Favre receives criticism

In the days leading up to the start of NFL training camps around the country, many websites are ranking position units around the league and Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre is receiving a lot of criticism.

Fox Sports ranks the Packers as the NFL's 16th best quarterback unit in the NFL including backups Aaron Rodgers, Ingle Martin and Paul Thompson. However, writer Mike Tanier seems to be a little uninformed on one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history.

According to Tanier, "You know when you are over the hill: it's when your mind makes a promise that your body can't fill. Favre sees the coverage converging, thinks back to 1996, and truly believes he can rifle the ball to his receiver before the safeties arrive. Unfortunately, his release is a bit slower and his fastball a few degrees cooler, so 1990s touchdowns have become new millennium interceptions."

It's hard to gauge whether Tanier has actually watched the Packers lately. Are his opinions based purely upon conjecture?

As of 2006 it did not seem as if either Favre's release or his velocity were any slower than they had been earlier in his career. Perhaps age will catch up to him in 2007, but Favre certainly didn't have any problems with his canon arm the past couple seasons. Favre's problems seem to stem from trying to force balls to receivers while trying to make a play that isn't there.

Meanwhile, Realfootball365 releases their QB power rankings which rates the 31 best individual quarterbacks in the NFL. Favre comes in at no. 23.

Connor Byrne of Realfootball365 writes, "Favre is at the end of his rope at this point. Though No. 4 showed shades of his old greatness at time last year, he still finished with a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 18-to-18 and a below-average 72.9 rating. The 36-year-old, a veteran of 16 seasons, probably should have gone out after '06. Instead, he'll return to a Green Bay team with minimal offensive talent. It could get ugly for the future Hall of Famer."

Packer fans can take solace in that the Minnesota Vikings quarterback unit ranked no. 32 and Tarvaris Jackson ranked no. 31 in their respective articles.

Photo credit: bodogbeat.com