Who doesn’t love a good quarterback legacy debate? Following a 2015 season that saw passing numbers rise to an all-time high – and a year capped by Peyton Manning winning his second Super Bowl title and then metaphorically sailing off into the sunset, it seems like a good time to rank my top 100 quarterbacks to ever play the game.
What I Looked At to Compile My Rankings:
In compiling my rankings, I focused on the major passing statistics – completion percentage, yards per attempt, touchdown-to-interception ratio, and passer rating – to gauge a quarterback’s effectiveness compared to his peers. But I also looked at some of the less notable ones, such as adjusted net passing yards per pass attempt (ANY/A – my personal favorite), sack percentage, and rushing numbers. And there’s no way to get around the ‘rings’ argument; while I didn’t focus solely on the number of championships a quarterback obtained, his role in his team’s performance – particularly in the postseason, when the stakes are highest – was factored in. After all, it’s the most important position in sports, and how far a team advances in the postseason is frequently a reflection on how the quarterback performs.
I looked at how many times a quarterback was viewed as dominant – Pro Bowl selections, All-Pro nominations, MVP awards, as well as season’s leading the league in statistical categories. Being ‘good’ typically only gets a team so far; it’s the teams with elite quarterbacks that have the best chance of hoisting the Lombardi trophy.
I also looked at a quarterback’s supporting cast, notably his rushing attack, the receivers he was given, the quality of his offensive line, and the caliber of his defense. Was he a one-man team or just a caretaker who was along for the ride? You’d be amazed at what a top-5 defense or rushing attack can do for a quarterback. Likewise, there’s a lot of pressure on a quarterback who has to throw the ball 40-50 times per game to overcome his defense’s struggles and running game ineptitude.
Measuring quarterbacks across eras is a near-impossible task – how do you compare Sammy Baugh’s league-leading 1,367 yards and 12 touchdown passes in 1940 to Drew Brees or Peyton Manning’s totals?, but that’s part of the fun. It requires an attempt to view all eras as equal, even the time period when throwing the ball forward was considered too dangerous and risky to be much more than a passing fad.
This is not solely a stathead list, but let’s be honest: A quarterback can best be measured by the statistics he puts up on the field of play. Having a cannon arm and an amazing ability to run with the ball is terrific, but can it translate to results during a game?
There’s no minimum season requirement to make this list, but no matter how good a quarterback was (sorry, Greg Cook or Robert Griffin III), one season of quality play isn’t going to be enough. I looked for signal-callers who were able to sustain excellence over a large number of years, and a quarterback’s ability to avoid injury and stay on the field was a major factor in my rankings. I also did not look at other leagues that weren’t the NFL – USFL or AAFC, specifically – and I did not count old-timers like Benny Friedman, for whom there are no statistics. I’m sure Friedman was a great quarterback, as evidenced by the fact that he’s in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but I have no way of knowing how to rank him.
I broke this article series into four parts: Part I will cover quarterbacks 100-51, Part II will cover quarterbacks 50-21, Part III will highlight quarterbacks 20-11, and Part IV will cover the 10 best quarterbacks of all-time.
Side note: I didn’t go by the traditional rankings. Ask most experts who the greatest QB of all-time was, and they’ll tell you Joe Montana. That may very well be the case, but I wanted to see if I reached the same conclusion after some in-depth analysis. There are some quarterbacks on my list who differ significantly from the ‘generally accepted quarterback rankings’, but there are also those that fall right in line with everyone else’s views. Check it out and see for yourself.
Click here to read Part I (#100-51). Click here to read Part II (#50-21).
The Rankings (#20-11):
20. Sonny Jurgensen (1957-1974)
The pre-Super Bowl era quarterbacks tend to be overlooked, but Sonny Jurgensen is good enough that he’s worth remembering.
