Madden NFL 12 – Top 5 Quarterbacks

After looking at some of the lesser-attention positions, we focus on the guys who get all of the glory, and the majority of the blame when things don’t go right. Quarterback is the most pivotal position on the football field. The difference between a top-tier QB and a mediocre QB can determine whether a team is a contender or pretender. I don’t care what kind of talent you have on offense, a bad quarterback will spell doom for your team. Don’t worry, these five quarterbacks not only make their team better, but will elevate your gameplay in Madden NFL 12.

Tom Brady: 99 overall
Tom “Golden Boy” Brady has a Madden “Perfect” 99 overall this year. There is nothing this guy can do wrong, except continue to grow his hair long. I suspect that’s the only thing keeping him from 100 overall. The supermodel of QBs boasts 98 awareness, 95 throwing power, 97 accuracy, 99 stamina, 95 toughness, 98 throwing accuracy short, 96 throwing accuracy middle, and 89 throwing accuracy deep. How do you beat him? Pressure. With 58 speed and 57 acceleration, it will be difficult for him to escape pressure from the defense.

Peyton Manning: 98 overall
There’s always the argument whether or not Manning or Brady is the better quarterback. With Peyton Manning coming off surgery, EA apparently thinks Brady is the better QB this year. Peyton Manning is slightly worse then Brady in almost every category. Of course, slightly worse for Manning still means he’s still better off than the majority of quarterbacks in the league. With 94 throwing power, 96 throwing accuracy, 96 throwing accuracy short, 92 throwing accuracy middle, 86 throwing accuracy deep, and 99 awareness, don’t expect anything less than stellar numbers from Manning.

Aaron Rodgers: 98 overall
Aaron Rodgers has finally silenced the critics with his Super Bowl MVP performance. The naysayers will still try to find flaws in his game, but it’ll be hard to find them in Madden NFL 12. 79 speed and 84 acceleration will give him more mobility then the two top quarterbacks listed. 95 throwing power and 92 throwing accuracy is nothing to scoff at either, but one has to wonder where EA got off on giving him a pedestrian 88 awareness.

Philip Rivers: 96 overall
You could argue that Rivers might not deserve a spot in the top 5. The top 3 QBs listed, and even the one below him have all won a championship. The cheese stands alone. Is that how you should judge a quarterback, though? After all, football is the ultimate team sport. When it comes to individual stats, Rivers is about as good as they come. It’s hard to justify that a quarterback with a career 97.2 QB rating coming off a season of 30 touchdown passes doesn’t belong with the best of them. That’s probably the route EA took when blessing Rivers with 90 throwing power, 96 throwing accuracy, 94 awareness, and 98 toughness. What bugs me is that 94 awareness, while Rodgers has just 88 awareness. Let’s compare last year: Rivers – 13 interceptions, Rodgers – 11 interceptions. More hate on Rodgers, please?

Drew Brees: 96 overall
The Saints savior returns to Madden NFL 12 as one of the most accurate passers in the game with 99 throwing accuracy short, 92 throwing accuracy middle, and 85 throwing accuracy deep. After defying the Madden curse, Brees should be a fun QB to play as. With an 88 play-action overall, you can drive your opponents nuts.

No real surprises in this list of best quarterbacks. This list is probably the easiest for EA to determine when making the game. Do you think all of these quarterbacks deserve to be here?

Check out the top tier players at these key Madden NFL 12 positions:
RB | WR |DE | LB