers and Colin Kaepernick. I wouldn’t argue with anyone who wanted to include Matthew Stafford, Jay Cutler, Cam Newton or Andrew Luck in there. Almost all play for a playoff contender.

The very bottom: Christian Ponder in Minnesota, Brandon Weeden in Cleveland, Mark Sanchez in New York, Jake Locker in Tennessee, Blaine Gabbert or Chad Henne in Jacksonville and Kevin Kolb or EJ Manuel in Buffalo. Again, based on this year’s season win totals, all figure to be on sub .500 squads.

The relative strength or weakness of a team’s starting QB is well reflected in the betting marketplace.

We don’t have many good stats to reflect how well a defensive secondary is playing. Last year the following teams held opposing QBs to a rating below 80 for the full season: Arizona, Seattle, San Francisco, Atlanta, Green Bay, Chicago, Denver, Pittsburgh and the New York Jets. That’s certainly a more diverse grouping of teams than the ones with elite level QB’s (all playoff contenders)!

The list of teams with the very worst pass defenses last year (allowing a cumulative QB rating of 90 or higher) includes Indianapolis, Tennessee, Kansas City, Oakland, Dallas, Philadelphia, Detroit, Minnesota, Carolina, New Orleans and Tampa Bay. It’s pretty clear that we’ve found something meaningful.

The Colts and Vikings ended up rallying to earn relatively long shot playoff bids, although both lost in the first round. But the vast majority of those “ugly 11” pass defenses had the very worst records in the NFL. The six worst point spread teams last year (Cowboys, Titans, Lions, Raiders, Chiefs and Eagles) earned a spot on this list!

I’ve seen six teams having elite level secondary personnel heading into to 2013. Four made the playoffs last year.

Seattle returns all four starters, and added nickel CB Antoine Winfield in the offseason. All five of those guys have earned a pro bowl berth within the last three years.

San Francisco with the addition of first round draft choice Eric Reid can only help its secondary.

Chicago returns all four starters from last year. Both starting cornerbacks (Charles Tillman and Tim Jennings) made the Pro Bowl and the foursome in the secondary started 15 of 16 games together.

Denver is loaded with quality depth after signing Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Quentin Jammer in the offseason.

Cincinnati is expected to get last year’s No. 1 draft choice Dre Kirkpatrick back from injury, joining the likes of Leon Hall, Terence Newman, Reggie Nelson and Pacman Jones.

Kansas City is loaded in the secondary, adding Dunta Robinson and Sean Smith to a group that already had Brandon Flowers, Eric Berry and Kendrick Lewis in the mix.

My list of weaker secondaries is a notch or two longer, with 10 teams that have clear personnel issues heading into training camp.

Buffalo has two solid pieces with safety Jarius Byrd and CB Stephon Gilmore. The rest are question marks, with significant depth concerns as well.

Cleveland has a star in CB Joe Haden playing at a Pro Bowl level. Other than Haden, however, this secondary lacks playmakers.

Indianapolis allowed 6.0 yards per play last year (only New Orleans was worse), inlarge part because they couldn’t stop big pass plays downfield. Even with the additions of Greg Toler and LaRon Landry, both depth and talent are lacking.

Oakland re-made their secondary in the offseason, signing Mike Jenkins and Tracy Porter while drafting SJ Hayden with the No. 12 overall pick – a trio that are projected to be the Raiders top three cornerbacks. Still, all three must learn the new system and the safety position looks like a real mess.

Jacksonville has questions at QB and in the secondary, a very bad combination. The youngest team in the NFL will rely heavily on a bevy of rookies and second year players with limited experience to shore up their leaky pass defense.

San Diego has some star power with safety Eric Weddle, but after letting both CB starters from last year (Quinton Jammer and Antoine Cason) walk in the offseason, none of the other three secondary positions is settled. Throw in some major depth concerns and this pass defense is loaded with question marks.

Philadelphia made significant personnel changes in the secondary. Projected starting CBs Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher are both loaded with question marks, as is the safety position.

Dallas spent the 2012 offseason brining in Morris Claiborne and Brandon Carr to play man-to-man defense on the outside. After last year’s debacle, Dallas hired Cover-2 guru Monte Kiffin to coach the defense; not a good fit in my opinion. Their talent at safety looks subpar as well.

Carolina took defensive linemen with their first two draft picks, and their front seven looks solid. But the secondary looks very leaky with Captain Munnerlyn and Josh Norman as the projected starting corners.

Minnesota lost its best CB Antoine Winfield, in a cost-cutting move this offseason. Without him, they are loaded with question marks at both corner and safety in a pass happy division.

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