Best Quarterback Franchises: A Top 5 List

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Compiled through the work, and numerous articles by Football Outsiders Mike Tanier. His Top 5 QB lists were largely compiled during the lockout this past offseason, but you can find all his Walkthrough articles here:

http://footballoutsiders.com/walkthrough/2011/walkthrough-moth-balls
http://footballoutsiders.com/walkthrough?page=1
http://footballoutsiders.com/walkthrough?page=2

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AFC North
Pittsburgh Steelers
1. Terry Bradshaw.
2. Ben Roethlisberger
3. Neil O'Donnell
4. Like, Kordell Stewart, maybe.
5. The end-of-the-line Bobby Layne? I will take him over Mark Malone.

Baltimore Ravens
1. Joe Flacco
2. Vinny Testaverde
3. Steve McNair
4. Kyle Boller
5. He refused to choose.

Cincinnati Bengals
1. Ken Anderson
2. Boomer Esiason
3. Carson Palmer
4. Jeff Blake
5. Virgil Carter

Cleveland Browns
1. Otto Graham
2. Frank Ryan
3. Bernie Kosar
4. Brian Sipe
5. Milt Plum

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NFC North
Detroit Lions
1. Bobby Layne
2. Greg Landry
3. Gary Danielson
4. Scott Mitchell
5. Bill Munson

Minnesota Vikings
1. Fran Tarkenton
2. Daunte Culpepper
3. Tommy Kramer
4. Brad Johnson
5. Joe Kapp

Chicago Bears
1. Sid Luckman.
2. Jim McMahon
3. Jim Harbaugh
4. Billy Wade
5. Jay Cutler

Green Bay Packers
1. Brett Favre
2. Bart Starr. Some people will flip these first two. Knock yourself out.
3. Artie Herber. As I said a moment ago, I am always wary of these leather helmet guys. Give me a guy who started for eight years during my lifetime and led his team to a few 10-6 seasons over someone whose encyclopedia position entry reads TB-LB-QB-P-ZV and threw 124 passes per year. The old guys were undoubtedly tough, exciting to watch, and multi-talented, but the comparisons become more like "apples to giraffes" than "apples to oranges" the further you go into the era of two-way players. Still, Herber's a Hall-of-Famer, and the next few guys do not exactly have overwhelming resumes.
4. Lynn Dickey. An intermittently successful quarterback who put up big numbers in the 1980s. I rarely saw him play, because the Packers were never televised back then, so I don't know if he's really better than Rodgers. He never had a winning record as a starter.
5. Aaron Rodgers. This is Rodgers' third full season as a starter. Do you know how I remember that? By counting Favre Years. I noticed a friend doing the same thing last week. He was trying to remember if this was Rodgers' third or fourth year as a starter, so he started counting on his fingers: "the Jets year, the good Vikings year, this year, yep, that's three."

Tobin Rote was an excellent quarterback in the mid-1950s, but the Packers always seemed to go 3-9 with Rote starting. You have to be careful when you see impressive passing statistics from any era before 1978: Sometimes you are looking at an innovative coach and a great quarterback, but you are just as likely to be looking at a bad team that threw like crazy to catch up. The good-quarterback-bad-team statistical profile was more pronounced in the old days. Cecil Isbell was a contemporary of Herber. They shared the backfield with Hall of Fame fullback Clarke Hinkle, and it was a kinky three-way, with everyone throwing passes to everyone else. I will stick with Rodgers.

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NFC East
Dallas Cowboys
1. Roger Staubach
2. Troy Aikman
3. Don Meredith
4. Danny White
5. Tony Romo

New York Giants
1. Phil Simms
2. Charlie Conerly
3. Eli Manning
4. Y.A. Tittle
5. Fran Tarkenton

Philadelphia Eagles
1. Donovan McNabb.
2. Norm Van Brocklin
3. Ron Jaworski
4. Randall Cunningham
5. Sonny Jurgensen

Washington Redskins
1. Sammy Baugh
2. Sonny Jurgensen
3. Joe Theismann
4. Billy Kilmer
5. Mark Rypien

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NFC South
Atlanta Falcons
1. Steve Bartkowski
2. Matt Ryan
3. Michael Vick
4. Chris Chandler
5. Chris Miller

Carolina Panthers
1. Jake Delhomme
2. Steve Beuerlein
3. Kerry Collins
4. Matt Moore
5. Rodney Peete

