The 100 Greatest Quarterbacks of the Modern Era, Version 1.0
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by Davis21wylie
At first glance, it seems like a simple question: Who is the greatest quarterback of the NFL's modern era? Plenty of people have debated this very topic over the years, with supporting evidence that runs from "Bradshaw has more rings," to "Marino has more raw passing yards," and every other factoid in between. But championships alone aren't a true measure of great quarterbacking -- after all, we can't hold a guy responsible for the poor play of his defense, right? And raw stats can be just as misleading, since passers who played under the bygone rules of basically "no blood, no foul" pass interference can't possibly contend with today's quarterbacks, whose receivers are hardly allowed to be touched by defenders. The good news, though, is that historical stats can be adjusted for context to better reflect reality, and that championships can be incorporated into such a statistical system as well. The result is my list, which attempts to be fair to both past and modern players, to both stat-stuffers and championship-winners, and to both classic drop-back statues and wild scramblers.
Note: If you don't care about the method behind the rankings, feel free to skip down a few paragraphs and look at the rankings themselves.
The Method
Let me begin by saying that this is an article I've been meaning to do for quite some time. You see, last Fall I created a statistical method for NFL players that expanded on Sean Lahman's Adjusted Yards system, converting yards to scoreboard points and comparing players to a replacement-level baseline to get a general idea of their offensive value. It wasn't the first time someone had used the adjusted yards system to rank players, but to my knowledge it was the first time someone had conducted a replacement-level analysis using adjusted yards as a framework. While it was not anywhere near as sophisticated as the DPAR system that Football Outsiders uses, it was much more accessible, and (as these guys proved) it could be applied to any level of football, and any sample size (single-game, single-season, etc.).
Anyway, I published the results every week during the NFL season, and I was generally happy with the way it turned out. However, there were limitations to the dataset -- sacks were not included, which ultimately served to overrate rushing QBs (or does anyone really think Michael Vick was the 4th-best quarterback in football last year?). Also, WR "targets" were not available, so receivers' "plays" were simply their catches, which ended up overrating wideouts, especially those with low catch %'s. And since I cannot find a historical database with sack numbers or WR targets, I put off the task of applying my numbers to every player in NFL history, shelving the project for a rainy day.
About a month ago, I dug up the old data again and started tinkering. After much work, I found that I could get around the sack problem by simply valuing QB rushing yards less than regular rushing yards -- about 40% less, to be exact. How did I arrive at that number? First, I needed to determine how much of the "blame" for lost yardage on sacks should be assessed to the QB himself. I looked at Football Outsiders' adjusted sack data from 2006, and saw that about 25% of the difference between the worst and the best pass-blocking offensive lines could fairly be attributed to non-blockers -- in other words, to the QB himself. So quarterbacks' rushing numbers get docked 25% of the negative yards on sacks. That was the first step; I then had to determine how to subtract these yards from historical players in the absence of actual sack data. To that end, I summed each team's QB rushing yards gained for every season since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, and subtracted from that total 25% of their sack yards lost, which left quarterbacks with roughly 60% of their rushing value. This is not a perfect solution, of course -- it assumes that there is a perfectly linear relationship between sack yards and rushing yards, which is not true -- but it does fix the problem of overvaluing running QBs, which is what I set out to do.
The problem surrounding WR targets was equally frustrating, and it was compounded by the fact that such data simply doesn't exist for seasons prior to the turn of the century. At first, I was willing to use team completion % as a proxy for each receiever's individual catch %, but I realized that this undervalues WRs who play with inaccurate quarterbacks. Instead, I ended up simply applying the league's completion % to each receiver's catch total to estimate their number of "targets". While this is not an ideal solution, it at least improves upon the old method, and it isn't overly unfair to wideouts who play with scattershot passers.
With these improvements, my Adjusted Yards/PAR system was better than ever. But I still could not use it to compare players from different eras, because the game of football has changed so dramatically over the years. To put together any kind of historical research, I would first have to normalize each player's stats to a neutral environment. I chose the 2006 season as that environment, because that way the normalized stats will look like numbers players put up in today's context, making it easier for us to interpret them.
How to normalize: Take the raw stats. Calculate the completions/game, pass attempts/game, passing yards/game, TD passes/game, interceptions/game, rushing attempts/game, rushing yards/game, and rushing TD/game for the season in question. For the 2006 NFL, they went like this:
GP LgCmp/G LgAtt/G LgPYds/G LgPTD/G LgInt/G LgRush/G LgRYds/G LgRTD/G --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 19.14 32.01 219.29 1.27 1.02 28.22 117.31 0.83
Now, divide the player total in each category (completions, passing yds, etc.) by the appropriate league numbers, and multiply by the 2006 numbers. Then adjust for the length of schedule, extrapolating the raw totals to a 16-game season. Like magic, your new totals will be normalized, able to go up against any other season without fear of cross-era distortions.
Let's take a look at an example... In 1966, Len Dawson of the Kansas City Chiefs put up this stat line en route to an AFL title and a spot in the very first Super Bowl:
+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Passing | Rushing |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Year TM | G | Comp Att PCT YD Y/A TD INT | Att Yards TD |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| 1966 kan | 14 | 159 284 56.0 2527 8.9 26 10 | 24 167 0 |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
The environment of the 1966 AFL looked like this:
GP LgCmp/G LgAtt/G LgPYds/G LgPTD/G LgInt/G LgRush/G LgRYds/G LgRTD/G ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14 14.62 31.60 215.30 1.58 1.72 28.95 116.13 0.90
So, after applying our normalization technique to Dawson's raw stats, this is the equivalent performance in the 2006 NFL:
+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Passing | Rushing |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Year TM | G | Comp Att PCT YD Y/A TD INT | Att Yards TD |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| 2006 kan | 16 | 238 329 72.3 2942 8.9 24 7 | 27 193 0 |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
Repeating this procedure for every player-season in the NFL since 1950, we now have a database of stats that can be compared with each other to determine the best modern players at each position.
The Rankings
Today, we're going to look at the most valuable quarterbacks since 1950. For every QB, I added up their career PAR totals, which served as a starting point, and I then added bonus points for postseason success, including Super Bowl wins, NFL or AFL Championship Game victories, and (least of all) Super Bowl losses. Of course, I didn't slavishly follow the resulting list when formulating my Top 100, but the results do factor heavily into my final list of the top quarterbacks since 1950. Now, to the rankings!
(Note: The stats on this page have been normalized to 2006's environment, and all seasons -- including the strike year in 1982 -- were pro-rated to a 16-game schedule. For instance, I know that Johnny Unitas did not throw for more than 4,000 yards in 1957, but his 2,550 yards that year are equivalent to 4,339 in 2006. For more information about PAR and the other advanced stats below, go here. Also, credit for the database is due to Doug Drinen and the great folks at Pro-Football-Reference. You guys rock!)