Jurgensen began his tenure as the Philadelphia Eagles’ starting quarterback with the difficult task of replacing 1960 league MVP Norm Van Brocklin. To say Jurgensen did ok for himself is an understatement – he led the league in completions, passing yards, and passing touchdowns, in fact, tying Johnny Unitas’ single-season record with 32. Jurgensen proceeded to lead the NFL in passing yards five times in his career, an achievement that has only ever been done by Dan Marino and Drew Brees.
Jurgensen also led the league in completions four times and touchdown passes twice, and he was a five-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro. In fact, he’s one of just four quarterbacks to make First-Team All-Pro with two different franchises – the others are Peyton Manning, Y.A. Tittle, and Earl Morrall. The biggest knock against Jurgensen is his lack of postseason success; he qualified for the playoffs just one time and failed to throw a single touchdown pass in the loss, and that’s a legitimate reason he’s not higher in the top 20 rankings.
19. John Elway (1983-1998)
Many who watched John Elway play swear that he’s the best quarterback ever. His cannon arm, prototypical quarterback build, and ability to make plays with his legs led to his selection as the first overall pick in the 1983 NFL draft; he ended up starting 16 seasons for Denver and compiling over 50,000 passing yards and 300 touchdowns. While I think Elway is a deserved Hall of Famer, I think he’s typically rated too high on these lists.
Elway didn’t play like a Hall of Famer early on. Of the 14 qualifying quarterbacks from 1983-1992 (min. 2,500 passing attempts), Elway ranked dead-last in completion percentage, passer rating, and adjusted yards per attempt, and his career TD:INT ratio stood at just 158:157. In fact, he never even finished in the top 10 in the league in passer rating for a single season during that time. There were three Super Bowl appearances, but all ended in horrific losses, with Elway leading the Broncos to just 40 total points in the games, and throwing two touchdown passes to seven interceptions.
After longtime head coach Dan Reeves was fired, Elway responded with his best year yet (1993) under Wade Phillips. It wasn’t until Mike Shanahan featured a run-first offense with Terrell Davis that Elway and the Broncos won consecutive Super Bowls, and Elway posted his best statistical numbers.
Still, Elway’s reputation as a premier postseason quarterback is a far cry from the truth; while there was The Drive, The Helicopter, and two straight titles to end his career, he never really had a good Super Bowl performance and holds the career Super Bowl record with eight interceptions. Without Davis putting up quite possibly the greatest postseason rushing numbers of any player in history, Elway would probably be ringless and viewed more in line with contemporaries Dan Fouts and Warren Moon. Elway’s career 79.9 passer rating is downright average; it’s more in line with Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jeff Hostetler, Jeff George, or Tony Eason.
Even Elway’s adjusted passer rating (five percent above league average) is worse than players like Neil O’Donnell, David Garrard, Brad Johnson, or Jim McMahon, and no one would remotely call those players Hall of Famers. This is by no means to suggest Elway didn’t have a terrific career; what it does mean is he’s closer to a top-20 quarterback than top-5.
18. Warren Moon (1984-2000)
Warren Moon’s career flies under the radar, but his numbers stack up quite favorably with those of John Elway. Each made nine Pro Bowls. Moon passed for 49,325 passing yards and 291 touchdowns; Elway compiled 51,475 yards and 300 touchdowns. Those are pretty similar, but Elway hit the 50,000 and 300 benchmarks, plus he won two Super Bowls and appeared in three more, which is why he’s always ranked higher.
A strong case could be made that Moon was better, though. Moon has a higher career completion percentage (58.45 to 56.87), a greater YPA (7.23 to 7.10), a higher passer rating (80.9 to 79.9), a lower sack percentage (6.3 to 6.6), a higher ANY/A (5.66 to 5.60), and even a significantly higher postseason passer rating (84.9 to 79.7) with a defense that allowed more points per postseason contest (26.0 to 23.9).
Moon was also just the second QB in league history (Johnny Unitas was the first) to make eight consecutive Pro Bowls. Moon had some glaring problems – he fumbled a ridiculous 161 times and won barely 50 percent of his starts in his career. On a team with a better defense on a yearly basis, Moon would surely have a ring or two.
