Canty will take Eli and JPP over Romo and, well, anybody. (Ryan Wilson, CBSSports.com)

Poor Tony Romo can't catch a break, even in the deadest part of the offseason. On Tuesday, we wrote that there are plenty of people who still question whether he's a legit NFL quarterback. To Giants defensive lineman Chris Canty's credit, he recognizes that Romo is one of the league's best passers. But unsurprisingly, Canty's still partial to his guy, especially in the clutch.

"Tony Romo is a terrific quarterback, can't take that away from him. Statistically he's a top five quarterback," he said in a recent radio interview (via SBNation). "Eli's ability to elevate his game and elevate the play of all the guys around him in the most crucial situations in the football game I believe is the difference. That's what makes him a championship quarterback."

Apparently, Canty was asked to compare the two QBs because he's played with both during his career. Canty also took issue with the NFL Network ranking Manning 31st on its list of Top 100 players for 2012. (Romo came in 91st. By comparison, CBSSports.com's Pete Prisco had Manning No. 15 and Romo No. 78.)

"I just don't understand that," he said. "For goodness sake, just look at the resume, look at what he's been able to do. He's an elite football player, and I think it's time people recognized that."

Our initial response to Canty's concerns: scoreboard. Media and fans can think whatever they want about Manning but the bottom line is that he's a two-time Super Bowl winner and not in the Trent Dilfer or Ben Roethlisberger-against-the-Seahawks sort of way. In 2008 and 2012, Manning played critical roles in the outcome, twice completing impossibly difficult throws.

Another of Canty's teammates has no such worries when it comes to getting the recognition he deserves. Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, whose freakish athleticism often defies explanation, is, in Canty's mind, one of a kind. In fact, he says that the Cowboys' DeMarcus Ware doesn't have anything on JPP.

"To me, it is no question in my mind," Canty said Tuesday during the same radio appearance (via NFL.com). "JPP's ability to play any position along the defensive front is what makes him tremendously special. He can play the shade, the two-technique, the three-technique ... he can do it all ... anything you want him to do along the defensive front, he can do."

So who is Pierre-Paul's equal at the position? Canty's got nothing.

"There is really nobody in the league right now that you can compare him to," he said. "The only person that kind of sticks out where you can compare him to -- and I can't believe I am saying this -- but he reminds me a lot of Reggie White. His ability to play all those different positions and to impact the football game the way he does, he is an unbelievable talent."

So unbelievable that Prisco ranked him seventh. Whether his career approaches what White accomplished is another conversation but it's reasonable to suggest that JPP is a game-changer. You know, just like Eli.

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