Quote Originally Posted by Harlan Huckleby View Post
I don't know, he played with such talent in an era when teams could amass a dominant roster. What is your list?

I put Favre at top of list because of his combo of physical talent and accomplishments.


Sounds like Herber is only guy who was clearly dominant at QB position in his era, so he had to be up there.

Rodgers ahead of Starr is speculation.
Comparing old guys to modern guys is good conversation, but there's really no meaningful metric to do it. The game and the players have changed too much. Was Jerry Rice better than Don Hutson? Dan Marino better than Cecil Isbell? It's like comparing a modern day Ferrari to a Duesenberg.

In their day Herber and Isbell were elite talents. Lambeau called Herber the best long passer ever and he called Isbell the best passer of the two. Go figure. Isbell was an outstanding runner; Herber was a dud. Herber was the better punter. A good part of their fame was the fact that they were pioneers of an evolving game. Hutson too.

Of the modern guys on your list, I'd rank them:

1 Bart Starr
2 Aaron Rodgers
3 Brett Favre
4 Lynn Dickey
5 Tobin Rote
5 Don Majkowski

I put Starr on top simply because he was far and away the best field general in football in an era when the QB called his own plays. Sure, he was surrounded by talent, but so was Favre and Dickey (at least on offense). Plus, Starr took care of the ball like Rodgers does, which I highly value. Starr was irritating to watch they way he took sacks, but he also stood in there and took the hits. Very brave man.

Rodgers? What can I say that we don't all know. He is like Bart Starr on steroids.

Favre? I've often said he's the most exciting player I've ever seen, but not the best QB. I've seen him throw too many times into triple coverage when the game was on the line. When he was on, he was exciting.

Dickey was a great passer, as you say. But he had problems turning the ball over as well.

Tobin Rote and Don Majkowski were similar types. They were good runners, good passers and gave hope to the Packer faithful in lean times.

As far as Starr's standing among all QB's in his era, I'd take him over Unitas. Johnny was a better passer by far, but Starr was cool and consistent in the clutch, which was his hallmark.