New Orleans Saints
1. Drew Brees.
2. Archie Manning
3. Bobby Hebert
4. Aaron Brooks
5. Jim Everett

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
1. Brad Johnson
2. Doug Williams
3. Trent Dilfer
4. Vinny Testaverde
5. Jeff Garcia

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NFC West
Cleveland/Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams
1. Roman Gabriel
2. Norm Van Brocklin
3. Kurt Warner
4. Bob Waterfield
5. Jim Everett

San Francisco 49ers
1. Joe Montana
2. Steve Young
3. John Brodie
4. Y.A. Tittle
5. Jeff Garcia

Arizona/St. Louis/Chicago Cardinals
1. Jim Hart
2. Kurt Warner
3. Neil Lomax
4. Charley Johnson
5. Jake Plummer

Seattle Seahawks
1. Matt Hasselbeck
2. Dave Krieg
3. Jim Zorn
4. Warren Moon
5. Jon Kitna

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AFC East
Buffalo Bills
1. Jim Kelly
2. Joe Ferguson
3. Jack Kemp
4. Drew Bledsoe
5. Doug Flutie

New England Patriots
1. Tom Brady.
2. Drew Bledsoe
3. Babe Parilli
4. Steve Grogan
5. Tony Eason

Miami Dolphins
1. Dan Marino
2. Bob Griese
3. Jay Fiedler
4. Don Strock
5. Earl Morrall

New York Jets
1. Joe Namath
2. Chad Pennington
3. Ken O'Brien
4. Vinny Testaverde
5. Richard Todd

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AFC South
Jacksonville Jaguars
1. Mark Brunell
2. David Garrard
3. Byron Leftwich
4. Quinn Gray
5. Blaine Gabbert

Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans
1. Warren Moon
2. Steve McNair
3. George Blanda
4. Dan Pastorini
5. Vince Young

Houston Texans
1. Matt Schaub
2. David Carr
3. Sage Rosenfels
4. Tony Banks
5. Dave Ragone

Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts
1. Peyton Manning
2. Johnny Unitas
3. Bert Jones
4. Jim Harbaugh
5. Earl Morrall

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AFC West

Denver Broncos
1. John Elway
2. Craig Morton
3. Jake Plummer
4. Brian Griese
5. Frank Tripucka

Kansas City Chiefs
1. Len Dawson
2. Trent Green
3. Bill Kenney
4. Joe Montana
5. Steve DeBerg

Raiders
1. Ken Stabler
2. Daryle Lamonica
3. Rich Gannon
4. Jim Plunkett
5. Jeff Hostetler

Chargers
1. Dan Fouts
2. John Hadl
3. Philip Rivers
4. Stan Humphries
5. Drew Brees

[Upnorth]

I normally really like fo content, but favre as #1 bugged me then and now.

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Tanier wasn't doing a research paper, he was just constructing a list. And given his age, many of these people are encyclopedia entries, wikipedia pages and the season stat lines on profootballreference.com to him. So he does dismiss Starr too easily.

By his perspective, Favre would seem to notch above Starr statistically as titles do seem an unfair way to judge a QB alone. This and a few others are obvious quibbles, but the larger point is that most franchises haven't had 3 All-Pros starting at QB during their entire existence.

vince's original point was largely valid in the R vs. F career thread: there are very few teams with a number of very good QBs in their history. And the number 1 team on that list are the Bears, followed by the Steelers.

[channtheman]

Pretty sure this is Rodgers 4th year as a starter. 2008 (6-10), 2009 (11-5), 2010 (10-6), and now 2011 (4-0).

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Pretty sure this is Rodgers 4th year as a starter. 2008 (6-10), 2009 (11-5), 2010 (10-6), and now 2011 (4-0).

Good point, I should have labeled this as the work of the previous offseason. So for this list, Rodgers was starter for 3 years with a Super Bowl to his credit.

[Upnorth]

I am suprised at the quality of the qb's for the eagles, hard to believe they don't win. Also the colts have a better list than what I would have thought of the top of my head. Ditto the redskins.

[channtheman]

Good point, I should have labeled this as the work of the previous offseason. So for this list, Rodgers was starter for 3 years with a Super Bowl to his credit.

Oh I see, got it.

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For me the surprise are the 49ers. Of course you remember Montana and Young, but you think the franchise was not much to look at for half a century.

