Rank your top-5 QBs of all-time

[Redball Express]

Wish I had thought to put Fran on my list.....wait a minute....I did

then you have vision, foresight and obviously less dead and dying braincells than I do..



Good call.

:starspin ReDBaLL EXPreSS :starspin

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Roger Staubach..............


Line forms here fellas. IMO, he is simply the best I've ever seen. Tom Landry played with or against many of the greats and he said that Staubach was the best QB he had ever seen play. I share in that sentiment.

 

[Cowboy Bill Watts]

Roger Staubach..............


Line forms here fellas. IMO, he is simply the best I've ever seen. Tom Landry played with or against many of the greats and he said that Staubach was the best QB he had ever seen play. I share in that sentiment.

right there with you, abq...

and he went out on top of his game. the last two years he played were two of his best.

i start an expansion franchise today, i put the dodger under center.

 

[DWhite Fan]

then you have vision, foresight and obviously less dead and dying braincells than I do..



Good call.

:starspin ReDBaLL EXPreSS :starspin

Trust me my friend, you have far more brain power than I

I remember watching Fran play. He may not have the rings, but he was a very special player. You had to feel sorry for the D-linemen who spent the whole game chasing him. Fran was asked one time if he considered himself a scrambling QB or a pocket passer. Fran said he was a pocket passer and when he did scramble he was just trying to save his life.
Fran Tarkenton a pocket passer

 

[THUMPER]

right there with you, abq...

and he went out on top of his game. the last two years he played were two of his best.

i start an expansion franchise today, i put the dodger under center.

That's pretty much what I went with as well (at least for QBs from 1970 on).

 

[jterrell]

I am only rating guys who played after 1970 because it is a totally different game now.

1. Roger. I really could care less about stats or anything else because imho Roger is the reason we are America's team. He continues to be a class act that has been held to a higher standard in every walk of life and he has surpassed those standards at each turn. He is America's QB.

2. Joe Fontanadanna. ughhhh I hated him. You just knew he was going to find a way to win for those friggin 49ers. He was an excellent leader and was athletic enough to make all the plays that needed to be made.

3. John Elway. So fun to watch early and carried his teams on his back into the playoffs many times. Showed as he aged that he could play withina system and just win if given some talent.

4. Tom Brady. He is the baby Montana. He just does enough to win. One of best QBs ever at reading defenses. Probably biggest overachiever ever at the position based on raw talent. He's small, slow and has a fairly pedestrian arm by NFL standards yet finds a way to get the ball down field 40 yards perfectly placed all the same.

5. Terry Bradshaw. Gets in for his winning ways. He had a seriously strong arm and a serious swagger. He gets in just ahead of Steve Young.

 

[ringmaster]

Totally agree about Favre, and also about not being able to speak on QB's that were before my time. So my list goes like this...

1. Joe Montana - Joe was cool as a cucumber, and always got it done in the big games. He was like Michael Jordan.
2. John Elway - The 4th quarter comebacks, and the 2 late superbowls, nuff said...
3. Steve Young - The 90's Cowboys are the best team ever (imo), but it was always a toss-up between us and the Young led 49ers. Young was a great runner, mostly because he always knew when to run, and when to pass, he was great at both.
4. Troy Aikman - A winner in the truest sense of the word. Irvin was the heart of the team, but Troy was the back-bone! Most precise QB ever! Three SuperBowls speak for themselves...
5. Tom Brady - This last spot is hard to pick, but I'll go with Brady. Last season was weird for Brady, he set all kinds of records, but then blemished his SuperBowl record... However, he did show that he can put up Manning type numbers, add 3 SuperBowls to that, case closed...

This is a intriguing thread about the QB greats.....No one can't deny any of the QBs, mentioned in this thread about the Top 5 category.

The ones I saw in my day being that I'm now 30 yrs old are: Joe Montana, Dan Marino, John Elway, Troy Aikman, Brett Farve, Warren Moon, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady.

The one QB no one mentioned in this thread and he too was just as valuable to his team was Jim Kelly, yeah the guy never won a SB, but to go to 4 SBs, where it takes other QBs years to get to one is simply amazing he too belongs on this list

Aikman, on the other hand is very underrated as a QB, in this thread he was simply a great passer, one of the most accurate passers I've ever seen play outside of Marino, Manning, and Brady when it come to pure pocket passing.

Troy didn't have the stats of Marino, Elway, Farve, Young, or Manning.

But if you put Aikman, on any of those teams like the 49ers, Colts, Dolphins, or the Rams with the talent they had in the passing game then Aikman, would be in everybody's top 5 his passing skills was second to none and nobody can deny that.

