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Top 30 QBs of All-Time

Posted on 2/25/21 at 7:51 am
Posted by PetermanFanClub
Baton Rouge
Member since Jun 2008
376 posts
Posted on 2/25/21 at 7:51 am
I'm an NFL history nut. Grew up on NFL Films. I used 18 different measures/stats to try and objectively rank the greatest QBs of all time. Admittedly, the weight given to each of the 18 data points is subjective. Here is the outcome of a lot of work:

30 Greatest QBs of All-Time
1. Tom Brady
2. Peyton Manning
3. Otto Graham
4. Johnny Unitas
5. Joe Montana
6. Brett Favre
7. Drew Brees
8. Dan Marino
9. Aaron Rodgers
10. Steve Young
11. Sammy Baugh
12. John Elway
13. Bart Starr
14. Y.A. Tittle
15. Len Dawson
16. Fran Tarkenton
17. Norm Van Brocklin
18. Dan Fouts
19. Bobby Layne
20. Roger Staubach
21. Sid Luckman
22. Bob Griese
23. Sonny Jurgensen
24. Kurt Warner
25. Ben Roethlisberger
26. Russell Wilson
27. Terry Bradshaw
28. Jim Kelly
29. Joe Namath
30. Warren Moon

BTW, Patrick Mahomes comes in at #31 after only 3 amazing seasons. Nearly 200 QBs were ranked in all.
Posted by spiderman
Member since Jan 2004
1354 posts
Posted on 2/25/21 at 7:56 am to
Manning at 2 and Graham at 3 ahead of Montana at 5? And Elway at 12 behind Marino? GTFO.
This post was edited on 2/25/21 at 8:01 am
Posted by PetermanFanClub
Baton Rouge
Member since Jun 2008
376 posts
Posted on 2/25/21 at 8:09 am to
Manning over Montana comes down to more quality seasons for Manning, plus more MVPs, All-Pros, Pro Bowls, 4th quarter comebacks and > passer rating.

Marino over Elway is due mainly to Marion's All-Pro selections (way more than Elway) and his consistently higher passer rating. Elway finished the season with a top 10 passer rating only 5 times.
Posted by ragincajun03
Member since Nov 2007
27350 posts
Posted on 2/25/21 at 8:11 am to
Definitely good group of 30. Not sure I can find anything wrong with that. And I'd agree that while Mahomes appears to be a shoe-in for that list, being just outside is how I'd personally have him at this time until another season or two at his current level. Being able to play at a high level for 6+ seasons has to be a factor.

I'd probably rank Staubach higher, being he was a trend-setter as well at the position. I like the inclusion of Len Dawson in that Top 15ish. I feel like alot of people wouldn't even have him in their Top 25, and what he did in that era as far as efficiency can't be ignored.

I guess if I were to nit-pick (keep in mind, not using a data point spreadsheet or whatnot like you did, just knowing stats, performance in leading their teams and keeping in mind eras in which they played):

Marino over Favre
Rodgers over Brees
Staubach at least #11 behind Young, maybe in Top 10, though I'd have to decide who to kick out of Top 10
Bradshaw a bit higher
I'd kick Griese, Jurgensen, Namath or Big Ben out of the Top 30 in favor of Kenny Anderson.

But again, overall, I like it. Nice work.
This post was edited on 2/25/21 at 8:13 am
Posted by 21JumpStreet
Member since Jul 2012
14826 posts
Posted on 2/25/21 at 8:15 am to
Mahomes da goat.
Posted by PetermanFanClub
Baton Rouge
Member since Jun 2008
376 posts
Posted on 2/25/21 at 8:21 am to
Graham surprised me too. He played only 10 seasons and made it to the championship game every year. He won the championship in 7 of those 10 seasons (tied with Tom Brady for championships). Although he played from 1946-55, his career passer rating is amazing (as you might suspect modern players dominate this stat with their high % shorter passing game). He tops Elway by 7 pts in career passer rating! His other accolades (All-Pros and MVPs) also leave Elway in the dust.
Posted by PetermanFanClub
Baton Rouge
Member since Jun 2008
376 posts
Posted on 2/25/21 at 8:39 am to
rajincajun03,
I agree with a lot of your comments.
Marion was so much fun to watch.
My rankings surely give more weight to longevity. That's why Favre and Brees are so high. I'd argue that Brees had ~15 really good seasons to Rodger's ~10. But, Rodgers is on pace to pass Brees.
The QBs of the 70s didn't fare too well. Staubach and Bradshaw are much lower than I expected (and I am a huge Bradshaw fan). Statistically he wasn't that strong. But he showed up in the playoffs and Super Bowls. I think Staubach gets a lot of love for being the QB of America's Team and a world class American. His surprising lack of awards and relatively short career sunk him on the list.
As for Jergensen, Vince Lombardi called him perhaps the greatest QB ever. He also played for some bad teams.
Posted by spiderman
Member since Jan 2004
1354 posts
Posted on 2/25/21 at 8:49 am to
quote:

Graham surprised me too. He played only 10 seasons and made it to the championship game every year. He won the championship in 7 of those 10 seasons (tied with Tom Brady for championships).
When Graham played the NFL only had 12 teams, 6 per division. Way easier to make the title game. Compare careers and Montana has better numbers than Graham across the board. More career yards, TDs, higher completion % and lower interception ratio. If you compare their per game stats, since Graham only played 10 years, Montana is also better than Graham in every category: completions, completion %, yards, TDs, interceptions. Graham over Montana is laughable. His 7 championships in a 12 team league cannot be given that much weight to push him over Montana and others with way better stats. Otherwise Terry Bradshaw should be much higher bc of his championships.