17. Dan Fouts (1973-1987)
Dan Fouts put up some pretty gaudy statistics for his era; in fact, they would be pretty impressive even in today’s NFL. Fouts dominated in Don Coryell’s passing attack, leading the league in passing yards four consecutive seasons, touchdowns twice, and net adjusted yards per passing attempt a ridiculous six times, and just missing out on an MVP award (one that curiously, went to a kicker). Fouts’ eight-year span from 1978 through 1985 would stand up against most quarterbacks in history.
Fouts is often regarded as one of the best quarterbacks to never win a Super Bowl, and it’s a fair criticism – Fouts has some pretty dreadful postseason performances, beginning and ending his playoff career with five-interception games. Then again, it’s difficult to win football games with a defense that allows an average of 27 points per postseason contest.
16. Ken Anderson (1971-1986)
One of the more underrated quarterbacks to ever wear a uniform, Ken Anderson should be a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame. How he isn’t in is a mystery.
Anderson is one of two quarterbacks ever to lead the league in completion percentage, interception percentage, passer rating, and ANY/A at least two seasons each (Steve Young is the other). In terms of pure passing efficiency, Anderson was one of the finest ever. He set a single-season completion percentage (70.6) in the strike-shortened year of 1982, breaking Sammy Baugh’s nearly 40-year old record.
Anderson was a four-time Pro Bowler, 1981 league MVP, and his 93.5 career postseason passer rating is higher than that of Tom Brady, Troy Aikman, Steve Young, or Russell Wilson. His Bengals never even had a top-10 rushing offense until Anderson’s final season as a full-time starter, and Anderson didn’t play with a Pro Bowl offensive lineman until his 10th NFL season. It’s inexplicable that Anderson manages to get buried on the majority of top quarterback lists.
15. Bart Starr (1956-1971)
Bart Starr is a five-time NFL champion who led the league in passer rating four times and posted a 9-1 record and 104.8 passer rating in the postseason. He also won the first two Super Bowl MVP awards. So why is he ranked just 14th on this list?
Starr was a fabulous quarterback, but he was also the beneficiary of an exceptional team – in fact, a dynasty that was stacked with Hall of Famers and arguably the greatest head coach in history. Starr was blessed with 19 seasons of All-Pro offensive linemen, a rushing attack that ranked in the top five on seven occasions, and a top-five defense for 10 different seasons.
As a result, Starr never had to pass the ball more than 35 times in a game, and routinely would throw it just 15-20 times. Starr was highly effective when he did have to throw – he led the league in completion percentage four times (as well as passer rating), interception percentage three times, and yards per attempt twice. His numbers pre-Vince Lombardi were shoddy, and he didn’t stay very effective after Lombardi retired, either.
14. Aaron Rodgers (2005-Active)
I initially thought I would rank Aaron Rodgers in my top 10 quarterbacks. He’s blessed with a cannon of an arm and accuracy that doesn’t come around even every decade.
What keeps Rodgers from ranking higher is the fact that he’s really only played eight seasons, and of those, he missed half of 2013 due to injury and was largely unspectacular in 2015 (although he displayed his uncanny ability to escape pressure and toss up not one, but two amazing Hail Marys). He’s about a year away from pushing for a top 10 spot though, and he could climb into the top 3-5 places by the time it’s done.
Rodgers is still in his prime, and these numbers may inevitably drop, but he currently holds the NFL record for passer rating (104.1), TD:INT ratio (3.95), and ANY/A (7.51). He’s won two MVPs and made five Pro Bowls, and it’s no easy task winning MVP awards when you’re competing with Peyton Manning and Tom Brady for the award every year.
