Dak is a greater QB than Aikman?

[kskboys]

I can understand the argument for Meredith and the special place he holds in franchise history as the Cowboys first QB, but for me I would place him 6th. Lower career winning percentage than the others in front of him and the good part of his career came in his final 4 seasons. Craig Morton started what 4 seasons of games for Dallas? Good winning percentage, but hard to place him above the other guys that contributed more longer.

Tough one.

However, you're not adding in that Merry joined an absolute clusterfudge of a new franchise and got beat up for 6 seasons on a bad team. Strange, I thought we were past that winning percentage thingie, which is obviously more of a team stat. If you're only going by one stat, you're going to come up w/ incorrect conclusions. I mean, I know it's easier that way, just not accurate.

I prolly put White 4th, you're right. Morton 5th.

Meredith is 3rd because that's how good he was, BTW. None of this special place stuff. You should talk to people who saw him play.

 

[Gangsta Spanksta]

Yup, the DUMB is strong in this thread.

You think people really believe the crapp they're typing in?

Aikman was one of the Quarterbacks that John Madden used to love to praise. But what does that guy know. I mean, I guess its obvious who watched games back then and who probably wasn't around.

 

[kskboys]

I think Troy is better but SBs alone don’t make you that. Ask Dan Marino and Trent Dilfer.

It's so silly to use just one tiny barometer to judge a player.

 

[Dakota]

Aikman was the perfect QB for the era he played in where WR's were getting mauled by the defense and hyper accurate passes made a big difference. He also had very little improv ability and he would have been destroyed behind the lines Romo played with. People forget that was getting booed in the years before he retired when the OL went to crap and we couldn't run or pass block consistently.

All things being equal I'd take Staubach >> Romo >> Aikman >> Dak for this reason, but if you told me we would have a baller OL consistently I'd take Aikman over Romo.

People are going to freak out, but even Aikman is on record saying he thought Romo was better than him. Some data at the bottom to back this up. TLDR it is an attempt to adjust QB rating for player era by converting passer rating stats to a z-score for every season, get a career z-score, and then convert it back to a passer rating based on 2025 metrics.

P.S. Dak is 38-13 outside of the NFC East when the defense gives up 24 points or fewer. Rings are a team stat and not a way to evaluate a QB.

Year-Adjusted Career QB Passer Rating — Top 100 (through 2025)
Regular season only. Each QB season is compared with other QBs in that season. Seasons require 50+ attempts; careers require 1,000+ attempts in qualifying seasons. The adjusted rating is on the 2025 scale, not raw career passer rating.