The Top 20
#1: Johnny Unitas
Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest quarterback of the modern era. Can you believe that the Pittsburgh Steelers had their hands on this guy, but cut him in favor of Ted Marchibroda? At any rate, he would later avert a potential career as a steel worker by making coach Weeb Eubanks' Baltimore Colts roster... And the rest is history. Johnny U. would eventually lead the Colts to two NFL Championships (including 1958, when Baltimore defeated the Giants in the so-called "Greatest Game Ever Played") and a Super Bowl title, obliterating most NFL passing records along the way. Unitas once tossed a TD pass in 47 straight games, which is football's version of Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hit streak -- staggering, and unbreakable. In addition to his amazing passing resume (see below), Unitas remains perhaps the prototype for drop-back quarterbacks, an unshakable leader with ridiculous poise, timing, and accuracy in the pocket. In the final analysis, Unitas' winning ways and his influence on the game give him the edge over Tarkenton and Marino, both of whom had the better pure statistical records.
#2: Joe Montana
If Johnny Unitas is #1 on our list, then consider Montana #1A. To many, Joe Cool embodied everything that a quarterback should be: calm under pressure, unfailingly accurate, blessed with great vision and anticipation, and a consummate leader. His statistical resume backs this up -- Montana ranks fourth all-time in PAR, and is the second-greatest QB ever after accounting for his amazing postseason record. Perhaps more so than any other QB, Montana thrived with the season on the line, as his four Super Bowl rings can attest to. But his regular season numbers are just as impressive: he was already the best QB in the NFL by his third season, and didn't let up until a back injury cut his season short in 1986. Upon his return, he picked up right where he left off, putting together a career season in 1989. Even the Kansas City version of Montana was an elite QB, ranking 5th among passers in PAR in 1994, at the ripe old age of 37. Because he combined winning and statistical achievement better than anyone but (perhaps) Unitas, Montana is a natural choice for our list as the second-greatest QB of all time.
#3: Fran Tarkenton
Some people may be shocked to see Tarkenton ranked this high on a greatest quarterbacks list. You shouldn't be. Purely looking at regular season performance, Fran Tarkenton is the greatest quarterback of all-time, and it's not even close. He was one of the first scrambling QBs to be successful in the NFL, amassing 3674 career rushing yards, a record for the position that stood until Randall Cunningham broke it in the late eighties. More importantly, though, Tarkenton could beat teams with his arm -- he still ranks 5th all-time in raw (unadjusted) passing yards, and third in TD passes. When adjusted for his era, he looks even more impressive; using PAR stats from last year as a reference, Tarkenton put up the equivalent of Carson Palmer's 2006 season (roughly 70 PAR) 10 times over the course of his 18-year career! The only knock on Tarkenton is that he never won a championship in his career, losing three Super Bowls. But a handful of playoff disappointments should not cause him to drop any lower than third place on this list. His consistently outstanding play during the regular season is often overshadowed by his Super Bowl failures, but we shouldn't forget what a truly great quarterback Tarkenton was.
#4: Dan Marino
Marino is the most naturally talented quarterback ever, hands down. And until Brett Favre and Peyton Manning get a few more years under their belts, he will still at least be the most prolific quarterback of all time. In terms of raw tools, Marino still has no rival -- everything about him, from his size (6'4") to his cannon arm strength, laser accuracy, and lightning-quick release, defines the prototype for the position. His numbers are above reproach; while Tarkenton is ahead of him in the overall PAR stats, Frantic Fran needed 36 more adjusted games played than Marino, and Marino still ranks 1st all-time in passing yards and TDs. Still, Marino's career cannot be assessed without considering his lack of Super Bowl success (or even Super Bowl appearances -- 1984 was his lone SB). It's not like Miami wasn't talented enough to contend (they made the playoffs in 10 of Marino's 17 seasons), but after '84 they never put together another deep playoff run under Marino's watch. And it's this lack of postseason accomplishment that keeps Marino out of the Top 3.
#5: John Elway
Following Denver's unceremonious exit from the playoffs at the hands of the upstart Jacksonville Jaguars in 1996, few would have placed John Elway in the pantheon of the 5 greatest QBs ever. While Elway always had top-notch physical tools (notably one of the strongest arms ever, plus great wheels when he was younger) and seemingly made at least one jaw-dropping play every game, he also carried a damning postseason record, having become the second QB (Tarkenton is the other) to lose three Super Bowls in a career, defeats that often came in embarrassing blowout fashion. But everything changed in 1997, when Elway's Broncos toppled Brett Favre and the favored Packers to capture Super Bowl XXXII. After winning another World Championship the following year, Elway retired at the top of the football world, having silenced all of his playoff doubters. Aside from 1993, Elway never had an overwhelming statistical season, but he was consistently very good, posting at least 48 PAR on ten occasions during his 16-year career. He currently ranks third in NFL history in passing yards, and fourth in touchdowns, numbers well worthy of the 5th-ranked modern QB.
#6: Steve Young
Steve Young was never as naturally gifted as some of his counterparts on this list -- he never had the arm strength of Elway or the size of Marino, and many of his most memorable plays were mad scrambles or improvised tosses into the back of the end zone, not rifle-armed frozen ropes. Plus, how many of the other guys in the Top 10 started their pro careers in the USFL, only to head to the sad-sack Tampa Bay Buccaneers after the fledgling league went belly-up? From such an inauspicious start came greatness for Young, who emerged from the shadow of Joe Montana to become the best quarterback in football from 1991 to 1998. After Montana left Frisco for Kansas City, Young put together a number of the greatest seasons by a QB ever during his time at the helm of the 49ers' offense, shattering the passer rating record in 1994 and eclipsing 86.0 PAR on four separate occasions, also an all-time benchmark. Young's combination of high-efficiency passing and scrambling ability is unmatched in the history of the NFL, and he also added a Super Bowl championship to his resume when San Francisco destroyed San Diego in Super Bowl XXIX. All in all, it was a Hall of Fame career for Young, proving that it's not how you start, but how you finish.
#7: Ken Anderson
You might be asking yourself, "Who?" Just kidding; Anderson isn't exactly that anonymous, though he might as well be to the Hall of Fame selection committee, a group that has consistently snubbed him at every turn. Perhaps the most criminally underrated player in NFL history, Anderson has never gotten his proper due from the Hall, despite being one of the 10 greatest quarterbacks ever. We can correct that injustice on our list, however, because all it takes is one look at Anderson's stats (adjusted or unadjusted) and you can see why he needs to be enshrined in Canton. He was the best quarterback in football on a number of occasions in the seventies and early eighties, posting truly ridiculous numbers in 1974, 1975, 1981 (when he was the league's MVP and led Cincy to the Super Bowl), and the short 1982 season. When he retired, he was among the NFL's all-time leaders in completion % and passing yards, and led the NFL in passer rating four times. Under Bill Walsh's tutelage, Anderson was also the very first West Coast Offense QB. In most fields, this body of work would cause you to be viewed as a pioneer and a legend, but not in the NFL, where his status as the first WCO passer seems to be held up as an excuse not to vote him in. But let's get one thing straight: Anderson wasn't a "system quarterback". He was simply one of the best QBs of all time. And you're telling me that the Hall of Fame doesn't have room for him?
