The recipe for a great QB: the perfect blend includes a variety of ingredients, not all of which can be measured in numbers.(My Turn)(quarterbacks)

Tell me what the prototypical NFL quarterback is. The SPORTING NEWS picked the 50 greatest quarterbacks of all time this fall, with John Unitas No. 1. In this issue, SPORTING NEWS names Tom Brady its Sportsman of the Year.

It is amazing to analyze how quarterbacks have changed. When I broke in back in 1986 as a play-by-play announcer, the position was pretty rigidly defined. It was paramount that a quarterback fit "the image": a tall pocket passer who could stand back there, go through his progressions and throw the ball accurately. Today's environment is different.

Quarterbacks are more athletic than ever. Part of that is a reaction to the complexities of today's defenses and blitz schemes. Many of your best athletes are now on defense. With the emergence of defensive players such as Jevon Kearse and Dwight Freeney, who are about 6-4, 255 and run about a 4.6 40, quarterbacks have to be pretty mobile. More and more, teams put a premium on a quarterback who can use his feet as well as his arm. I like to call it "escapability." That doesn't mean a quarterback can run only to make a big play, but it does mean a quarterback is mobile and as the play develops decides whether his best chance for success is throwing or running.

Maybe that skill gets represented in the numbers we use to judge quarterbacks, and maybe it doesn't. Peyton Manning is No. 1 in quarterback rating and is simply amazing with his reads, accuracy and quick release. It is nearly impossible to sack this prototypical pocket quarterback. Donovan McNabb is in the top handful in the ratings and does it with throwing and running. He runs to open himself up to throw the ball. He has that escapability, and his team is tops in the NFC. McNabb might have been even a better performer last year when his rating was more than 30 points lower, but he was without a receiver like Terrell Owens. ...