Philip Rivers Career Breakdown

Philip Rivers had a long career which places him at the edge of the hall of fame. Today we are going to look into his career more to see if he should be in. Rivers’ career can be broken into 4 parts: The Start, The Peak, The Veteran, The Exit.

The Start

Philip Rivers started his career behind Drew Brees. For two years he was Brees’ backup before he beat him out in a QB competition. The next two years after that, Rivers showed the Chargers that they would not be disappointed in the decision.

River’s first year starting was fantastic. He was easily a top 10 quarterback and nearly had an Elite level season. He followed that up with a solid season where he was a good but not great quarterback. But Rivers still cemented himself as the Chargers QB of the future when he took them to the AFC Championship game in 2007. 

The Peak

After that Philip Rivers started dominating the NFL. For the next 6 years, the Chargers could confidently say they had one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.

Philip Rivers accumulated four Elite seasons, a Great season, and an Adequate year. Outside of the unusual down year, Rivers was as consistent as they come. And while the Chargers continually flamed out in the postseason, Rivers still dominated in the regular season consistently being one of the best quarterbacks.

The Veteran

At this point Philip Rivers was one of the faces of the league, and a staple in analysts current top 10 quarterback lists. As a veteran he started using more quick passes and savvy plays instead of relying on pure athleticism as much. This stretch is his final main push for a hall of fame bid. 

While Philip Rivers was still one of the better quarterbacks in the league. He had more deviations from his usual high play. With that being said, Rivers still rebounded to have his best season in 5 years. In 2018, he had an Elite year and was the 5th best quarterback showing that the 37 year old quarterback still had something left in the tank.

The Exit

While not many people thought Philip Rivers had a long time left in the league, his last season left hope that he might be able to pull a John Elway and win a championship on the way out. Unfortunately, this was not the case, as after one down year with the Chargers, Rivers left trying to get one last shot with the Colts. 

This last season with the Colts, although slightly better as he eked out a Good season, was still far from what was hoped to be one last run. Rivers finished his career with a mountain of regular season success but only had one trip to the AFC Championship game in his second year starting.

Is Philip Rivers a Hall of Famer?

Philip Rivers has pretty distinct cases for why he should or should not go into the fall of fame. This can be broken down into what is good and what is bad about his career.

The Good

Philip Rivers was a very good quarterback for a really long time. Outside of his first two years where he only played in 2 games each because he was a backup to Drew Brees, he was very good. Rivers finished with 5 Elite seasons, 4 Great seasons, and 3 Good seasons. After half a decade as a top 5 QB and nearly a decade as a top 10 QB, Rivers has tons of regular season success. 

The Bad

Philip Rivers has a very impressive career, so the bad is really just nitpicking and used when comparing him to the other all time best quarterbacks. But the hall of fame is where we compare all the best quarterbacks, so we do need to look at it. There are only two real things holding Philip Rivers back.

One, Rivers was never truly in the conversation for being the best quarterback for a single year. He doesn’t have any All Pro level seasons, which are seasons where a quarterback is consistently in the MVP race the entire year. And two, Rivers has very little playoff success. He has only made it to the AFC Championship game once, and never went to a Super Bowl. When being compared to the greatest quarterbacks of all time, the lack of playoff success really holds him back.

Overall, based on the JTA career scoring system, Philip Rivers finishes with 49.5 Career Points. This places Rivers right on the edge of being a hall of famer. Of the 23 hall of fame quarterbacks since 1950, who played their entire career in the NFL. This would place Rivers ahead of only 2: Sonny Jurgensen and Warren Moon, both pioneers of the sport. Rivers would still be a distant 7.5 Career Points behind the 3rd lowest hall of famer; Kurt Warner. 

Verdict: Not a hall of famer. While Philip Rivers is ahead of 2 hall of famers. Jurgensen and Moon are pioneers, which makes them more outliers instead of the standard you need to reach to be in the hall of fame. That distinction still lies with Kurt Warner, and while Rivers is close to Warner’s Career Points he is still too far away to qualify. Ultimately, Philip Rivers has the regular season success but the sheer lack of playoff success keeps him on the outside looking in.