Top 20 Quarterbacks To Play the Game (NFL/AFL)

[Deputy Nutz]

This all started because I like to use sports statistics in my math classes. It keeps things interesting for the kids. My assistant and I got into a discussion about the top 5 greatest Qbs of all time and we had a differing of opinion. His list favored stats while mine favored wins and championships. So over the weekend I did some statistical analysis and I surprised myself. The Top 10 was not really all that difficult. The only argument was where to place these guys on the list, because to me they were all top ten players. 11-20 was much more difficult. The biggest challenge was the statistical anomalies throughout the last 80 years on QBs. Bart Starr was a well decorated QB in the 1960s but his stats cannot compare to those of the players 50 years later. If I were to rank running backs, it would fair much easier. I looked at several key stats, years played, completion %, TD/INT ratio, Yards per Attempt, Yards per Completion, yards per game, QB Rating, 4th quarter comebacks, game winning drives, regular season records, playoff records, rushing yards, rushing TDs, Yards per carry. Well here goes nothing.

#20
Sonny Jurgensen 5 11' 202lbs
Eagles and Redskins
The only NFL Championship he won was when he was a back during his third year with the Eagles. Jurgensen had a prototypical throwing motion and delivery. He put good zip on the ball. He was a 5 time pro-bowler and a two time All Pro. He led the league 5 times in total passing yards and passing touchdowns twice. He was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983. An interesting stat was that Jurgensen led the NFL in pass attempts with 421 in 1969, the one and only year that Lombardi was his coach.

Jurgensen biggest failing was that he only went to the playoffs 4 times and never won a game as a starting QB.

Years Played: 18
Games Started:147
Regular Season Record: 69-73-7
Playoff Record: 0-3
Completion %: 57.1
Yards per Attempt: 7.6
Yards per Completion: 13.2
Yards per Game: 147
TD to INT ratio: 255/189
QB rating: 82.6
4th Quarter Comebacks: 18
Game Winning Drives: 14
Rushing Yards: 493
Yards per Carry: 2.7
Rushing TDs: 15

Up Next #19

[Deputy Nutz]

#19
Kurt Warner
Rams, Giants, Cardinals

Kurt Warner was a nobody from Iowa. He played for little known Northern Iowa. He was able to get a short stint in training camp with the Packers in 1994. He managed to make the roster for the St. Louis Rams in 1998 under famed coach Dick Vermeil. In 1999 The Rams signed Trent Green to be their starting QB, but he was injured in preseason, and the starting gig was given to Warner. Warner would go on to lead the Rams to victory in the Super Bowl that season running a high speed offense that saw Warner pass for 41 touchdown passes breaking Brett Favre's NFC record of 38. Warner would go on to win the league's MVP that season. Warner would earn 4 trips to the Pro Bowl, the 1999 MVP and the 2001 MVP from the AP. His career with the Rams diminished after their appearance in the 2001 Super Bowl and he eventually became the back up to Eli Manning in New York. a Year later he moved to Arizona and led the Cardinals to the Super Bowl in 2008. He retired after the 2009 season.

Years Played: : 12
Games Started:116
Regular Season Record: 67-49
Playoff Record: 9-4
Completion %: 65.5
Yards per Attempt: 7.9
Yards per Completion: 12.1
Yards per Game: 260
TD to INT ratio: 208-84
QB rating: 93.7
4th Quarter Comebacks: 9
Game Winning Drives: 14
Rushing Yards: 286
Yards per Carry: 1.7
Rushing TDs: 3

[mraynrand]

Putting aside championships, Warren Moon and Dan Marino are the best pure QBs I've ever seen. Brady, Starr, Montana, Graham I would put at the top of the 'winners' category - guys who knew how to win games. Manning is in the technician class with Rodgers and Brees. Favre is in the gunslinger/playmaker/tough guy category with Steve Young, Ben Worthlessburger and yes, that little scrambling f-er from Minnesota.

more later...

[Patler]

Where did Steve McNair go? I thought he was #19 an hour ago, or so.

[mraynrand]

Where did Steve McNair go? I thought he was #19 an hour ago, or so.

racist

[Patler]

Putting aside championships, Warren Moon and Dan Marino are the best pure QBs I've ever seen. Brady, Starr, Montana, Graham I would put at the top of the 'winners' category - guys who knew how to win games. Manning is in the technician class with Rodgers and Brees. Favre is in the gunslinger/playmaker/tough guy category with Steve Young, Ben Worthlessburger and yes, that little scrambling f-er from Minnesota.

more later...

Marino was something, especially when you consider that he had no legs and could barely move in the pocket, let alone run or scramble out of trouble. Most years he had negative rushing yards. Magical arm, though. Just a blur when he threw. He would look like he was in trouble in the pocket, and all of a sudden the ball was on its way downfield, yet you barely saw him cock and throw, When he set the records, they were well beyond his contemporaries.

[Deputy Nutz]

Where did Steve McNair go? I thought he was #19 an hour ago, or so.

That's the problem with trying to make this list! After further inspection he wasn't qualified!

[Deputy Nutz]

Marino was something, especially when you consider that he had no legs and could barely move in the pocket, let alone run or scramble out of trouble. Most years he had negative rushing yards. Magical arm, though. Just a blur when he threw. He would look like he was in trouble in the pocket, and all of a sudden the ball was on its way downfield, yet you barely saw him cock and throw, When he set the records, they were well beyond his contemporaries.

Marino is the only QB from the 80s that has numbers that are comparable to what QBs are doing today

[Patler]

That's the problem with trying to make this list! After further inspection he wasn't qualified!

Really? I'm surprised. I thought maybe you realized you missed Warner, and McNair would be higher on the list.
I'd take MaNair over Warner (if he was still alive and both were still capable of playing.)