Rank
Quarterback
2025-Adjusted Rating
Attempts
Seasons
1
Steve Young
105.2
4,149
15
2
Otto Graham
104.7
1,565
6
3
Brock Purdy
104.5
1,353
4
4
Joe Montana
104.2
5,347
13
5
Aaron Rodgers
103.9
8,683
17
6
Roger Staubach
102.8
2,891
9
7
Peyton Manning
102.1
9,380
17
8
Drew Brees
102.1
10,524
19
9
Tom Brady
101.2
12,036
21
10
Bob Griese
100.8
2,491
11
11
Tony Romo
100.4
4,331
10
12
Norm Van Brocklin
99.8
2,895
12
13
Bob Berry
99.6
1,049
5
14
Patrick Mahomes
99.3
4,638
8
15
Sid Luckman
99.1
1,707
11
16
Kurt Warner
99.1
4,059
11
17
Lamar Jackson
99.0
2,888
8
18
Ken Anderson
98.9
4,420
14
19
Joe Burrow
98.8
2,806
6
20
Dan Marino
98.6
8,358
17
21
Fran Tarkenton
98.4
6,467
18
22
Russell Wilson
98.4
6,120
14
23
Sonny Jurgensen
98.2
4,163
14
24
Danny White
97.7
2,805
8
25
Sammy Baugh
97.1
2,962
15
26
Len Dawson
97.0
1,344
6
27
Bart Starr
96.9
3,060
14
28
Philip Rivers
96.9
8,196
16
29
Dak Prescott
96.7
4,759
10
30
Jim Kelly
96.6
4,779
11
31
Jimmy Garoppolo
96.4
1,864
8
32
Dave Krieg
96.3
5,286
16
33
Dan Fouts
96.0
5,604
15
34
Ben Roethlisberger
95.9
8,443
18
35
Greg Landry
95.9
2,156
11
36
Brett Favre
95.6
10,165
19
37
Johnny Unitas
95.5
5,154
17
38
Justin Herbert
95.5
3,438
6
39
Matt Ryan
95.5
8,464
15
40
Jeff Garcia
95.3
3,676
10
41
Y.A. Tittle
95.2
3,817
15
42
Tommy Thompson
95.0
1,368
7
43
Tua Tagovailoa
95.0
2,421
6
44
Chad Pennington
94.6
2,444
8
45
Mark Brunell
94.5
4,567
12
46
Bernie Kosar
94.4
3,321
10
47
Jared Goff
94.3
5,224
10
48
Kirk Cousins
94.2
5,851
13
49
Neil Lomax
94.1
3,153
8
50
Craig Morton
94.0
3,667
14
51
Matthew Stafford
93.8
8,763
17
52
Billy Wade
93.8
2,437
10
53
Billy Kilmer
93.8
2,861
11
54
Rich Gannon
93.7
4,174
13
55
Frank Ryan
93.7
2,114
10
56
Pat Haden
93.7
1,322
5
57
Charlie Conerly
93.5
2,833
14
58
Deshaun Watson
93.5
2,305
7
59
Roman Gabriel
93.3
4,495
15
60
Phil Simms
93.2
4,634
13
61
Joe Theismann
93.2
3,569
10
62
C.J. Stroud
93.1
1,454
3
63
Donovan McNabb
93.1
5,374
13
64
Marc Bulger
93.0
3,171
8
65
Boomer Esiason
93.0
5,205
14
66
Troy Aikman
93.0
4,715
12
67
Arnie Herber
93.0
1,175
11
68
Josh Allen
92.9
4,088
8
69
Jim McMahon
92.9
2,473
10
70
Steve McNair
92.9
4,544
13
71
Ken Stabler
92.8
3,738
13
72
Bill Nelsen
92.8
1,830
7
73
Warren Moon
92.8
6,786
15
74
Charlie Batch
92.6
1,449
6
75
Derek Carr
92.6
5,785
11
76
David Garrard
92.5
2,223
7
77
Jalen Hurts
92.4
2,393
6
78
Shaun Hill
92.3
1,167
5
79
Carson Palmer
92.3
6,307
14
80
Ryan Tannehill
92.1
4,764
11
81
Matt Schaub
92.1
3,301
11
82
Neil O'Donnell
91.8
3,197
11
83
John Elway
91.8
7,250
16
84
Bill Munson
91.7
1,781
9
85
Ken O'Brien
91.7
3,602
10
86
Elvis Grbac
91.5
2,445
8
87
Jeff Hostetler
91.5
2,270
8
88
Brad Johnson
91.4
4,242
12
89
Jeff George
91.2
3,925
11
90
Brian Griese
90.9
2,761
9
91
Kyler Murray
90.9
2,941
7
92
Bert Jones
90.6
2,509
9
93
Daunte Culpepper
90.6
3,199
10
94
Jordan Love
90.6
1,505
4
95
Bob Waterfield
90.6
1,617
8
96
Wade Wilson
90.5
2,320
12
97
Bobby Thomason
90.5
1,334
7
98
John Brodie
90.4
4,470
16
99
Trent Green
90.3
3,739
10
100
Teddy Bridgewater
90.2
2,042
6

I am not surprised by this at all. Even at this point in his young career he grades better than QBs like Stafford. Mark my words, all Dak needs is a few more seasons to get his head straight so as not to fold under pressure in big games and he will be an elite NFL QB. At that point his play when an important game is on the line will match his garbage time stats. Just you wait and see 2 or 3 more seasons and he will be there.

 

[kskboys]

Eli was a better thrower of the football than Troy.
He had a stronger arm, especially down the field — able to layer deep balls over defenders with real touch, which is how he built his reputation on go-routes and back-shoulder throws. His two Super Bowl MVP runs were built on clutch, high-difficulty throws in big moments (the Tyree helmet catch drive, the Manningham sideline throw against Foxworth are both testaments to arm strength and placement under pressure).
Troy Aikman was more mechanically polished —one of the more fundamentally sound passers of his era, with excellent footwork, timing, and accuracy on intermediate routes. He wasn't asked to push the ball vertically as often in Dallas's offense (which leaned on Emmitt Smith.