#8: Dan Fouts
Another product of Bill Walsh's innovative offensive mind (Walsh was the Chargers' OC in 1976 and planted the seeds for their high-powered passing attack), Fouts hit his stride under coach Don "Air" Coryell in 1978. From '78 to '82, Fouts played at a level reserved for only the best QBs in football history, twice leading the league in PAR and finishing in the Top 5 three more times. Fouts threw an amazing deep ball, and had a great stable of receivers to throw to, including Charlie Joiner, Kellen Winslow, John Jefferson, and Wes Chandler. Among his many statistical accomplishments, Fouts had back-to-back 30-TD seasons in 1980 and 1981, and threw for 4,000+ yards in '79, '80, and '81, both of which were very rare feats at the time. Had his 1982 campaign not been shortened by the strike, he was on pace for one of the great passing seasons of all time (pro-rated to 16 games, Fouts would have eclipsed 5,000 passing yards that year). So while he never led San Diego to the Super Bowl, Fouts' impressive stats earn him a spot in our all-time Top 10.
#9: Brett Favre
Favre has become one of the most polarizing figures in the league nowadays, but we shouldn't let that obscure what a great career he has had. It's a testament to how good this guy is that he maintained his position as one of the best QBs in the league despite an interception percentage that actually ranks well below average in recent seasons. Is Favre the best gunslinger ever? Probably. Nobody else in the Top 10 turned the ball over nearly as much as he does, and yet his numbers still stack up well when compared to them -- which is astonishing, given the sizable penalty for interceptions in adjusted yards. Favre had a few truly elite seasons in the mid-1990's, declined over the next few years, but then jumped back into the GOAT discussion with a very good five-year stretch from 2000 to 2004, when he was maybe the best age 30+ QB ever. Regardless of whether when we think he should have retired, Favre has been both an exciting player and an effective player throughout his career, which is a hard combination to maintain.
#10: Roger Staubach
Along with David Robinson, the best athlete the U.S. Naval Academy ever produced. Staubach is probably best-known for his scrambling ability and late-game heroics, but his pure passing skills can also stand up to those of anyone in the history of the league. After sitting behind Craig Morton (#26 on our list) for two seasons, Staubach became Dallas' starter in 1971 and unleashed the fury on opposing defenses, ranking as the best QB in football by PAR in 1971, 1973, 1977, and 1979 (and finishing in the Top 5 four other times). He also led the Cowboys to two Super Bowl wins (although he lost two SBs as well). Because of his Navy duty, Staubach had the shortest career of any Top 10 member; he had only 11 seasons in total, 8 full, with only 146 adjusted games played. Had he played the same number of adjusted games as Tarkenton (assuming he would maintain his PAR/G rate), Staubach would rank as the most valuable QB of all time. He is also one of those rare Heisman Trophy winners to become an all-time great at the NFL level, which should count for something.
#11: Sonny Jurgensen
Is Jurgensen one of the most underappreciated quarterbacks ever, or what? Vince Lombardi once said that Sonny was a better passer than the great Bart Starr (#13) -- but Starr's name constantly comes up in GOAT talks, while Jurgensen seems to be forgotten by everybody outside the Redskins' fan base. Why? Because Jurgensen won only 1 NFL crown and never won a Super Bowl, while Starr copped 3 NFL titles and 2 Super Bowls. But is that fair? Comparing their stats, it's pretty obvious that Jurgensen was a much better passer than Starr; he still ranks 11th in passing TDs, more than 30 years after his final game, and compiled 7,506 more yards than his Green Bay counterpart. Granted, Starr was not a high-volume passer, and his career yards/attempt was slightly higher than Jurgensen's, but there's something to be said for a guy that leads the league in PAR twice, finishes second another two times, and has a significantly higher PAR/G than somebody who is frequently mentioned as maybe the best QB ever. This isn't necessarily a knock on Starr, but rather an admonition to think of Jurgensen (and even Len Dawson) as residing in the same neighborhood as Starr.
#12: Len Dawson
Like Unitas, Dawson was another great QB that was discarded by the Pittsburgh Steelers, only to find greatness elsewhere. It's interesting that six of the Top 12 quarterbacks on our list (Unitas, Young, Elway, Favre, Jurgensen, and Dawson) had their best years with teams other than the ones that drafted them. So when is the proper time to give up on a young quarterback, anyway? I'm not sure; in some cases, it takes years for a QB to develop into a truly great one (see Terry Bradshaw), while in other cases teams have held on to "prospect" QBs too long before cutting bait (see Trent Dilfer in Tampa). There doesn't seem to a hard-and-fast rule on when a good QB is going to become good... although if a young QB doesn't at least show great improvement from his first year as a starter to his second, you can probably write him off as never becoming a good quarterback. As for Dawson, he was rejected by both the Steelers and the Browns (who had Milt Plum) before finding a home with the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs. The Steelers instead went with an aging Bobby Layne and then Ed Brown, neither of whom were anywhere near as good as Dawson from that point on, while the Browns ended up handing the starting job to Frank Ryan, who was nowhere near as good as Dawson either. Meanwhile, Dawson went on to win a Super Bowl and 2 AFL titles with the Chiefs. The moral of the story? Always give your first-round QB at least a chance to make an impact!
#13: Bart Starr
The Derek Jeter of football. You know, a very good player (and a great leader) who ended up as the face of one of his sport's greatest dynasties, despite there being plenty of other players who contributed more to the team's success. It's certainly not a bad gig if you can get it, but let's face it: Bart Starr, just like Derek Jeter, has no business being in GOAT discussions, not now, not ever. If anything, Starr should be regarded as the patron saint of game managers, since he was asked (much like Trent Dilfer for the 2000 Ravens) to lead the team and let the Packers' running game and defense go out and win games for Coach Lombardi. He was the best game manager ever, mind you, routinely putting up numbers that look quite good when adjusted to 2006's offensive environment. But his numbers aren't anywhere near as impressive as those of someone like Unitas, and his winning record can only count for so much. Football is a team game, and people act as though Starr won those five championships all by his lonesome, which was just not the case. He was a very good player, and he definitely deserved his MVP for a great season in 1966, but once you get past the titles there's very little evidence that he was one of the Top 5 (or even Top 10) signal-callers of all-time.
