Signaling a golden era

Down . . . Set . . . Glut!

So much for a quarterback shortage.

From Tom Brady to Peyton Manning to Drew Brees to Kurt Warner to Philip Rivers, the NFL is so loaded with capable field generals this season, you might call this a golden age of golden boys.

“There was a time not too long ago where a lot of people were asking the question, ‘Where have all the great quarterbacks gone?’ ” said Hall of Fame passer Troy Aikman, now a Fox analyst. “And I don’t hear people asking those questions anymore. When you look at the league and you look at some of the really talented signal-callers, this league right now is in good hands.”

Fans in New England would agree. They’re getting Brady back, a quarterback who led the Patriots to a 16-0 regular season and threw 50 touchdown passes in 2007 before a knee injury in the 2008 opener sidelined him for the season.

Packer backers would agree, too. Under the most challenging of circumstances, Aaron Rodgers has more than filled the shoes of Green Bay legend Brett Favre, and now must be considered among the league’s most promising rising stars. In exhibitions against Cleveland, Buffalo and Arizona this summer, Rodgers directed the starting offense to nine touchdowns and a field goal in 12 possessions.

There’s Favre, creating the biggest story of the off-season -- and, many people would argue, the most tiresome -- doing the retirement rumba before finally resuming his career with Minnesota.

Manning, whose younger brother Eli just signed a blockbuster deal with the New York Giants, is coming off a spectacular season for Indianapolis, winning his third most-valuable-player award. New Orleans’ Drew Brees threw for 5,069 yards in 2008, joining Dan Marino as the only player to pass for more than 5,000 in a season.

In Atlanta last season, rookie Matt Ryan earned the nickname “Matty Ice” and melted the hardened pattern that first-year quarterbacks are almost always overmatched by the task. Meanwhile, in Baltimore, the Ravens’ Joe Flacco became the first rookie quarterback to win two postseason games -- even though he was most often a caretaker for a defense-minded team.

Kurt Warner emerged as the most revered (almost) senior citizen in Arizona, leading the Cardinals to their first Super Bowl despite the league’s last-ranked running game. And Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger one-upped him by directing a dramatic, last-minute touchdown drive in Super Bowl XLIII, winning one for the other thumb for the Steelers.

Roethlisberger and his team will be on display in the opener Sept. 10 against Tennessee, and things look good so far for the Pittsburgh quarterback. He shredded Buffalo’s defense in his most recent exhibition, completing 15 of 19 passes.

“When you got it, you got it,” teammate Willie Colon told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “He’s got it.”

Chad Pennington had it in Miami last season, when the Dolphins became the first franchise to make the playoffs after winning only one game the previous season. Does he have it again? Coach Tony Sparano sure thinks he does, this week proclaiming Pennington “regular-season ready” and saying his arm strength has improved this off-season.

“The throw he made the other night, I bet you none of you guys would have bet on that,” Sparano told reporters, referring to a 54-yard completion to rookie Brian Hartline against Tampa Bay.

“Pretty good throw he made in the game the other night. Probably a lot of oohs and aahs.”

As arm strength goes, few quarterbacks can match the firepower of Chicago’s Jay Cutler, acquired in a trade with Denver. Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway, who got a good look at Cutler when he was with the Broncos, calls him “the most athletically gifted” quarterback in the NFL.

Can’t talk about superior arm strength without also mentioning Carson Palmer, who Cincinnati said has recovered enough from a sprained ankle to start the season opener against Denver.

No one questions the athletic gifts of Philadelphia’s Michael Vick, although many people question whether he belongs in the league. Regardless, he’s back after serving 20 months of a federal sentence for his role in a dogfighting ring, and will be fully reinstated by Commissioner Roger Goodell sometime within the first five weeks of the season.

Exactly what Vick’s role will be isn’t clear, although he’s scheduled to start the second half of tonight’s exhibition finale at the New York Jets. Eagles starter Donovan McNabb stirred up a bit of a fuss after the last exhibition when he dismissively referred to Vick’s role as a gimmick.

McNabb later brushed off that dust-up, saying, “I know with everything that’s going on right now people are searching to try and find something,” McNabb told reporters. “With the whole situation, the whole issue, it’s blown way out of proportion, and we’ve just all moved on.”

Moving on and moving forward is what Tony Romo hopes to do in Dallas, where he’s hoping to collect his first playoff victory, and what the very talented Matt Hasselbeck wants in Seattle, where he spent last season nursing one injury after another.

Down the West Coast in San Diego, Rivers is angling to finally get the Chargers back to the Super Bowl after leading them to the AFC championship game in 2007 and divisional round last season. He had a 105.5 passer rating last season, the only quarterback in triple digits.

Rivers has been around. But two quarterbacks shouldering big expectations this season haven’t even taken a snap in a real NFL game: Detroit’s Matthew Stafford and the New York Jets’ Mark Sanchez, chosen first and fifth, respectively, in last spring’s draft. Both have shown a lot of promise this summer.

Which is to say, in a sea of good quarterbacks, they’ve simply blended into the background.

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sam.farmer@latimes.com

twitter.com/latimesfarmer

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Passing leaders

Passing leaders for 2008 season by quarterback rating:

*--* Player Team Yards Yds/G TD Int Rate Philip Rivers San Diego 4,009 250.6 34 11 105.5 Chad Pennington Miami 3,653 228.3 19 7 97.4 Kurt Warner Arizona 4,583 286.4 30 14 96.9 Drew Brees New Orleans 5,069 316.8 34 17 96.2 Peyton Manning Indianapolis 4,002 250.1 27 12 95.0 Aaron Rodgers Green Bay 4,038 252.4 28 13 93.8 Matt Schaub Houston 3,043 276.6 15 10 92.7 Tony Romo Dallas 3,448 265.2 26 14 91.4 Jeff Garcia Tampa Bay 2,712 226.0 12 6 90.2 Matt Cassel New England 3,693 230.8 21 11 89.4 Matt Ryan Atlanta 3,440 215.0 16 11 87.7 Shaun Hill San Francisco 2,046 227.3 13 8 87.5 Seneca Wallace Seattle 1,532 153.2 11 3 87.0 Eli Manning N.Y. Giants 3,238 202.4 21 10 86.4 Donovan McNabb Philadelphia 3,916 244.8 23 11 86.4 Jay Cutler Denver 4,526 282.9 25 18 86.0 Trent Edwards Buffalo 2,699 192.8 11 10 85.4 Jake Delhomme Carolina 3,288 205.5 15 12 84.7 Jason Campbell Washington 3,245 202.8 13 6 84.3 David Garrard Jacksonville 3,620 226.2 15 13 81.7 Brett Favre N.Y. Jets 3,472 217.0 22 22 81.0 Joe Flacco Baltimore 2,971 185.7 14 12 80.3 Kerry Collins Tennessee 2,676 167.2 12 7 80.2 Ben Roethlisberger Pittsburgh 3,301 206.3 17 15 80.1 Kyle Orton Chicago 2,972 198.1 18 12 79.6 JaMarcus Russell Oakland 2,423 161.5 13 8 77.1 Tyler Thigpen Kansas City 2,608 186.3 18 12 76.0 Gus Frerotte Minnesota 2,157 196.1 12 15 73.7 Dan Orlovsky Detroit 1,616 161.6 8 8 72.6 Marc Bulger St. Louis 2,720 181.3 11 13 71.4 Ryan Fitzpatrick Cincinnati 1,905 146.5 8 9 70.0 Derek Anderson Cleveland 1,615 161.5 9 8 66.5 *--*