This post is not about who is the greatest QB ever to play the game. That debate will likely never end unless Manning can come back and win two more rings. I think if he did that it would no longer be a debate. But I do want to talk about stats. Now I am not a stats geek and do not have an educated viewpoint on advanced statistics in the NFL. But I do know that some of you do. So what I would like to ask is:

Is there a stat like WAR in baseball that applies to the NFL?

I have never heard of WAR in the NFL. For those who don't know, WAR is Wins Above Replacement. It represents the wins that player gives you above a replacement level (mediocre) player. Now the issue with WAR is that it is a counting stat and accumulates over the season so I do not know how to apply that to the NFL. Plus, every player has a value which is fine in a 162 game season, but would not work over a 16 game season.

For comparison's sake, let's say it does exist. If you look at this season and last season, it should give you a relatively simple but accurate view of Manning's worth. If this team finishes 0-16 this season after finishing 10-6 last season, Manning would be worth 10 WAR (assuming no major changes to the roster, which is fairly true). To give you an idea, the highest WAR in MLB in 2011 was Jacoby Ellsbury with 9.4, according to Fangraphs. 9.4 out of 162 games is 5.8%. 10 WAR out of 16 games for Manning would be 62.5%.

I know this is a simplistic way to look at it because of the difference in length of schedule, but like I said I am not that familiar with advanced stats in the NFL. So what is the best way to look at this? Because if you use the comparison I just did, it is clearly obvious that Manning is the most valuable player in the history of the NFL.