Eli and Aikman aren't on the same stratosphere as QBs. A better comparison to Eli would be maybe Jim Plunkett or Steve McNair. Baker Mayfield maybe.

 

[McKDaddy]

Anyone who asks this question deserves to be in a mental asylum and obviously didnt watch Aikman play

I was thinking the other day that the Zone had calmed down on some of the non-sense .... then it went even further off the rails.

 

[kskboys]

Aikman was the perfect QB for the era he played in where WR's were getting mauled by the defense and hyper accurate passes made a big difference. He also had very little improv ability and he would have been destroyed behind the lines Romo played with. People forget that was getting booed in the years before he retired when the OL went to crap and we couldn't run or pass block consistently.

All things being equal I'd take Staubach >> Romo >> Aikman >> Dak for this reason, but if you told me we would have a baller OL consistently I'd take Aikman over Romo.

People are going to freak out, but even Aikman is on record saying he thought Romo was better than him. Some data at the bottom to back this up. TLDR it is an attempt to adjust QB rating for player era by converting passer rating stats to a z-score for every season, get a career z-score, and then convert it back to a passer rating based on 2025 metrics.

P.S. Dak is 38-13 outside of the NFC East when the defense gives up 24 points or fewer. Rings are a team stat and not a way to evaluate a QB.

Year-Adjusted Career QB Passer Rating — Top 100 (through 2025)
Regular season only. Each QB season is compared with other QBs in that season. Seasons require 50+ attempts; careers require 1,000+ attempts in qualifying seasons. The adjusted rating is on the 2025 scale, not raw career passer rating.