#14: Warren Moon
God bless the Run-n-Shoot offense... Under coaches Jerry Glanville and Jack Pardee in Houston, Moon became the best-ever practitioner of the now-defunct (at the NFL level, at least) offensive scheme, putting up ungodly numbers in the late eighties and early nineties. But while Moon's eye-popping stats were heavily influenced by the pass-happy Mouse Davis offense in which he played, he was not merely a product of that system. Moon enjoyed success at every level of football, from college (as a senior, he led Washington to a Rose Bowl win over heavily favored Michigan, taking home MVP honors) to the Canadian Football League (where he remains one of the best QBs ever after leading the Edmonton Eskimos to five consecutive Grey Cup titles) and, finally, the NFL. In 17 seasons with the Oilers, Vikings, Seahawks, and Chiefs, Moon put together a statistical resume that few can match, ranking 4th all-time in pass attempts, completions, and yards, and 5th in touchdown passes. In terms of PAR, he broke the 60.0 barrier four times (including a stunning 102.5 in 1990 that ranks among the greatest seasons by a QB ever), and finished 11th in all-time total PAR. Run-n-Shoot or not, it was a damn good career for a guy who initially went undrafted because NFL scouts thought he'd never make it as a QB.
#15: Peyton Manning
The youngest member of our Top 15, Manning will almost certainly break the Top 5 someday. He is also, perhaps along with his nemesis Tom Brady, this generation's signature NFL icon. Close your eyes and you can picture him now, arms flailing akimbo, madly audibling at the line before dropping back, surveying the defense with the steely gaze of an assassin, and firing a picture-perfect pass to Marvin Harrison in the back of the end zone... Speaking of that great Manning-Harrison combo, it's surprising how few of our Top 15 quarterbacks are strongly associated with one specific receiver. Montana and Young are both immediately linked to Jerry Rice, of course; likewise, Dan Marino had Mark Clayton/Mark Duper early in his career, and Fouts had Charlie Joiner and Kellen Winslow -- but you'd be hard-pressed to identify the favorite target of, say, Len Dawson, or even Bart Starr. In that sense, the Colts have been extremely blessed to have both an all-time great QB and an all-time great WR hit their primes for the team at the same time, because it just doesn't happen all that often, especially not in the salary cap era. And just like Montana-to-Rice, Manning-to-Harrison will someday go down as one of a handful of the most famous passing tandems in football history.
#16: Roman Gabriel
Roman Gabriel is the very best quarterback in the history of the Rams, narrowly edging out the player right below him on this list, Norm Van Brocklin, for the honor (477 PAR for Gabriel, versus 431 for N.V.B.). Here are the best quarterbacks in the history of the NFL's other 31 franchises:
Falcons: Steve Bartkowski, Michael Vick
Bills: Jim Kelly, Joe Ferguson
Panthers: Steve Beuerlein, Jake Delhomme
Bears: Sid Luckman, Jim McMahon
Bengals: Ken Anderson, Boomer Esiason
Browns: Otto Graham, Brian Sipe
Colts: Johnny Unitas, Peyton Manning
Cardinals: Jim Hart, Neil Lomax
Cowboys: Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman
Broncos: John Elway, Craig Morton
Lions: Bobby Layne, Greg Landry
Packers: Brett Favre, Bart Starr
Texans: David Carr, Tony Banks
Jaguars: Mark Brunell, Byron Leftwich
Chiefs: Len Dawson, Trent Green
Dolphins: Dan Marino, Bob Griese
Vikings: Fran Tarkenton, Daunte Culpepper
Saints: Archie Manning, Aaron Brooks
Patriots: Tom Brady, Steve Grogan
Giants: Phil Simms, Fran Tarkenton
Jets: Joe Namath, Ken O'Brien
Titans: Steve McNair, Warren Moon
Eagles: Donovan McNabb, Randall Cunningham
Steelers: Terry Bradshaw, Neil O'Donnell
Raiders: Ken Stabler, Daryle Lamonica
Ravens: Vinny Testaverde, Eric Zeier
Chargers: Dan Fouts, John Hadl
Seahawks: Dave Krieg, Jim Zorn
49ers: Joe Montana, Steve Young
Buccaneers: Doug Williams, Brad Johnson
Redskins: Sonny Jurgensen, Sammy Baugh
#17: Norm Van Brocklin
After permanently taking over for longtime Rams QB (and eventual Hall of Famer) Bob Waterfield in 1953, Van Brocklin quickly established himself as the best quarterback in football, even after being sent to the Eagles in 1958. He won the 1951 NFL Championship while sharing quarterbacking duties with Waterfield (they co-piloted maybe the best offense in NFL history that season) and captured another title with Philadelphia in 1960, before embarking on a less-than-successful coaching career with the Vikings and Falcons. As was hinted to earlier, Van Brocklin was the greatest QB in the NFL during the decade of the 1950s... Here are the all-decade quarterback lists:
1950s 1. Norm Van Brocklin 2. Bobby Layne 3. Otto Graham 4. Y.A. Tittle 5. Johnny Unitas
1960s 1. Johnny Unitas 2. Fran Tarkenton 3. Sonny Jurgensen 4. Bart Starr 5. Len Dawson
1970s 1. Roger Staubach 2. Fran Tarkenton 3. Ken Anderson 4. Bob Griese 5. Terry Bradshaw
1980s 1. Joe Montana 2. Dan Fouts 3. Dan Marino 4. Boomer Esiason 5. Phil Simms
1990s 1. Steve Young 2. John Elway 3. Dan Marino 4. Troy Aikman 5. Brett Favre
2000s 1. Peyton Manning 2. Donovan McNabb 3. Tom Brady 4. Trent Green 5. Daunte Culpepper
#18: Y.A. Tittle
Like Otto Graham, Tittle began his career in the All-America Football Conference, an upstart NFL competitor that tanked not long after Tittle signed on with its Baltimore Colts (not the same Colts of Unitas and Manning, by the way). After Baltimore went belly-up, Tittle moved on to the San Francisco 49ers, where he would spend the entire decade of the fifties. But while he was unquestionably talented, Tittle was also extremely inconsistent as San Fran's starting QB, alternating some very good seasons (1953, 1954, 1957) with some not-so-great campaigns; plus, the team was never overly successful under his watch, either. So, by 1958 the Niners had settled on John Brodie as their QB of the future, leaving Tittle with less and less playing time over the following two seasons. After a 1960 season that saw Tittle attempt only 127 passes in 9 games, San Francisco traded Tittle to the New York Giants -- a move that would end up reinvigorating his career, ultimately propeling him to the #18 spot on this list. In New York, Tittle immediately returned to the elite ranks of pro quarterbacks, posting 52.5 PAR (good for 6th in football) in 1961. In '62, Tittle was even better, leading all NFL passers in PAR (he only trailed Len Dawson of the AFL in that category)... but he wasn't done yet. In 1963, at the age of 37, Tittle busted out the best season of his career, finishing second in football (behind Johnny Unitas) in passing PAR with 82.7 -- a total that would have ranked him fourth among passers in 2006, even. That year, Tittle also set the all-time record for TD passes in a season with 36, a mark of excellence that would stand for 21 years before being broken by Dan Marino in 1984. While Tittle was not consistently great, his flashes of brilliance (coupled with his late-career renaissance in NYC) were enough to earn him a spot in our Top 20.
