What year had (Talentwise) the least talented Top 10 QBs?

nobody

nobody

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There is no agenda here, just a question that popped into my head.

We'll go with an arbitrary number to start: 1980

Since 1980, which year had the least talented top 10 QB's in the NFL?

Conversely, which likely had the best top 10 QB's?

Don't just go by throwing stats because the rules have changed massively to protect passing since 1980.
 
nobody said:
There is no agenda here, just a question that popped into my head.

We'll go with an arbitrary number to start: 1980

Since 1980, which year had the least talented top 10 QB's in the NFL?

Conversely, which likely had the best top 10 QB's?

Don't just go by throwing stats because the rules have changed massively to protect passing since 1980.
Click to expand...
Interesting question would probably go with early 80s and maybe later 90s as the worst just because they were both transition periods where the old guard was disappearing and right before the next generation of new QBs was coming in. Then offenses really benefitted from defensive changes and more QB protection rules which I think extended the windows of the new QB generation in the 200s and 2010s.
 
Hot Take: the QB talent now is better than it has ever been. The guys floating around 12th-18th are Brock Purdy and Jalen Hurts and Caleb Williams and Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold and Jayden Daniels. Look at just 10-15 years ago when those spots were Andy Dalton and Kirk Cousins and Matt Hasselbeck and Ryan Tannehill and Matt Schaub. Or 10-15 years before that when it was Chad Pennington and Jay Fiedler and Quincy Carter and Trent Dilfer and Tavaris Jackson and Matt Cassel

The worst since 1980 was probably right before Elway/Marino/Kelly were drafted
 
Early 80's. Maybe 1981.

Dan Fouts
Tommy Kramer
Brian Sipe
Steve Bartkowski
Ken Anderson
Joe Ferguson
Joe Theisman
Joe Montana
Doug Williams
Richard Todd

Of note is that Fouts threw for 4802 yards which was almost 900 yards more than #2 Kramer. Also more than anyone tossed in 2025.
 
Aerolithe_Lion said:
Hot Take: the QB talent now is better than it has ever been. The guys floating around 12th-18th are Brock Purdy and Jalen Hurts and Caleb Williams and Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold and Jayden Daniels. Look at just 10-15 years ago when those spots were Andy Dalton and Kirk Cousins and Matt Hasselbeck and Ryan Tannehill and Matt Schaub. Or 10-15 years before that when it was Chad Pennington and Jay Fiedler and Quincy Carter and Trent Dilfer and Tavaris Jackson and Matt Cassel

The worst since 1980 was probably right before Elway/Marino/Kelly were drafted
Click to expand...
The rules have changed dramatically to favor the QB over the years. Some of the guys you mentioned would probably be very good today.
 
Out of curiosity, I asked ChatGPT and I asked based on adjusted for era and rules changes, I asked it to show the worst year based on the average QBR of the top 10 QBs and it reported 1981, which aligns with @Vtwin 's estimation. I then asked about best instead of worst and it said 2011.
 
Vtwin said:
Early 80's. Maybe 1981.

Dan Fouts
Tommy Kramer
Brian Sipe
Steve Bartkowski
Ken Anderson
Joe Ferguson
Joe Theisman
Joe Montana
Doug Williams
Richard Todd

Of note is that Fouts threw for 4802 yards which was almost 900 yards more than #2 Kramer. Also more than anyone tossed in 2025.
Click to expand...
Fouts, Anderson, and of course Montana
the rest were meh
 
kskboys said:
At one point, Steve McNair was considered the 2nd best QB in the NFL. Prolly one of those years.
Click to expand...
Ha yeah right. Rich Gannon was a top QB around then. Dolphins were playing well with Jay Fiedler, etc.
 
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