Ask the Expert: Jerry Angelo

Jerry Angelo is a former personnel director for the Bucs and former general manager of the Bears. Each week, Angelo answers your questions regarding the NFL. Send your questions to GarySheltonsports@gmail.com with "ask the expert'' in the subject line. The most interesting questions will be selected.

Thursday, 4 a.m.

LeBron James says that Tom Brady shouldn’t be in the conversation for the greatest of all time because he doesn’t play defense. On the other hand, Michael Phelps doesn’t ride a bicycle. Can’t you be good enough at what you do without hearing about what you don’t?

I don’t understand what LeBron is trying to say. No one in the NFL plays both ways full time. Regardless of what player you like, as the best ever in football, he either played offense or defense, not both. So in LeBron's mind all professional football players are excluded from the best ever athlete category. Maybe he’s got a point.

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Adrian Peterson thinks he can play five more years. Drew Brees has talked about being around that long. Which one of them is the last of the two standing?

In my opinion, of the two, it will be Brees. The physical demands of his position are less than of a running back. No question any player is one "hit" away from a career ending injury. That said, Peterson will take more “hits” than Brees.

In terms of who can maintain his level of excellence, again I would go with Brees. They both are slowing down, but if Peterson loses anything in quickness or speed there are a dozen guys who can replace him. It's not the case with a top quarterback.

The Ravens didn’t waste any time in signing Jeremy Maclin, but Maclin’s fall off last season was steep. Does he have enough left?

I didn’t study Maclin, but I think his contract had a lot to do with the reason the Chiefs released him. The Chiefs have other play makers on offense they can feature in lieu of Maclin.

I do believe he has something left and in the case of the Ravens they are less talented on the offensive side of the ball. So, it makes sense for them and I’m sure they didn’t have to pay an absorbent amount of money, as did the Chiefs to sign hm.

In presenting their 10 must underrated quarterbacks of all time, TheBigLead.com has Ken Anderson over John Brodie. Were both of them better than time has remembered them?

Both players were very good. I personally liked Brodie. He was one of the better quarterbacks during his era.

Anderson was smart, made good decisions and was accurate with the football. But he was more a product of the system and great coaching. Anybody who quarterbacked the Bengals during those years was pretty successful in my recollection.

On the other hand, Vinny Testaverde was third on the list. I suspect it was because he played for so long, but Vinny was never considered a top quarterback in any year in which he played. So was he underrated … or overexposed?

Vinny is an interesting evaluation. He had more talent than most any quarterback, but he was a managed quarterback. A guy you could win with, but not because of. I liked Vinny, he was better than a Band-aid, but no cure for any ailment.

We did the NFC South last week. But how would you rank the quarterbacks of the NFC East: Eli Manning, Dak Prescott, Kirk Cousins and Carson Wendt?

In this group, I’m going with Wendt. He played surprising well as a rookie and now he has a year under his belt and a lot of new and talented weapons to throw to. I feel he’s going to take a big step and distance himself from the guys you mentioned.

Ranking the NFL coaches, Bleacher Report puts Bill Belichick over Vince Lombardi? Has Belichick gone to the top of this list yet? And why is Chuck Noll only eighth (behind Bill Parcells)?

Belichick is at the top. It's why we track wins and losses. I would take Parcells over Noll as well.

Parcells won two Super bowls with different quarterbacks. Turned around two other franchises (Patriots and Jets) and won most of his games during the era of free agency.

Noll coached one of the greatest teams ever assembled. There was no free agency. He kept his team intact throughout their careers (and his). He drove a Cadillac for most of his entire career. Parcells drove a Cadillac, but also a Ford and Chevy.

Everyone under the sun ranks the Patriots as the NFL’s favorite this year. But in your mind, what are the three next favorites in line?

The next favorites are still to be determined. A lot went on with most all the teams in the league. So will have to wait and see whose decisions worked out for the best. The Chiefs, Falcons and Cowboys all look pretty good again on paper.

We started this game last week. I name a college, and you tell me your favorite player from it: Let’s go with Florida, where the players include a) Emmitt Smith; b) Wilber Marshall; c) Jack Youngblood; d) Tim Tebow or e) Cris Collinsworth.

It's a no-brainer in my mind: Tebow. He was one of the greatest college players ever. In most every game he played, he was the best player, not only for the Gators, but on the field.