LINK
Posted by PetermanFanClub
Baton Rouge
Member since Jun 2008
376 posts
Posted on 2/25/21 at 8:49 am to
Also, I love your Kenny Anderson mention. He is the best QB not in the Hall of Fame. I think he is deserving.
Posted by Alyosha
Member since Nov 2020
9673 posts
Posted on 2/25/21 at 8:52 am to
7. Drew Brees
8. Dan Marino


The jokes write themselves
Posted by PetermanFanClub
Baton Rouge
Member since Jun 2008
376 posts
Posted on 2/25/21 at 8:57 am to
All good points spiderman. Hard to compare QBs that played 40 years apart. Graham was among the first modern passers. They threw a lot less and they threw the ball downfield much more than today's passers. His avg completion was over 16 yds, compared to Montana's 11.9 yds. It wasn't the championships that put Graham over Montana, it was his huge collection of MVPs and All-Pros.
Posted by VADawg
Wherever
Member since Nov 2011
47661 posts
Posted on 2/25/21 at 9:02 am to
Unpopular opinion here, but I think Favre is one of the most overrated players in the history of the sport. He made a lot of really exciting plays but he made some really damn boneheaded decisions at the worst possible times. His 6 INT masterpiece against the Rams in 2001 and the horrendous, indefensible decision to throw across his body costing Minnesota the 2009 NFCCG are two of the worst playoff moments for any QB in the last 25 years. The Packers got better at QB when they replaced him with Rodgers.

I'll give Favre a bit of a pass for that horrible throw in the 2007 NFCCG overtime because he was 38 years old and the wind chill was around -20 that night, but that was an awful throw too.
Posted by PetermanFanClub
Baton Rouge
Member since Jun 2008
376 posts
Posted on 2/25/21 at 9:17 am to
I'd caution against using passing yards as a measure of greatness. If it is, that means the likes of Vinny Testaverde, Drew Bledsoe, Carson Palmer, Joe Flacco, Dave Krieg and Kerry Collins are all-time greats. They were good, but not in the Top 50 of greats.
Posted by tankyank13
NOLA
Member since Nov 2012
8182 posts
Posted on 2/25/21 at 9:22 am to
quote:

Elway at 12 behind Marino? GTFO.




Elway was no Marino. In Elway's first 10 seasons he only had 20 or more touchdowns twice.
Marino was the greatest pocket passer of all-time. Impossible to sack, even while being a statue.
Marino was only sacked 270 times while attempting 8400 passes. To compare, Elway was sacked 516 times with 7250 attempts.

This post was edited on 2/25/21 at 9:30 am
Posted by PetermanFanClub
Baton Rouge
Member since Jun 2008
376 posts
Posted on 2/25/21 at 9:32 am to
nice research tankyank13
Posted by SportsGuyNOLA
New Orleans, LA
Member since May 2014
20733 posts
Posted on 2/25/21 at 9:40 am to
This is a decent list.

1 and 2 are right.

I’d put Unitas 3.

It’s really difficult to decide where Graham should go because he played so long ago.
Posted by ThePTExperience1969
Baton Rouge, LA
Member since Apr 2016
13360 posts
Posted on 2/25/21 at 9:40 am to
Montana’s 1, Brady’s 2 and the field follows, that’s it and I’m sticking with it those two cut from a different cloth, I picked Montana over Brady bc more athletic than Brady in terms of ability to run. Wild-card: I pick Staubach 3, you just knew he was gonna get you at some point late in the game no matter how much the Cowboys trailed, the ultimate crowd-killer. Unitas at 4.
This post was edited on 2/25/21 at 9:42 am
Posted by RedPants
GA
Member since Jan 2013
5868 posts
Posted on 2/25/21 at 9:41 am to
The only list Namath belongs on is most overrated player of all time. The man had more career interceptions than touchdown passes.
Posted by baytiger11
Member since Jul 2020
2258 posts
Posted on 2/25/21 at 9:42 am to
quote:

28. Jim Kelly


Must be heavily weighted toward super bowls. that 0-4 dragging him down
Posted by LSUlefty
Youngsville, LA
Member since Dec 2007
28224 posts
Posted on 2/25/21 at 9:42 am to
Elway needs to be higher
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