Ron Jaworski: Tony Romo not a top-10 quarterback; Jay Cutler has ‘plateaued’

Former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski has been ranking all of the NFL’s starting quarterbacks this offseason in a 32-part series on ESPN. Two signal-callers who may not like their ranking are Tony Romo and Jay Cutler.

On Monday, Jaws unveiled Romo as the 15th quarterback on his list. While Romo has had better stats than most quarterbacks in the league over the last several seasons and has never recorded a passer rating below 90.5, Jaworski pointed to his tendency to make mistakes in the clutch.

“I have always liked Romo, but his play in the final regular season game of the 2012 season with the NFC East title on the line still bothers me,” Jaws explained, via The Dallas Morning News. “You just can’t make mistakes, regardless of whose fault it is.

“It was the fourth quarter interception with three-and-one-half minutes remaining and the Cowboys trailing by three. That I just can’t forget. You can’t make a throw with no definition in that particular situation, regardless of the pressure.”

As we have highlighted several times in the past, Romo’s poor play when the game is on the line repeatedly hurts the Cowboys. Statistics nerds will point to his 9,087 passing yards and 59 touchdowns over the past few seasons, but winning is all that matters.

Cutler came in at No. 14 on Jaworski’s list on Tuesday. Jaws was critical of his lack of growth since he has come into the league. Via Rotoworld:

…Jaworski believes Cutler has ‘plateaued’ and failed to get better ‘from year to year.’ Jaws left the door open for Cutler to improve under new coach Marc Trestman, and still loves his willingness to ‘pull the trigger’ versus tight man coverage. But Jaworski believes Cutler’s sometimes overly aggressive mentality has made him an oft-undisciplined player prone to ‘reckless, undisciplined plays, bad decisions, scattershot throws.’ Added Jaws, ‘Marc Trestman will coach him hard. It is now up to Jay Cutler to accept that coaching.'”

It seemed to work for Brett Favre, but it hasn’t panned out for Cutler. Most people seem to feel that Romo is ranked too low and Cutler is ranked too high. Personally, I would take Romo over Cutler even with all the crucial mistakes he has made. Neither has accomplished anything throughout his career. Flip a coin.