But Brodie was a former MVP and 3rd in all time passing yards when the two above him, Tarkenton and Unitas were Hall of Famers. That plus and end of career Y.A. Tittle makes the list far more interesting than just the Walsh QBs.

[vince]

Thanks for compiling those PB. Good stuff. I agree on SF.

Cecil Isbell for the Packers doesn't get much love because he only played 5 years I think. He's a sure-fire HoFer and probably moves up over Arnie Herber if he plays even a few years longer. He was at the top of the game, more prolific than Slingin' Sammy Baugh (the Redskins #1 all-time) as a QB when he retired out of the blue to coach at his alma mater Purdue.

[Smidgeon]

Good point, I should have labeled this as the work of the previous offseason. So for this list, Rodgers was starter for 3 years with a Super Bowl to his credit.

If you read the paragraph closely, it said that this is Rodgers' third year as starter, not that he just finished it. So for this list, it was either upcoming or in the middle of the third season. Without a Super Bowl to his credit. I didn't go to the original article to look at the date stamp, but that was my impression reading it.

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Good point. The article was actually written as part of a preview to the Super Bowl. In fact, the preview was the impetus for the rest of the series. So Rodgers might have moved up on the Packers list if he had redone the list over the summer.

[Smidgeon]

I certainly don't know enough about history to call myself anything like an expert. All I know is that I've been blessed as a fan to watch two great NFL QBs play for the entirety of me being an active fan.

I sincerely hope the cycle and tradition and expectation of a winning system that Wolf put into place and Thompson recovered remains in place for a long time. There may not be a Rodgers or Favre around next time, but with this system, there seems to be a shot to remain relevant indefinitely regardless.

[Cheesehead Craig]

Interesting the number of names that are on more than 1 team.

Rodgers will bolt past the other 2 names in front of him in no time. Hopefully some day it does become a hell of a conversation on who was the best out of him, Favre and Starr.

[channtheman]

I think we may be watching one of the best QB's of all time. If Rodgers maintains this level of play for 7 more seasons, I think no question he is.

[Guiness]

Very true and interesting that few teams have had multiple good QB's. I'm sure a good part of that is because of the longevity of good QB's. But it's still comical to see Vince Young listed, or Testaverde listed for three team. With the Jets - he was only their starter for 3 seasons, and started games in 3 others. He also makes the Raven's list pretty much for his work in one season!

[MadScientist]

I think we may be watching one of the best QB's of all time. If Rodgers maintains this level of play for 7 more seasons, I think no question he is.

Rodgers has been outstanding so far, but even with 7 more years at this rate, I'm not sure he will be considered at the top of the Packers' list (5 championships for Bart, every record under the sun for Brett). 1a, b, and c, I'd guess.


Very true and interesting that few teams have had multiple good QB's. I'm sure a good part of that is because of the longevity of good QB's. But it's still comical to see Vince Young listed, or Testaverde listed for three team. With the Jets - he was only their starter for 3 seasons, and started games in 3 others. He also makes the Raven's list pretty much for his work in one season!

Special QB's don't come around all that often. The Packers have been around forever, but there are only 2 better than the current QB (Herber wasn't a better QB, but was the best of that very different era)

[HarveyWallbangers]

Rodgers has been outstanding so far, but even with 7 more years at this rate, I'm not sure he will be considered at the top of the Packers' list (5 championships for Bart, every record under the sun for Brett). 1a, b, and c, I'd guess.

He won't necessarily have to win as many championships as Bart (different era with free agency) or pass Bert's records to be considered the best.

If he wins a another title or two (in the free agency era) and his passer rating continues to hover around 100 (with high yardage and TD totals and low pick totals) for several years, that may be enough.

[RashanGary]

Pretty sure this is Rodgers 4th year as a starter. 2008 (6-10), 2009 (11-5), 2010 (10-6), and now 2011 (4-0).

Yeah, haha. The jets year, the Viking good year, yup, this is 3.

[Fritz]

Couple of notes:

I've always been a huge Lynn Dickey fan. His stats (especially interceptions) aren't always stellar, but he got the hell knocked out of him and had gimpy knees. Had he been on a team that could consistently protect the QB, he'd have been golden.