#19: Terry Bradshaw
Nowadays, Bradshaw is regarded by fans as either one of the greatest QBs of all time (proponents of this viewpoint cite his four Super Bowl wins with the Steelers of the 1970s), or one of the most overrated signal-callers ever, a guy who (much like Bart Starr) rode the coattails of his dominating teammates to perceived greatness. Which camp is correct? Is it possible that they're both correct? Was Bradshaw simply a "game manager" type of QB who was carried by Pittsburgh's Steel Curtain D and bruising ground attack? And who is the greatest "caretaker QB" in NFL history anyway? To answer questions like these, you first have to define what a "game manager" QB is... I called any QB season a "caretaker" campaign if the quarterback:
- Played at least 8 adjusted games
- Attempted no more than 25.5 adjusted passes/G, and no less than 14
- Had an adjusted interception % of 3.0 or better
It turns out that 260 QB seasons fit these requirements since 1950. Now, to find the best caretaker QB ever, we have to calculate each player's cumulative career PAR in their "game manager" seasons only. To the results...
Well, it turns out that Len Dawson and Craig Morton have more in common with Starr than Bradshaw does, in terms of being a "caretaker" QB. Bradshaw had only 2 caretaker seasons in his career -- 1975 and 1976. Bradshaw did win a Super Bowl in one of them ('75), though. Since 1960, only 13 Super Bowl or NFL champs had a "caretaker" (as we defined it above) on their roster, and 4 of the 13 were various Starr-led Green Bay teams in the sixties. The most recent caretaker champion was Troy Aikman in 1995; others of note include Jim McMahon in 1985, Bob Griese in 1973, and Roger Staubach in 1971.
So we've blown away the idea that Bradshaw was simply a "game manager" who was a role player in Pittsburgh's offense... But where does that leave him in the all-time QB discussion? It's true that he had some very good seasons scattered throughout his career (1975, 1977-1979, solid in 1972 and from 1980-1982), but he also posted his fair share of clunkers early in his career (his rookie year of 1970, plus 1971, 1973, and 1974). He wasn't a particularly overpowering QB even during his good years, but he wasn't a caretaker, either -- his career PAR ranks 29th all-time, which would be great for a game manager, but not exactly GOAT-worthy for a guy who threw 27 adjusted attempts per game over a 14-year career. The only stat that puts him in anybody's Top 5 is the 4 career Super Bowl victories, but those are more team accomplishments than individual ones (see the Bart Starr comment above, #13). All in all, even after taking into account his playoff record, Bradshaw ranks as the 19th-best quarterback in NFL history, and I just can't see any justification for him being higher up on this list.
#20: Bob Griese
As was mentioned in the Terry Bradshaw comment, Griese has to rank among the most successful "game manager" quarterbacks of all time... He only attempted more than 400 adjusted passes in a season on two occasions in his career, his career adjusted attempts/G of 25.0 is among the lowest of anyone in our Top 20, but his Pts/Play average dipped below .400 in only three of his 14 seasons. All of which means that Bob Griese fits the "caretaker" description to a T: he wasn't asked to throw much, but when he did, he definitely capitalized on his opportunities. In fact, if Griese had not broken his ankle in Week 5 of the 1972 Dolphins' "perfect season" -- and we extrapolate his PAR/G to a full season's worth of games -- he would rank 5th on our list of the best caretaker QBs ever. Add in those two Super Bowl titles, and it's clear that Griese belongs in the Top 20 of our list. Griese and his son Brian (now with the Chicago Bears) also form the second-most successful father-son quarterbacking duo in NFL history. Here are the top father-son QB combos ever:
The Best of the Rest:
The first three are not ranked, as they played most (if not all) of their career before the 1950 cutoff date, but all three would rank in the Top 20 if their pre-1950 stats were included.
NR: Otto Graham - Graham would be in the Top 10 if we included his AAFC stats.
NR: Sammy Baugh - Another QB who played too soon for our stats to really rank, Slingin' Sammy was not only a great passer, but an amazing punter as well.
NR: Sid Luckman - Along with Baugh, the first great passing quarterback in football history. Still the Bears' best QB ever.
#21: John Hadl - One of the greatest passers in AFL history. Outstanding seasons: 1965-67, 1970-71, 1973.
#22: John Brodie - Interesting guy. Permanently took over the 49ers gig from Y.A. Tittle in 1961 and played his entire 17-year career with San Francisco. An ex-scientologist, Brodie left the "religion" after he felt his friends were being mistreated by "church" leaders. He forged a semi-successful second career as a golfer on the Senior PGA Tour. One of his daughters is married to Chris Chandler.
#23: Mark Brunell - Has had an underrated career; could run and pass. Truly outstanding seasons in 1996-97, solid with Jax until 2003. Late-career renaissance in Washington looks to be over now.
#24: Randall Cunningham - Along with Mike Vick, the best running QB ever. The "Ultimate Weapon". Had two of the best single-seasons of the nineties (1990 and 1998). Second only to Bo Jackson's character in Tecmo Super Bowl.
#25: Bobby Layne - Great QB with the Lions and Steelers. Held the all-time career records for passes attempted and completed, passing yards, and passing touchdowns when he retired.
#26: Craig Morton - Caretaker QB extraordinaire. Helped three teams get to the Super Bowl, but never won there as a starter. Had a great 1977 season in Denver, when before the season it looked like he would never be a good QB again.
#27: Steve McNair - "Air" McNair's career has been defined by flashes of brilliance, but also injuries. Co-MVP in 2003, with Peyton Manning. One of the best NFL players ever to have attended an historically black university (Alcorn State).
#28: Jim Hart - Under-appreciated QB who spent all but one of his 19 seasons with the Cardinals. Had a great run from 1973-1978, in which he led the Cards to multiple 10-win seasons and division titles, was named to 4 Pro Bowls, and won an NFC POY award. The best Cardinal QB ever.
#29: Phil Simms - After a rocky start, became a truly great quarterback. From 1984-1990, Simms was one of the best in the business. Bounced back from a a "down" regular season in 1986 to win Super Bowl XXI.
#30: Boomer Esiason - Fourth-best southpaw QB ever. Started his career red-hot and peaked early, but led the Bengals to a Super Bowl and had a good late-career season in 1993 with the New York Jets. After his son was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis in 1993, he started a foundation to help fight the disease.