Rank
Quarterback
2025-Adjusted Rating
Attempts
Seasons
1
Steve Young
105.2
4,149
15
2
Otto Graham
104.7
1,565
6
3
Brock Purdy
104.5
1,353
4
4
Joe Montana
104.2
5,347
13
5
Aaron Rodgers
103.9
8,683
17
6
Roger Staubach
102.8
2,891
9
7
Peyton Manning
102.1
9,380
17
8
Drew Brees
102.1
10,524
19
9
Tom Brady
101.2
12,036
21
10
Bob Griese
100.8
2,491
11
11
Tony Romo
100.4
4,331
10
12
Norm Van Brocklin
99.8
2,895
12
13
Bob Berry
99.6
1,049
5
14
Patrick Mahomes
99.3
4,638
8
15
Sid Luckman
99.1
1,707
11
16
Kurt Warner
99.1
4,059
11
17
Lamar Jackson
99.0
2,888
8
18
Ken Anderson
98.9
4,420
14
19
Joe Burrow
98.8
2,806
6
20
Dan Marino
98.6
8,358
17
21
Fran Tarkenton
98.4
6,467
18
22
Russell Wilson
98.4
6,120
14
23
Sonny Jurgensen
98.2
4,163
14
24
Danny White
97.7
2,805
8
25
Sammy Baugh
97.1
2,962
15
26
Len Dawson
97.0
1,344
6
27
Bart Starr
96.9
3,060
14
28
Philip Rivers
96.9
8,196
16
29
Dak Prescott
96.7
4,759
10
30
Jim Kelly
96.6
4,779
11
31
Jimmy Garoppolo
96.4
1,864
8
32
Dave Krieg
96.3
5,286
16
33
Dan Fouts
96.0
5,604
15
34
Ben Roethlisberger
95.9
8,443
18
35
Greg Landry
95.9
2,156
11
36
Brett Favre
95.6
10,165
19
37
Johnny Unitas
95.5
5,154
17
38
Justin Herbert
95.5
3,438
6
39
Matt Ryan
95.5
8,464
15
40
Jeff Garcia
95.3
3,676
10
41
Y.A. Tittle
95.2
3,817
15
42
Tommy Thompson
95.0
1,368
7
43
Tua Tagovailoa
95.0
2,421
6
44
Chad Pennington
94.6
2,444
8
45
Mark Brunell
94.5
4,567
12
46
Bernie Kosar
94.4
3,321
10
47
Jared Goff
94.3
5,224
10
48
Kirk Cousins
94.2
5,851
13
49
Neil Lomax
94.1
3,153
8
50
Craig Morton
94.0
3,667
14
51
Matthew Stafford
93.8
8,763
17
52
Billy Wade
93.8
2,437
10
53
Billy Kilmer
93.8
2,861
11
54
Rich Gannon
93.7
4,174
13
55
Frank Ryan
93.7
2,114
10
56
Pat Haden
93.7
1,322
5
57
Charlie Conerly
93.5
2,833
14
58
Deshaun Watson
93.5
2,305
7
59
Roman Gabriel
93.3
4,495
15
60
Phil Simms
93.2
4,634
13
61
Joe Theismann
93.2
3,569
10
62
C.J. Stroud
93.1
1,454
3
63
Donovan McNabb
93.1
5,374
13
64
Marc Bulger
93.0
3,171
8
65
Boomer Esiason
93.0
5,205
14
66
Troy Aikman
93.0
4,715
12
67
Arnie Herber
93.0
1,175
11
68
Josh Allen
92.9
4,088
8
69
Jim McMahon
92.9
2,473
10
70
Steve McNair
92.9
4,544
13
71
Ken Stabler
92.8
3,738
13
72
Bill Nelsen
92.8
1,830
7
73
Warren Moon
92.8
6,786
15
74
Charlie Batch
92.6
1,449
6
75
Derek Carr
92.6
5,785
11
76
David Garrard
92.5
2,223
7
77
Jalen Hurts
92.4
2,393
6
78
Shaun Hill
92.3
1,167
5
79
Carson Palmer
92.3
6,307
14
80
Ryan Tannehill
92.1
4,764
11
81
Matt Schaub
92.1
3,301
11
82
Neil O'Donnell
91.8
3,197
11
83
John Elway
91.8
7,250
16
84
Bill Munson
91.7
1,781
9
85
Ken O'Brien
91.7
3,602
10
86
Elvis Grbac
91.5
2,445
8
87
Jeff Hostetler
91.5
2,270
8
88
Brad Johnson
91.4
4,242
12
89
Jeff George
91.2
3,925
11
90
Brian Griese
90.9
2,761
9
91
Kyler Murray
90.9
2,941
7
92
Bert Jones
90.6
2,509
9
93
Daunte Culpepper
90.6
3,199
10
94
Jordan Love
90.6
1,505
4
95
Bob Waterfield
90.6
1,617
8
96
Wade Wilson
90.5
2,320
12
97
Bobby Thomason
90.5
1,334
7
98
John Brodie
90.4
4,470
16
99
Trent Green
90.3
3,739
10
100
Teddy Bridgewater
90.2
2,042
6

Romo over Aikman? You're obviously being sarcastic or something.

 

[Vtwin]

11 pages of stupidity.

You could say a marathon of stupidity.

 

[DarkVader33]

Dak Vader strike again!

The truth hurts you, doesn’t it

 

[G2]

Yup, the DUMB is strong in this thread.

You think people really believe the crapp they're typing in?

Your opinion is all that matters. Cool.

 

[DarkVader33]

Let me fix this for you.

"If Dallas wins" should be the start of both sentences.

Those who choose your first wording are claiming that Dak IS the sole reason for the result. Thereby leading others to question how that is true.

They never use your second wording because they are already blaming everthing & everyone else.

I’m not the one using those terms. Just observation. It’s a team sport when Dak wins and faults fault when they lose. I just pointed out one of those last night and tagged Steve the denier. lol

 

[DarkVader33]

Better is subjective. Impossible to know how guys back then would play today and vice versa. It’s all just fan lip service.

Not saying all, but players worked harder back then than they do now. But your point is valid. Is possible these prima donnas of today wouldn’t be back then either. But by then again

 

[McKDaddy]

I’m not the one using those terms. Just observation. It’s a team sport when Dak wins and faults fault when they lose. I just pointed out one of those last night and tagged Steve the denier. lol

Gotcha. I'm just saying that whenever individual performances are discussed, some twist that to mean that it's all Dak's fault in a loss when that was never said.