I've enjoyed NFL history and so have done some reading. A couple of sites, including CHFF, rate YA Tittle as one of the best ever QB's, along with Otto Graham. So I think Tittle is too low on the list for the Giants. He should be above both Conerly and Manning. But guess who CHFF had as the best QB ever? And had stats - besides number of championships - to back it up with? Bart Starr.

I also recall Bert Jones as having a rocket for an arm with the Colts. I believe Ted Marchibroda coached him and the team to one very good year, but the rest of the time, not so much.

Finally, the Lions' list is one of the sorriest of them all. After Bobby Layne, your best is Bill Munson or Greg Landry? Neither could even beat the other out, and neither had much success. And Scott Mitchell and Gary Danielson? Wow. Journeymen. I think Tobin Rote played for the Leos in the 60's. He ought to be on their list. Hell, Matt Stafford should be on that list.

I don't agree with the Bears as top of anyone's list. After Luckman, you have only McMahon and Harbaugh? That's pretty damn unimpressive.

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Couple of notes:

I've enjoyed NFL history and so have done some reading. A couple of sites, including CHFF, rate YA Tittle as one of the best ever QB's, along with Otto Graham. So I think Tittle is too low on the list for the Giants. He should be above both Conerly and Manning. But guess who CHFF had as the best QB ever? And had stats - besides number of championships - to back it up with? Bart Starr.


This list took into consideration only the years spent with the team and Tittle was an older player with the Giants after his stint with the 49ers.

[channtheman]

Rodgers has been outstanding so far, but even with 7 more years at this rate, I'm not sure he will be considered at the top of the Packers' list (5 championships for Bart, every record under the sun for Brett). 1a, b, and c, I'd guess.

I'm assuming if Rodgers maintains this level of play, we should win 2 more Super Bowls in the next 7 years as well. Rodgers with 11 years of playing with a rating over 100 and 3 Super Bowl titles to his name I think would be hard to not list him above Brett for sure and maybe tie him with Starr. Then Starr and Rodgers are tied for the 2 best QB's of all time.

[MJZiggy]

I dunno, Chan...we always thought the same about Favre. We always figured with as great as he was, there was always a SB around the corner.

[channtheman]

I dunno, Chan...we always thought the same about Favre. We always figured with as great as he was, there was always a SB around the corner.

That's true, but it would be very disappointing to me if last year is the only SB that Rodgers wins. I do get your point though.

[Joemailman]

I dunno, Chan...we always thought the same about Favre. We always figured with as great as he was, there was always a SB around the corner.

I'm sure the Dolphins thought the same thing with Marino. Rodgers will continue to be great. The question is whether the rest of the team will remain at an elite level. Woodson, Driver and Clifton are likely getting near the end. Nick Collins may be done. Maintaining a Super Bowl-caliber team is a real challenge.

[channtheman]

I'm sure the Dolphins thought the same thing with Marino. Rodgers will continue to be great. The question is whether the rest of the team will remain at an elite level. Woodson, Driver and Clifton are likely getting near the end. Nick Collins may be done. Maintaining a Super Bowl-caliber team is a real challenge.

I'm mostly concerned about our defense. We do have some young stars coming up on defense, but our offense seems to be ONLY young stars.

[Pugger]

I dunno, Chan...we always thought the same about Favre. We always figured with as great as he was, there was always a SB around the corner.

Even tho he has scads of records my beef with Favre is his less than stellar play in big games. I'm hoping Rodgers has ample opportunities to play in big games and performs more like Starr than #4.

[Upnorth]

I would love to see this team three peat, I know we still have not won #2 yet and the cart has a lenght and a half lead over the horse at this point, but it would be sweet to see the pack be the only team to ever three peat, and this will be there third time!

Some one must have put prosac in my coffee this morning.

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Bump.

[Upnorth]

I was talking about a three peat? Man talk about over indulging in prosac.

[Pugger]

I dunno, Chan...we always thought the same about Favre. We always figured with as great as he was, there was always a SB around the corner.


That's true, but it would be very disappointing to me if last year is the only SB that Rodgers wins. I do get your point though.

I should have added this before.

That is the real mystery, isn't it? Why a player like Favre would only win one title? I suppose we could say the same thing about P. Manning. So maybe winning all those titles by Starr looks more impressive when you think about it.

I'd wager Rodgers wins at least one more ring because of the way he plays = he's careful with the football and doesn't take unneccessary chances like BF did at times. We shall see (and we all sure hope it is more than just one more!).