#31: Jim Kelly - The only quarterback to lose four Super Bowls (thanks, Scott Norwood!). Had a relatively short NFL career after an early stopover in the USFL. King of the no-huddle "K-Gun" offense. Once averaged 44 (!) yards per completion in a game against the Carolina Panthers in 1995. Like Esiason, Kelly's son was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease during his playing career (a disease that his son ultimately succumbed to). Kelly has his own foundation for those with Globoid-Cell Leukodystrophy here.
#32: Joe Namath - Namath is sometimes called the most overrated quarterback in NFL history, but he actually had a pretty good career after adjusting for his era. He peaked very early and never again matched his best years of 1967-68, but we should remember him in his early-career form, not the broken-down version that suited up for the L.A. Rams.
#33: Troy Aikman - Like Bradshaw and Starr, people have a tendency to overrate Aikman because he was a caretaker QB on a great dynasty, but at his peak (1992-95) he was just about as good as any passer ever. It's the years outside of his peak that are the problem, because he had a very rough start on some bad Dallas teams, and a very rough finish on some bad Dallas teams. But, in between, Aikman was a truly great quarterback.
#34: Joe Theismann - One of the best QBs in the NFL during the late seventies and early eighties, Theismann would be higher on this list if he: A) hadn't spent the first two years of his pro career in the CFL; and B) didn't have his career prematurely ended by Lawrence Taylor. God knows he was more fun to watch on the field than in the booth with Mike Patrick and Paul Maguire.
#35: Rich Gannon - Gannon has one of the biggest disparities of any player between the two halves of his career. After blowing his chance to be Minnesota's starter in 1992, Gannon looked destined for the career-backup path until he gave Elvis Grbac a run for his starter's money in 1998 with KC, which prompted the Raiders to give him a shot as their starter. It was a good call: Gannon's Oakland prime (1999-2002) was one of the greatest four-year periods any QB has ever enjoyed.
#36: Ken Stabler - Kenny The Snake was the 5th-best lefty QB ever, and led the Raiders to a Super Bowl title in 1976. His peak years were comparable to those of the other great quarterbacks on this list, but there simply weren't enough of them (he cracked 40.0 PAR only five times in his 15-year career). But, hey, at least he can still smoke as much as he wants thanks to the Lung Brush!
#37: Earl Morrall - The Greatest Backup Quarterback Ever™, Morrall held clipboards for Y.A. Tittle, Tobin Rote, Bobby Layne, the immortal Jim Ninowski, Milt Plum, Gary Wood, Fran Tarkenton, Johnny Unitas, and Bob Griese at various times over the course of his career. He holds the distinction of leading two different Don Shula teams to the Super Bowl, only to sit on the bench during the big game itself both times. But make no mistake -- when he was given a chance to play, Morrall always gave his team a chance to win.
#38: Bert Jones - Dan Marino had a hell of a season in 1984. Steve Young played out of his mind in 1992. And we all got to witness the greatness that was Peyton Manning in 2004. But out of all the seasons that all the quarterbacks have had in the NFL since 1950, one stands out above all the rest: Bert Jones, 1976. It was, by multiple accounts, the best QB season since Otto Graham's AAFC days -- normalized to 2006's environment, Jones' line would read: 332-for-479, 4485 yards, 32 touchdowns, 8 interceptions, and a passer rating of 114.2. However, one season does not a career make, or else Mark Fidrych would be enshrined in Cooperstown by now. Jones was quite good from 1975-1977, but he also did very little outside of that crazy peak.
#39: Donovan McNabb - It's taken Donovan McNabb only 8 seasons to crack our Top 40, which is the fewest of any Top-40 QB. In fact, since 2000, only one quarterback has been better than McNabb: Peyton Manning. Plus, had he not had his season prematurely ended with a catastrophic knee injury, McNabb's 2006 was on pace to rank among the great quarterback seasons of all time. It's time to see through the Rush Limbaugh and Terrell Owens nonsense and see this guy for what he is -- someone who (barring injury) will eventually rank as one of the 20 best QBs ever.
#40: Dave Krieg - Easily the best signal-caller in Seahawks history, Krieg stuck around forever, played for some pretty mediocre teams, compiled some decent-looking stats, and fumbled a ton. And that's just about all there is to say about him.
The Rest of the Top 100:
#41: Drew Bledsoe - The Immobile One wasn't really all that great even when he was routinely tossing for 3700+ yards a season in New England. And he definitely wasn't that good after leaving New England (aside from Peerless Price's dream 2002 in Buffalo).
#42: Trent Green - After 1999, we all thought he was a poor man's Kurt Warner; as it turns out, Warner was actually a poor man's Green.
#43: Ron Jaworski - Jaws had some pretty solid seasons from 1977-1985, but he's a better TV analyst than he was a quarterback.
#44: Daryle Lamonica - Lamonica's first four years in silver & black were truly special, but they weren't enough to beat out Ken Stabler for the title of Oakland's best-ever QB.
#45: Neil Lomax - Lomax's short but surprisingly brilliant career earns him a spot in our Top 45.
#46: Ken O'Brien - Peaked extremely early with a tremendous season in 1985, but O'Brien could never quite live up to the high standards he set for himself that year.
#47: Vinny Testaverde - The best compiler ever? Vinny was a bona fide bust in Tampa, mediocre in Cleveland, pretty good in Baltimore and New York from 1996-98, and stunningly second-rate for the rest of his disappointing career. The only reason he ranks this high is because he stuck around the league for 20 years and had a few good seasons.
#48: Jim Everett - "Chris" Everett was one of the best QBs in football during the late 80s/early 90s, but now he's known more for a disastrous 1994 interview with Jim Rome.
#49: Billy Kilmer - Kilmer ended up being the third-best QB in Washington Redskins history, a legacy that seemed unlikely after he washed out with the 49ers and begged his way out of New Orleans.
#50: Jim Plunkett - Sure, there are plenty of guys who can vie for the mantle of "Worst QB to Play in a Super Bowl", or even "Worst QB to Win in a Super Bowl", but Plunkett easily stands alone as the "Worst Quarterback to Win Two Super Bowls".
#51: Norm Snead - One of the best journeyman quarterbacks ever, Snead hopped around the league to five different cities while putting together some pretty solid seasons (especially 1967 and 1972).
#52: Charley Johnson - Johnson had some good years with the St. Louis Cardinals in the early sixties, and enjoyed a late-career resurgence with the Denver Broncos, where he posted back-to-back 59+ PAR seasons in 1973-74.
#53: Brad Johnson - A career "solid starter", Johnson embodies that vast quarterbacking Siberia that lies between Trent Dilfer and Joe Montana.