[Patler]

Marino is the only QB from the 80s that has numbers that are comparable to what QBs are doing today

Yup, like Jim Brown was with the rushing record for a long time, even somewhat is still today, 50 years after he retired.

[Deputy Nutz]

#18
Otto Graham 6-1 195lbs
Browns

Otto Graham played in a different era than almost anyone else on this list. When he started playing for the Browns they weren't even in the NFL, they were in the AAFC. Graham led the Browns to 4 AAFC championships, and then when the Browns moved to the NFL he won 3 more NFL Championships. Considering he only played 10 years of football 7 championships is quite the accomplishment. Graham was a 5 time Pro Bowler.

Years Played: 10
Games Started: 126
Regular Season Record: 57-13-1
Playoff Record: 9-3
Completion %: 55.8
Yards per Attempt: 9
Yards per Completion: 16.1
Yards per Game: 187
TD to INT ratio:174-135
QB rating: 86.6
4th Quarter Comebacks:
Game Winning Drives:
Rushing Yards: 882
Yards per Carry: 2.2
Rushing TDs: 44

[Deputy Nutz]

Really? I'm surprised. I thought maybe you realized you missed Warner, and McNair would be higher on the list.
I'd take MaNair over Warner (if he was still alive and both were still capable of playing.)

It was a coin flip

Tough on these bottom guys.

[Deputy Nutz]

Yup, like Jim Brown was with the rushing record for a long time, even somewhat is still today, 50 years after he retired.

Rushing is still pretty close throughout the years. The running game was a huge part of the offense back in the day. The difference is many teams used both the fullback and halfback when rushing the ball back in the day. Jim Brown was a one man wrecking crew which was rare back then and which makes his stats hold up to today's one back attack.

[mraynrand]

It was a coin flip

Tough on these bottom guys.

I agree. Probably less than a yard separates those two.

[Deputy Nutz]

#17
Aaron Rodgers 6-2 223lbs
Packers

Aaron Rodgers is the youngest player to show up on this list. He is a two time NFL MVP, Super Bowl MVP, a five time Pro Bowler, and a two time All-Pro. Rodgers is the prototypical modern era QB with a high number of touchdowns to a very low number of interceptions. he is one of the most accurate QBs of all time and has the highest QB rating of any quarterback to play the game. Depending on how long Rodgers stays in the game and continues to play at a high level when he retires he could easily be considered a top ten QB of all time. Unlike many on this list Rodgers had to sit and learn the game for three years. It wasn't until Brett Favre was traded that the door to the starting QB job in Green Bay was opened to Rodgers. He took the job and ran with it demonstrating that the Packers could continue one the same path that they were one with Favre.

Years Played: 11
Games Started: 119
Regular Season Record: 80-39
Playoff Record: 7-6
Completion %: 65
Yards per Attempt: 8.0
Yards per Completion: 12.3
Yards per Game: 257
TD to INT ratio: 257-93
QB rating: 104.1
4th Quarter Comebacks: 8
Game Winning Drives: 12
Rushing Yards: 2175
Yards per Carry: 5.0
Rushing TDs: 21

[mraynrand]

Considering he only played 10 years of football 7 championships is quite the accomplishment. Graham was a 5 time Pro Bowler.

He was in the Championship Game of his league every year of his career. There isn't another QB, let alone player at any position that I can think of on any level except maybe high school who can make this claim.

[Patler]

Rushing is still pretty close throughout the years. The running game was a huge part of the offense back in the day. The difference is many teams used both the fullback and halfback when rushing the ball back in the day. Jim Brown was a one man wrecking crew which was rare back then and which makes his stats hold up to today's one back attack.

Somewhat, but not entirely. Early in his career, Jim Brown played with future HOFer Bobby Mitchell, who was a running back with Cleveland. After Mitchell was traded, Brown played with Ernie Green. Both Mitchell and Green would get 500 yards/year running the ball, not much behind the likes of Hornung, Moore or Pitts for the Packers.

Brown often lead the league in carries, but that was a result of his greatness, not the cause of it.

[Deputy Nutz]

sure but you are also talking about way more carries to go around as teams did not pass the ball as often. Brown received those carries because he was a destroyer of men, and then there were carries left over because teams weren't chucking the ball 40 times a game. If the average game back then consisted of 60-65 plays and they threw the ball 20 times to 25 times a game that left 40 carries. That's a lot of carries to go around even if Brown was getting the majority of them.

[Patler]

sure but you are also talking about way more carries to go around as teams did not pass the ball as often. Brown received those carries because he was a destroyer of men, and then there were carries left over because teams weren't chucking the ball 40 times a game. If the average game back then consisted of 60-65 plays and they threw the ball 20 times to 25 times a game that left 40 carries. That's a lot of carries to go around even if Brown was getting the majority of them.

Brown did not average more carries per game over his career than most of the backs who top the all time list today (right around 20/game), but he played far fewer games than many of them. Even after missing a season, Adrian Peterson has already played more games than Brown did (just 2), has 22 more carries than Brown did, but 700 fewer yards than Brown over his career.

It was more of a rushing game in the '50s and '60s than it is today, and defenses were designed to stop the run. Good backs got 4 yards/carry. Brown got 5 yards. If you look at the career rushing leaders, only two have averaged 5 yards/carry or more; Barry Sanders at 5.0 yards and Jim Brown at 5.2 yards. Jim Taylor, generally considered the second best to Brown when both played in the '60s, averaged 4.4 yards.

[Deputy Nutz]

If you are trying to argue that Brown is as talented as the backs today I am in agreement with you. Brown's overall stats maintain over the course of history.