By: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

When I heard Jake Fromm was entering the NFL Draft I started to think about where he ranks among Georgia’s quarterbacks, which naturally led me to Phil Simms. Let me explain.

Years ago, I got into a debate with an uncle of mine about who the better quarterback was, Dan Marino or Phil Simms.

Like any reasonable fan that doesn’t root for the New York Giants, I was on the side of Marino. My uncle argued Simms was better because one, he had won a Super Bowl and that automatically placed him above any player who hadn’t- in which case please help me welcome Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson to the NFL Elite.

The other reason was because Marino yelled at his teammates and Simms didn’t. I guess that means Robert Horry was better than Michael Jordan because he was nicer? Doesn’t make sense to me, but whatever.

Anyways, it was a great reminder that people’s criteria for what makes a team or player great differs from person to person, and in some cases, doesn’t make a damn bit of sense.

If you were to poll the Georgia fanbase on where Fromm does rank among his fellow quarterbacks, I imagine the results would be all over the place.

If you put a lot of weight into statistics, then you probably have Fromm ranked towards the top. As Fromm takes his talents to the NFL, he will leave Georgia as one of the winningest quarterbacks in school history, 2nd overall in passing touchdowns, and 4th in passing yards. It’s worth noting, too, that all the quarterbacks he trails in those categories were four-year starters, as opposed to his three.

If you’re someone who puts team accomplishments ahead of individual stats, you’ve also got a good argument in favor of Fromm. Three SEC Championship games, one SEC title, and a National Championship appearance in a three span looks pretty good on a resumé and stacks up well with just about any other Georgia quarterback.

Plus, he never lost to Florida, something you must go all the way back to the days of Buck Belue and John Lastinger to find.

Where it gets tricky is for those fans who go by the eye test. Let’s pretend for a second that you are about to enter your senior year as a Georgia football player. You have no aspirations of playing in the NFL, so your answer to the question I’m about to ask won’t be swayed by who can assist you the most in your quest to make it to the league.

If you could choose one Georgia quarterback, in their prime, to lead your final college season, how many other quarterbacks would you choose before you landed on Fromm?

Off the bat I imagine Fran Tarkenton, Belue, and probably Matt Stafford would be the first three.

How about players like David Greene, Quincy Carter, Aaron Murray, Ray Goff, Lastinger; would you choose any of them to lead your squad, over Fromm?

There’s no right or wrong answer- unless you choose Joe Tereshinksi and are not somehow related to him, then you’re just wrong. (Sorry, Joe).

You could certainly dive deeper into this discussion, but personally, I think Fromm departs Athens as one of the more accomplished quarterbacks to have played at Georgia, even if he wasn’t necessarily one of the best; and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Then again, he does come across as an extremely likeable guy who didn’t yell at his teammates a lot, and we all know that’s what really matters.