There have been six seasons in history where a QB threw at least 35 touchdowns and fewer than 10 interceptions; Rodgers has three of them (Brady has the other three). Rodgers has one Super Bowl ring, and he got it by posting a 111.5 passer rating in a dominating performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Rodgers’ career postseason numbers (27 TD, 8 INT, 98.2 rating) are impressive, even given the offense-heavy era, and he gave us two throws for the ages in last year’s contest against the Arizona Cardinals.
While it’s definitely nitpicking, several factors that keep Rodgers from ranking higher (aside from what so far has been an abbreviated career): He’s never led the league in completion percentage, passing yards, or touchdown passes. He’s led just 10 fourth-quarter comebacks in his career and posted his worst numbers in the fourth quarter. And he takes an absurd amount of sacks, twice leading the league in sacks taken.
Still, for a quarterback who’s tossed 170 touchdowns to just 33 picks since 2011, he will continue to climb up these rankings so long as he’s healthy.
13. Sid Luckman (1939-1950)
Like his contemporary Sammy Baugh, Sid Luckman helped to revolutionize the modern passing game. Luckman was king of the yards per attempt stat, leading the league three times, and posting a still-standing NFL record 10.9 yard average in 1943 (although he did do this against an NFL that was largely depleted by players in WWII service). His career mark of 8.4 yards per pass attempt is the second-highest total in history.
Luckman was a five-time All-Pro, onetime league MVP, and he led the Chicago Bears to four NFL championships. He turned in some truly spectacular performances too, helping the Bears beat Baugh and the Washington Redskins 73-0 in 1940 and then throwing five touchdown passes in 1943, a single-game postseason record that stood for over 20 years. Luckman and coach George Halas were the best quarterback-coach combo in history, at least until Bart Starr and Vince Lombardi came around.
12. Brett Favre (1991-2010)
I’m torn in how to rank Brett Favre on the all-time QBs list – he did his best work in the mid-1990s, spent almost a decade putting together some high-INT seasons, and then rebounded to put together fabulous campaigns in both 2007 and 2009. Favre’s durability is arguably his most impressive achievement; he started every game from 1992 through December ’10, a streak that is the football equivalent of Cal Ripken, Jr.’s streak. He played through a plethora of injuries – a first-degree shoulder separation, severely sprained left ankle, deep thigh bruise, and right elbow tendinitis, to name a few – but he never missed a game until he was in his 20th NFL season.
Favre won three consecutive league MVP awards from 1995-1997, winning a Super Bowl and taking the Green Bay Packers to another during that span. He’s one of just six players in NFL history to lead the league in touchdown passes four times, but he’s also one of just seven to lead the league in interceptions three times. He had a rocket arm and took his fair share of chances; sometimes it paid off, and sometimes it was a foolish move.
Favre’s postseason struggles were evident, especially late in his career – he threw six interceptions in a 2001 loss to the St. Louis Rams and he’s the only QB to throw multiple overtime picks. But he also had 10 games with a 100 passer rating, his career Super Bowl touchdown-to-interception ratio was five-to-one, and he provided more adjusted postseason value than all but four quarterbacks in NFL history.
11. Roger Staubach (1969-1979)
Roger Staubach’s career went a lot like Steve Young’s – Staubach (by virtue of serving in the Navy) did not become a full-time starter until he was 29 years old. Both had about eight seasons of greatness and then retired abruptly due to concussions. Staubach is one of just two players in league history to lead the NFL in passer rating and ANY/A four times each (the other is Young).
Staubach enjoyed playoff success early, leading the Dallas Cowboys to a Super Bowl victory in his first season as starter. He won the game’s MVP award, then took the Cowboys to the Super Bowl three more times, winning another, and putting up 31 points against the Steel Curtain defense in a tough loss.
Staubach was also a dangerous runner, amassing 2,264 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns on 5.5 yards per carry. He retired with the NFL’s second-best passer rating ever (83.4, trailing just Otto Graham), and had he entered the league right out of college, he may rank in the top five signal-callers on this list.
Stay tuned for Part IV, which will count down the final 10 QBs.
Follow Cody Swartz on Twitter (@cbswartz5).