#54: Tom Brady - A lock to move into at least the Top 30 someday, Brady is already a three-time Super Bowl champ who sleeps with models and has a near-ubiquitous endorsement presence during football season... Remind you of anyone?
#55: Archie Manning - Because he played on so many awful teams, Archie Manning was probably better than his stats would indicate... In those rare years in which N'awlins was anywhere close to .500, Arch put up some decent numbers, including a superlative 81.9 PAR output in 1978. But we can only give him so much grace for his horrible teammates -- he had some real clunkers in there that are too bad to be simply explained away by his awful comrades. All you can do is rank him 55th and recognize that when Archie was good he was quite good, but when he was bad...
#56: Daunte Culpepper - Daunte has been one of the 5 best QBs in football during the 2000s, although those days are looong gone (hello, Oakland Raiders!). His 2004 (106.5 PAR) should be remembered as one of the great quarterbacking seasons ever, but will likely forever be upstaged by the 49 TDs tossed by this guy.
#57: Steve Grogan - The worst QB in Tecmo Super Bowl, Grogan has never been given his proper due as a player. In the late 1970s, Grogan was one the premier QBs in the league, and he led the Pats to the postseason on four occasions (including a great performance in relief of Tony Eason in 1985, en route to Super Bowl XX). A good passer and runner, Grogan deserves to be remembered for more than his awful video-game alter ego.
#58: Greg Landry - Landry was very good when he played, but was injured more often than not. He still ranks as one of the best QBs in Detroit Lions history, but look at his competition -- Scott Mitchell and Gary Danielson? At any rate, Landry had a great comeback year with the Colts in 1979, posting 43 PAR, and ended his career with the Chicago Bears after three years away from the league.
#59: Joe Ferguson - Ferguson was one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL from 1975-1981, and remains the second-best QB (behind Jim Kelly) that the Buffalo Bills have ever had. In 2005, Ferguson was diagnosed with intestinal cancer, but he is now healthy and has been cancer-free for over a year.
#60: Steve DeBerg - Trails only Earl Morrall on the backup QB scale. While he was a pretty good quarterback in his own right, DeBerg was constantly being unseated by passers that were better than him -- he was eventually replaced as a starter by Joe Montana in San Francisco, John Elway in Denver, Steve Young in Tampa Bay, and Dave Krieg in Kansas City. Fittingly for a journeyman backup, DeBerg holds an NFL record for being the oldest player ever included on a Super Bowl roster (he was 44 when the Falcons made the SB in 1998). Naturally, he didn't actually play in the game.
#61: Jeff George - Top arrogant asshole in NFL history? Sorry, I don't have a metric for that, but if I did, I'm sure George would be in the Top 5.
#62: Jim Harbaugh - "Captain Comeback" had his best year in 1995, when the Colts came ever so close to sniffing the Super Bowl, but for the rest of his career he was barely a starting-caliber QB for Indy, Chicago, Baltimore, and San Diego. Still, when compared to the play of Ryan Leaf and Craig Whelihan the year before (they were the worst single-season QB tandem in NFL history), Harbaugh's performance for the Chargers in 1999 kind of looks like Dan Marino '84.
#63: Kurt Warner - The Spice Girls of quarterbacks, Warner hit the U.S. scene quickly after success in Europe, shined on the big stage for a brief while, and disappeared off the face of the earth not long thereafter (but not before several pathetic comeback attempts). Warner has the strange distinction of having a number of the best seasons in NFL history (1999, 2001) and the worst (2002, 2003) -- it's like the clock struck twelve right in the middle of Super Bowl XXXVI. But at least his breathtaking highs of 1999-2001 (and decent play since 2004) are enough to get him onto this list at #63... Some cinderellas probably won't even make it that far.
#64: George Blanda - Sure, Blanda was a better kicker than a quarterback, and some of his non-translated seasons look downright ugly. But Blanda definitely had more than his share of passing ability -- witness his 1961 AFL MVP performance, where he posted 83.4 PAR and led the Houston Oilers to their second straight AFL crown. After a remarkable 26 pro seasons (9 of them extensively at QB), Blanda has to be recognized as one of the best and most versatile players in football history.
#65: Bernie Kosar - If Brian Sipe is the Browns' #2 quarterback behind Otto Graham, Kosar has to be #2A. In 9 years as Cleveland's starting QB, Kosar put together a number of the best passing seasons in franchise history, in the process establishing himself as one of the most beloved athletes in Cleveland history. Kosar's prime didn't last long, but few QBs could match his output from 1986-1991.
#66: Billy Wade - Sometimes lost in the shuffle of the top QBs discussion, Bill Wade put together some good seasons with Los Angeles and Chicago from 1954-1966 -- including 1963, when he led the Bears to an NFL Championship.
#67: Jeff Garcia - Garcia's short career has packed a lifetime's worth of ups and downs, from a brilliant run in San Francisco to a horrible stretch in Cleveland and Detroit and, finally, a masterful comeback with Philly in 2006. Many of his best years have been system-driven, but, hey, most great seasons are.
#68: Neil O'Donnell - Hidden draft gem, Super Bowl quarterback, ridiculous free agent bust, expert clipboard-holder... O'Donnell wore a lot of hats during his career. Most people will remember him as Larry Brown's bitch in Super Bowl XXX, but O'Donnell was actually a pretty starting good QB for the majority of his career, before becoming a solid stand-in for Steve McNair later in life.
#69: Steve Bartkowski - The Falcons' best QB ever, which speaks more to that organization's chronically low expectations than any greatness on Bart's part. Still, Bartkowski was a pretty good passer in the early eighties, as well as being the first client of agent Leigh Steinberg. Show me the money!
#70: Brian Sipe - Sipe, the ringleader of the Kardiac Kids, was great from 1978-1980, not so great in every other year. In terms of PAR in a Cleveland uniform, Kosar vs. Sipe is basically a push.
#71: Don Meredith - "Dandy" Don's career lasted only 9 seasons, but he was very productive in most of them (especially 1965-1968). The first great Cowboy QB of the Landry era.
#72: Tobin Rote - The only QB to lead a team to a championship in both the NFL and the AFL. Rote was mostly a very good quarterback throughout his career, but his disastrous 1959 season with Detroit ranks among the very worst seasons in NFL history (-27.7 PAR).
#73: Chris Chandler - A veteran of 18 NFL seasons, "Crystal Chandelier"'s lasting legacy will be leading Atlanta to Super Bowl XXXIII after a career 1998 season. He's lucky in that way; most career journeymen never have a defining season/moment like that which makes their otherwise forgettable career worth remembering.
#74: Babe Parilli - Will always have a place in the hearts of Patriot fans as that franchise's first great QB, as well as one of the AFL's best-ever passers. Also recognized for his skill as a holder, which is a strange distinction until you think of how many botched holds cost teams wins each year.
