Buccaneers Rankings: How the quarterbacks in the NFC South stack up

After all of this, we must crown a winner to have the best quarterback situation in the NFC South.

Each team has something to be proud of whether they hold former MVPs on their roster, Super Bowl winners or young leaders who look like the future of the NFL.

There can only be one – or so I’m told – so let’s figure out which team it is.

4. Carolina Panthers

Cam has a lot to prove after last season and there’s not much hope coming behind him if he can’t. There are plenty of teams which would love to have the Panthers’ current quarterback problems, but none of the NFC South teams are them.

If Newton continues what started in 2016, there will be some speculation about the team moving in a different direction.

His current deal has him tied to the team until 2021 but there’s the potential for a divorce in 2019. If the team brings in a young prospect early or in the middle parts of the 2018 draft, this could all but seal Newton’s departure in just two more years.

Of course, this is all a bit premature, let’s just see how 2017 goes.

3. New Orleans Saints

Drew is great, but if he goes down is there any school of thought where Chase Daniel leads the Saints marching into NFC South dominance?

I doubt it, and while the team has certainly taken strides to take pressure off the quarterback position, the New Orleans defense isn’t quite ready to keep their guys out of a shoot-out.

If Brees goes down, then the Saints’ playoff hopes will go with him. Furthermore, it’s about time they get serious about finding a successor.

Daniel is 30, and it isn’t likely the NFL has just been missing out on his greatness for the past decade.

2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This was a lot closer than I’d like it to be, but the Buccaneers come in second here, and the reason is mainly in the backfield.

Without a reliable running game, the thought of Ryan Fitzpatrick possibly having to pass this team into contention just doesn’t sit well with me.

I like it better than I would with either the Saints or the Panthers’ backups coming in, but ultimately, there just aren’t quite enough verified weapons for me to say Fitz could come in and do just fine if Winston exits.

As long as Jameis is healthy, this offense has no boundaries and a solid running game makes the team scary-dangerous.

Without him, we’ll all nervously wait to see which Fitzpatrick we get. I think we can say though, even if we lose Winston, the season isn’t necessarily over.

1. Atlanta Falcons

Again, this was closer than I thought it would be, but the Falcons squeak-out the top billing here.

Matt Ryan comes in as the top starter in the NFC South, and even if the team needs to rely on Matt Schaub there’s enough there that we know of for Atlanta to really work around their backups weaknesses.

A solid backfield always helps, but I even expect to see Taylor Gabriel get more involved this year than he was last season.

Quick screens which turn into big yards are a backup quarterbacks best friend, and if Gabriel can do this then Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu will find even more room to get open for their team’s understudy.

There’s just too many reasons for Schaub to succeed should the need arise, so this win goes to the Falcons.

Must Read: O.J. May Not Explode Immediately

There are the rankings as I see them currently entering the 2017 season.

There’s reasons to debate each passer as the top guy in the division, so let me hear your thoughts on the matter!

Find me on twitter, in the comments below or email walkingtheplankpodcast@gmail.com with all your Buccaneers comments and questions and I’ll address your thoughts on a future podcast!