Whenever a team has a new quarterback in charge, it will change the way an entire team plays at times. It only makes sense, seeing as a quarterback is touching the ball on almost every single offensive play a team runs throughout the course of a season. In the offseason, nine teams were forced to make a decision at the position. Some teams acquired a big name free agent, while others simply won a quarterback competition. Of the nine, which quarterbacks have risen to the occasion, and which have fallen flat on their face? Let's take a look, starting with the quarterback with the largest impact, and ending with the one having the least impact.

1. Drew Brees - New Orleans Saints - Four weeks into the season, it's clear that Drew Brees was the best quarterback acquisition in the league this offseason. Brees was able to revive the San Diego Chargers a couple of years ago, and he's doing the exact same thing with a Saints team that went 3-13 a season ago. The Saints still find themselves on top of the NFC South with a record of 3-1, and the offense is ranked 7th overall in the league. Reggie Bush has been a help in the offense somewhat, but Brees has made more of an impact with seventh-round rookie receiver/tight end Marques Colston. On the season, Brees is 90-of-137 for 1063 yards passing and four touchdowns. Although the Panthers expect to make a late surge, Brees is in line to lead the Saints to a possible playoff berth.

2. Steve McNair - Baltimore Ravens - Although you wouldn't be able to tell it from his stats, Steve McNair is the reason the Ravens are 4-0 right now, instead of 2-2. He didn't pick up the two extra wins because he put up MVP-like numbers, but because of the clutch situations he has delivered so far. His turnovers do not come when the game is on the line. He has already led two game-winning drives; one against the Browns, and the other against the Chargers. In both of those games, he would throw the ball while taking an enormous hit at the same time, and still complete the play for positive yardage. Kyle Boller never possessed those skills during his tenure as the Ravens starter, so you'd have to imagine the Ravens would not have been able to come back under his leadership.

3. Chad Pennington - New York Jets - Chad Pennington was with the Jets last year, but his status was uncertain due to his history of shoulder problems. Patrick Ramsey was brought in to the team during the offseason to compete with Pennington, forcing him to make sure he was back to his old self. Pennington has a quarterback rating of 102.3 after four games, including several stunning performances by the offensive unit that no one expected. He has almost defeated the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts, two of the AFC's elite teams. Pennington is back, and even though the Jets need a lot of luck to find a playoff spot, they are surprisingly in the hunt.

4. Phillip Rivers - San Diego Chargers - The Chargers couldn't take advantage of a lead over the Ravens the other day, but Phillip Rivers has been manageably well against below average competition. When his test against the Ravens came, he showed some inexperience, but didn't do anything to put his team out of the game. The decision to pass on Drew Brees may have hindered their chances at making the playoffs a little, but it certainly did not take them out of anything. The Chargers are strong in numerous areas, and if Rivers is able to continue his safe gameplay until he develops a firm grasp of the system, it'll be a nice year of experience for the young quarterback.

5. J.P. Losman - Buffalo Bills - J.P. Losman was in a three-way battle with Kelly Holcomb and Craig Nall, and was able to emerge victorious. Like Pennington, Losman has led the Bills offense to a surprising start, right in the thick of the early season playoff race already. Although it's only been four weeks, Losman's completion percentage is about 15 percent higher than it was a year ago, and he's only thrown one interception. He has been able to spread the ball around evenly to Lee Evans, Roscoe Parrish, Peerless Price, and Josh Reed, but the solid running attack from Willis McGahee hasn't hurt. It'll be tough for Losman to maintain what he has done so far out of all the quarterbacks, but if he keeps it up, the Bills definitely made the right choice in their competition.

6. Jon Kitna - Detroit Lions - Despite Jon Kitna finally getting the offense moving in the right direction the past couple of weeks, he finds his team at 0-4 and at the bottom of the NFC North. He has been an upgrade to Joey Harrington, but it's tough to put a win on the board with a slim group of receivers to throw to and a couple of poor defensive showings. Kitna's mistakes have been off and on, but unfortunately, it looks like Kitna will be on the losing side of a shootout for most of the season. He may not be their long-term answer, but he was still the right choice for this season.

7. Daunte Culpepper - Miami Dolphins - Although Daunte Culpepper isn't listed as the worst quarterback acquisition this season on this list, he is definitely the most underachieving. The Dolphins were the hottest team in football last year to end the season, but were usually stuck with veteran Gus Frerotte at quarterback. Culpepper was brought in after the worst season of his career with the Minnesota Vikings that included a season ending injury. He has yet to look like himself with Miami, only managing two touchdowns in four games. His mobility isn't the game either, as he has only run the ball ten times for twenty yards. Every single game has followed the same formula - no offense throughout the game, while the defense keeps them in the game. Then, Culpepper makes a late attempt and comes close, but fails to get the win. The Dolphins need to allow Culpepper to be more aggressive, even if it means risking a turnover. Right now, they're losing with what he's doing now, and it's not like you want to turn to the backup either - Joey Harrington. For those of you that don't know, I absolutely hated Joey Harrington with the Detroit Lions.

8. Kerry Collins - Tennessee Titans - This move made absolutely no sense, considering the team had Billy Volek and Vince Young on their roster. Collins became the team's starter no less, despite only having a week or two to prepare for the regular season. He was turnover machine, throwing one touchdown and six interceptions. He didn't fit right into the offensive system at all, and the team would've been better off saving themselves the embarrassment and simply starting Young in the first place.

9. Aaron Brooks - Oakland Raiders - Why did the Raiders pass on a quarterback in the first round of the draft? Kerry Collins was not that good in their system last year due to his costly turnovers, so instead they picked up a quarterback that has even more turnovers: Aaron Brooks. Sure enough, during his one and "part of a second" games, Brooks was 6-of-14 for 68 yards with two lost fumbles, as well as being sacked seven times. He left the second game due to an injury, giving way to a quarterback playing for the first time in Andrew Walter. We may be a little too harsh on Brooks since he's only played on one "true" game, but with the state that the Raiders are in right now, there's not much he can do when he does get healthy.

Someone like Rex Grossman could've had a shot at being included in this list, due to his small battle with Brian Griese. However, Lovie Smith never made indication that he'd be losing his job, so it wouldn't have made much sense to include him. If I had, Grossman would've been beyond first place. Dating back to the beginning of this column, I stated that a quarterback has a lot to do with the overall performance of a team. If you scan down the list, you'll see what I mean. One player can have a lot of impact on a team, but is that always the case? Maybe it's the team that makes the quarterback. Would Aaron Brooks have led his former team to a 3-1 start? Would Chad Pennington have been able to work with nothing on the Raiders, and at least make them competitive? Send your thoughts using the form below, and your comments will be featured in my next Q&A session.