 

[blueblood70]

Don't think anybody thinks that Prescott Or Romo are better quarterbacks than Troy or Roger but they're not worse I think they're all franchise quarterbacks that can win with those teams II think I can make that really short for you guys if you don't think that then you weren't watching super teams being built matthew Stafford was the recipient in one of those, Now we saw Sam Darnold he's not better than we seen trent Dilfer Jim Mcmahon Brad Johnson many others look you need a super team Matthew Stafford led the league in interceptions through two interceptions in the Super Bowl he is not better than Dak he was on a better team it's simple as that he couldn't get it done with the Lions but he got it done with a super team..

You say super team it's these teams that are all in willing to spend the money willing to be aggressive in free agency and they built something really great And yes the quarterback is part of it just part of it because Troy and Roger never carried these teams They didn't have to they had some of the best running games the best offensive lines the best defenses they had the best of everything and it showed up in the playoffs I did not want to hear everyone saying how great a talent Romo and Dak had had in the regular season because that's where it ended...

Oh no I do not think Prescott is better than Aikman but I believe if he was on those teams they wouldn't have missed a beat and that is the truth and if anybody thinks any different they don't watch games they don't watch the Super Bowl teams and how they got there and how they want it I mean how does hell does Blake Bortles and Matt Sanchez get to championship games and Prescott hasn't and Romo never has are you trying to tell me they are better quarterbacks?

Are you sitting here with a straight face telling me that's some of these other players who got Super Bowl rings were elite and they were better than Prescott No they aren't They just happen to be on better teams or at least there was parts of those teams that were so good other teams couldn't stop it and they were recipients of that..


Our superstars do not show up In big moments in big games And I'm saying that the offensive line the defense the run game the coaching staff they never elevated their games when they got into the playoffs they wilted they all wilted so blaming Prescott for this stuff is ridiculous when Troy's teams elevated their play and he didn't have to carry them at all you know kind of like Penix State last night,

It's pretty easy to play quarterback when you're running back gets 213 all purpose yards draws the defense in then as the game goes on the defense gets tired then the passing game opens Everybody's feeling good about themselves and then the defense gets energized And then they make Packers look like a Cleveland Browns team..

 

[phildadon86]

So we are now going to downplay the 90s Cowboys and resort to this? Larry Allen is one of thr greatest linemen of all time. Prime is the greatest corner of all time.

Jimmy Johnson is in the hall of fame.

But I get it. Guys like Jimmy Johnson and Jason Garrett of the same caliber. Chad Hennings and Leon Lett are equivalent to Mazi.

They were a damn dynasty lol. I agree get this dumb **** off my screen. It's a embarrassing take.

Im merely showing you that Romo and Dak both have had great teams.

Never put Jimmy and Jason in the same sentence. Thats something Jerry would do.

 

[Cmac]

Flag......unnecessary roughness on this one. If Dak had a similar team with similar QB requirements......who knows? Same with TRomo........not sure what the comparison intent is. Not if you want a Aikman/Staubach comparison....that might be better because rings are dangling on both's fingers.

 

[GMO415]

I jus

Flag......unnecessary roughness on this one. If Dak had a similar team with similar QB requirements......who knows? Same with TRomo........not sure what the comparison intent is. Not if you want a Aikman/Staubach comparison....that might be better because rings are dangling on both's fingers.

I just have a feeling, Jimmy would have barged into Jerry's office after Dak threw three INTs against the first playoff team year after year , and would want another QB.

 

[MajesticRey]

Troy 3 rings. Dak 0 rings.

Troy had Nate Newton, Larry Allen, Erik Williams, Mark Stepnowski, Mark Tuinei.

Dak has Steele lol.

 

[phildadon86]

No its not. You have a team full of hall of famers chances are your QB will be good because of it. IF you have a team full of bums then you don't have a hall of fame QB.

So how come the Rams needed to bring in Stafford? Tampa Brady? Denver Peyton?

You do realize that you can have a superior roster everywhere and if the QB is bad you lose right?

Or are you going to keep digging at Aikman to prop up Dak?

 

[phildadon86]

Troy had Nate Newton, Larry Allen, Erik Williams, Mark Stepnowski, Mark Tuinei.

Dak has Steele lol.

Dak had Frederick, Martin, and Smith - In their prime when he started.