[Deputy Nutz]

Well it is a team game, and if coaching staffs aren't put together in the right way, and if the draft and free agency isn't handled correctly it is really tough to win Super Bowls. The Green Bay Packers were in desperate need for a Championship in the 90s and Wolf put all the pieces together to make that run and he succeeded, but there wasn't a lot left after 1997 and 1998, Holmgren left, half of his coaching staff were head coaches. Wolf made some dreadful mistakes in hiring and Sherman proved he was one of the worst GMs in NFL History.

I give tons of respect to Ted Thompson, he is really on a run and if he continues to have success in the draft this team has a chance every year. It is all about reloading and not getting stale. Now if McCarthy left where would this current team be in 2 years? What if then Thompson left?

[channtheman]

Well it is a team game, and if coaching staffs aren't put together in the right way, and if the draft and free agency isn't handled correctly it is really tough to win Super Bowls. The Green Bay Packers were in desperate need for a Championship in the 90s and Wolf put all the pieces together to make that run and he succeeded, but there wasn't a lot left after 1997 and 1998, Holmgren left, half of his coaching staff were head coaches. Wolf made some dreadful mistakes in hiring and Sherman proved he was one of the worst GMs in NFL History.

I give tons of respect to Ted Thompson, he is really on a run and if he continues to have success in the draft this team has a chance every year. It is all about reloading and not getting stale. Now if McCarthy left where would this current team be in 2 years? What if then Thompson left?

I'm not saying that you are saying that MM or TT are going to leave, but really where would they want to go? You have to think the MM/TT partnership is about as good as it gets for both of them. I don't see McCarthy getting the GM itch and wanting to run the whole show like the previous two Mike's wanted to (Holmgren moreso than Sherman) and TT will probably be allowed to be GM here until he doesn't want to.

[Deputy Nutz]

I am not saying they are gonig any where anytime soon, but you can point to Holmgren leaving and personel moves made by Wolf and his retirement as the ending of the Super Bowl run in the 1990s. I was answering a question as to why Favre never won more Super Bowls. After 1997 his best chances to win a Super Bowl was in 2003, 2007, and 2009 as a Viking. Again hypothetically where would this team be in two years if McCarthy bolted for Pittsburgh or Philly, and Thompson retired two years after that? This game changes on a dime, and the parity in the league is at an all time high, Rodgers could have some great seasons in the next 7 years but might not ever make it to another Super Bowl because of things that are out of his hands.

[sharpe1027]

I agree with Dep. Nutz's point, that it is a team game and wrong to judge a QB solely on SB wins and to assume that a great QB will win more SBs in the future. IMO, QB's get too much credit and too much blame.

Rodgers is playing lights out right now, but if he had been traded to the Redskins at the begining of the year, he would not even be close to his current stats. Early in Favre's career, he played better than the QBs on other teams, but the Packers still only one one SB. On the other hand, Favre has had his share of the blame for not having more SB wins with his horrific playoff performances late in his career.

[MJZiggy]

Well it is a team game, and if coaching staffs aren't put together in the right way, and if the draft and free agency isn't handled correctly it is really tough to win Super Bowls. The Green Bay Packers were in desperate need for a Championship in the 90s and Wolf put all the pieces together to make that run and he succeeded, but there wasn't a lot left after 1997 and 1998, Holmgren left, half of his coaching staff were head coaches. Wolf made some dreadful mistakes in hiring and Sherman proved he was one of the worst GMs in NFL History.

I give tons of respect to Ted Thompson, he is really on a run and if he continues to have success in the draft this team has a chance every year. It is all about reloading and not getting stale. Now if McCarthy left where would this current team be in 2 years? What if then Thompson left?

This post does a tremendous disservice to the absolute suckitude that was Matt Millen's reign.

[Deputy Nutz]

I can't comment on how hard Matt Millen worked as the GM of the Lions. I just can't attribute the success of the job as an NFL GM on hard work alone. I think there has to be talent their besides just locking yourself away in a film room and study tape of college players. You also have to have a great staff around you, and you just can't say enough about the job Reggie McKenzie has done.

[Fritz]

So Don Majkowski gets no love at all on the Packers' top-seven list of all-time QB's?

[Deputy Nutz]

Majik had a good season in 1989 but before and after he couldn't stay on the field because of injuries. So I don't think his stats are going to stand up to the others on the list.