#75: Charlie Conerly - Conerly's nickname was "The Roach," and he played the Marlboro Man in commercials during the fifties. Not sure what that has to do with his abilities as a football player, but there you have it.
#76: Jack Kemp - In addition to having his name appear on Lenny Leonard's chest tattoo, Kemp is the 3rd-best QB in Buffalo Bills history, a former Congressman, and the former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. He was one of the best quarterbacks in AFL history.
#77: Danny White - Son of former NFL star (and Supreme Court Justice) Byron "Whizzer" White, Danny White filled that frequently-forgotten gap in Cowboys history between Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman. As Dallas' starting QB from 1980-87, White played reasonably well (even making a Pro Bowl), but it was never quite enough to win the respect of Cowboy fans. Of course, when Dallas resorted to the likes of Chad Hutchinson and Quincy Carter at starting QB during the early 2000s, Dallas fans were probably pining for Danny White to come out of retirement...
#78: Jim Zorn - The very best of the fourteen NFL players whose last names start with 'Z'. The second-best Seahawk QB (behind Dave Krieg), Zorn will forever be linked with Hall of Fame WR Steve Largent, his favorite target. Zorn started his career off fast, posting back-to-back 70+ PAR seasons in his third and fourth years in the league, but he trailed off quickly and lost his starting job to Krieg by 1983.
#79: Milt Plum - Plum had some really great years with Cleveland in the late fifties, but lost a lot of his value with some terrible years later in his career with Detroit. His 1960 campaign ranks among the best ever.
#80: Doug Williams - Williams is best known as the MVP of Super Bowl XXII with Washington, but he is also the Buccaneers' best-ever QB. Had he not spent his prime years in the USFL and suffered injuries late in his career, he would certainly be higher on this list.
#81: Jim McMahon - McMahon's best years were his rookie season (1982) and the Bears' Super Bowl season (1985); he makes this list mostly on the strength of those two performances. His persona has a tendency to overshadow his ability as a player, but he was a better-than-average QB during his prime.
#82: Steve Beuerlein - Beuerlein will always be remembered for the way Cornelius Bennett knocked him unconscious during a college game, and his pro career (mostly as a backup) offers little to draw attention away from "The Sack." Still, his 1999 season at the helm of the Carolina Panthers (85.8 PAR) ranks him among the great "one-year wonders" of all time.
#83: Frank Ryan - Frank Ryan put together a pretty good 13-year career in the NFL, complete with an outstanding season for the Cleveland Browns in 1966. He is also one of the smartest QBs in NFL history, having attained a Ph.D. in mathematics from UC-Berkeley.
#84: Kerry Collins - After a bizarre start to his career (he followed a good -- if overhyped -- 1996 with a horrible 1997-1998), he reinvented himself as a pretty decent QB... Until last year, that is.
#85: Matt Hasselbeck - Will move up if he rediscovers his 2002-05 form. If not, he'll be remembered as the brother-in-law of Rosie O'Donnell's nemesis.
#86: Jeff Blake - People always forget how good this guy was in the mid-1990's. One of the best in '95 and '96. Blake's favorite targets were Carl Pickens and Darnay Scott.
#87: Marc Bulger - Could move far up this list if he keeps up his 2006 pace, and stays injury-free (not exactly a guarantee with Bulger).
#88: Tommy Kramer - An oft-injured QB who had some good years as Fran Tarkenton's successor in Minnesota -- when he stayed in one piece, that is. He once threw for six touchdowns in a game.
#89: Mark Rypien - The MVP of Super Bowl XXVI, Rypien was the best QB in the league in 1991, and one of the best players in Tecmo Super Bowl. Of course, life is not a videogame, and Rypien fell apart after 1992.
#90: Ed Brown - Years in which Ed Brown was better than Rex Grossman was in 2006: 1955, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1963. Years in which they were basically equal: 1964.
#91: Jake Plummer - Jake The Snake's 1999 season with Arizona is the second-worst quarterbacking season since 1950. It's actually amazing that he was able to bounce back from it to become a pretty good starter later in his career.
#92: Drew Brees - Brees had a career season in New Orleans last year, ranking 3rd among QBs in PAR. He's got plenty of time to move up this list before it's all said and done.
#93: Jeff Hostetler - Hostetler had one bad ass 'stache. He also led the Giants to victory in Super Bowl XXV (a gutsy performance if ever there was one) and was pretty good as the Raiders' starting QB from 1993-1996.
#94: Doug Flutie - I'd love for Flutie to be higher up on this list, but we aren't counting CFL stats, nor are we factoring in awesome drop-kicked extra points. Still he had some decent NFL years, and he can solace in the fact that: A) He's still better than Rob Johnson; B) Wade Phillips is an idiot.
#95: Lynn Dickey - Along with Don Majkowski, the best Green Bay quarterback between the Starr and Favre eras. Once owned a football-themed restaurant.
#96: Bill Kenney - Kenney didn't play long before pursuing a career in politics, but he cracks the Top 100 on the strength of an outstanding year in 1983.
#97: Aaron Brooks - Brooksie's career as a viable starter is most likely over after last year's debacle in Oakland, but for a time, he was a pretty decent QB who could run and pass a little. Admittedly, his best seasons (2001-2004) look better on paper than they did in real life, but even Football Outsiders saw his 2003 as being very good. And they hate Aaron Brooks!
#98: Michael Vick - Wow, talk about a difficult career to summarize in a paragraph! Let's put the dogfighting thing aside and focus on what we know: In 2002, Mike Vick was one of the best QBs in football. From 2004-06, he was not as good, but he was still better than average when one considers his rushing. He is unquestionably the greatest rushing quarterback of all time, and he held that distinction even before becoming the first QB to break the 1,000-yard barrier last year. If he retired today, he'd be in the Top 100. The question is, will he play again after the resolution of his legal issues?
#99: Bill Nelsen - Nelsen went to the Pro Bowl in 1968, but his best year was 1969, when he put up 66.0 PAR. He's one of the most successful 10th-round picks in NFL history.
#100:Tom Flores - Flores holds the distinction of being the first Hispanic quarterback in American professional football, as well as being the first QB in the history of the Oakland Raiders. While Ken Stabler, Daryle Lamonica, and Rich Gannon have ultimately surpassed him, he remains the 4th-best QB in franchise history, and he also became the first minority head coach to win a Super Bowl, having led Oakland to championships in Super Bowl XV and Super Bowl XVIII.
Just missed the cut: Jay Schroeder, Bill Munson, Bobby Hebert, Richard Todd, Chris Miller, Gus Frerotte, Gary Danielson, Bob Berry, Stan Humphries, Eddie LeBaron, Dan Pastorini, Wade Wilson, Elvis Grbac, Chad Pennington, Brian Griese, Jake Delhomme, Jon Kitna.