 

[followthestar]

1. If I had to pick only one QB to get me a victory, I may be a homer but I have to go with Staubach.

2. If not Roger the Dodger, give me Joe Montana.

3. Next choice, Johnny Unitas. I began watching the game as he and his hightops were fading from the scene, but I'll always remember him coming off the bench and having an incredible comeback victory. Who the teams were on the field eludes me, but who the guy was that carried his team to victory will always be a warm memory of a distant and different time.

4. Tom Brady gets the nod here, because I put a high value on winning. We're not ranking Passers, we're ranking QBs, and Brady has led teams with different characters to the top of the mountain. Elway won when he had a great rushing game, Marino never had that luxury, Bradshaw I won't say a word about, and Favre could never put it all together. Manning isn't in the conversation just yet, and I think Jim Kelly is very underrated and never even mentioned, so that leaves my homeboy...

5. Troy had a great surrounding cast, sure. But he deserves to be in the top 5. He stared down such greats as Kelly, Favre, Young etc. on his way to 3 SB rings, and the other guy always blinked first.

 

[Redball Express]

This is a intriguing thread about the QB greats.....No one can't deny any of the QBs, mentioned in this thread about the Top 5 category.

The ones I saw in my day being that I'm now 30 yrs old are: Joe Montana, Dan Marino, John Elway, Troy Aikman, Brett Farve, Warren Moon, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady.

The one QB no one mentioned in this thread and he too was just as valuable to his team was Jim Kelly, yeah the guy never won a SB, but to go to 4 SBs, where it takes other QBs years to get to one is simply amazing he too belongs on this list

Aikman, on the other hand is very underrated as a QB, in this thread he was simply a great passer, one of the most accurate passers I've ever seen play outside of Marino, Manning, and Brady when it come to pure pocket passing.

Troy didn't have the stats of Marino, Elway, Farve, Young, or Manning.

But if you put Aikman, on any of those teams like the 49ers, Colts, Dolphins, or the Rams with the talent they had in the passing game then Aikman, would be in everybody's top 5 his passing skills was second to none and nobody can deny that.

Jim Kelly was one of the ALL Time QBs..just not in the SBs.

Same thing with Fran Tarkenton.

They would look ALL World getting their teams in position but then couldn't wedge them thru the door.

Common demonstrator there is that both QBs played in very cold weather in December and January and those QBs had quality defenses that just wore you down until you just got so cold in the 4th QT the game was over.

But Kelly I saw a bunch down here in Florida from '83-'97. Him and Marino would just light it up and Kelly usually got the better of him because Kelly had Thurman Thomas to hand off to and Bruce Smith to watch blowup other defenses.

So I agree..one tough hombre and did it with class.

:starspin ReDBaLL ExPreSS :starspin

 

[circasurvive]

First of all its spelled Favre for you people who didnt know.

List for who to start a team with (no current players)
Favre- All to often we see QBs go down and the teams season shatters with backups. Favre was never that guy and it always helps that he really was a good QB.
MontanaMontana could get you playoff wins and thats what you want from your QB. To lead you to playoff victories.
Elway- The comeback kid. On a team that was in a clutch situation I think this guy brought confidence to his team like no other.
Marino- Marino wanted to only pass the ball which was his problem and holds him out of the top 3 but everyone would want this guy leading there team because he was just a TD machine.
Graham- Good leader and threw the ball well especially at his era when most QBs werent that great.

Best of All Time
Montana- All time relys on postseason more than the regular season and noone could out perform Montana on the biggest stages.
Favre- Though the end of his career wasnt as good as the rest of it he still had a great postseason record and his regular season was great considering he only missed the playoffs 3 times in his career.
Elway- Clutch performer and though his postseason was filled with some heartaches he finished so strong. I think he may have retired before his time though and if he could have only kept going... Who knows
Staubach- Great player and one of the most forgotten and underrated out there. Point is he was one of the top 5 QBs and noone can take that away.
Marino- Marino had everything going for him to be number 1 but he couldnt get his ring which throws him in the back seat here. Great seasons that couldnt be finished.

Best Current QB
Brady- Best before Moss because he made something out of Deion Branch and Troy Brown.
Manning- Bad postseason player and has a lot of help from the leagues most explosive offense of all time IMO.
Romo- To early to tell but I think in a year or two he overtakes Manning if Harrison ever retires.
Roethlisbergre- Hes had his ups and downs and I think I missed a QB but all I could think of was this guy who hasnt been bad with not that much to work with.
TIE: Hasslebeck and Anderson- Hasslebecks been very consistent and Anderson is another questionable young guy but I think will move over Big Ben in another standout year.

Best in Prime
Favre- 3 Straight MVPs and noone could make a comeback like the comeback kid. Green Bay is said to be the worst place for a QB because the wind and weather affects the aireal attack. Favres gone through it all.
Marino- No doubt that Marino is one of the best in his prime year when he set a now broken TD record.
Montana- Great postseason player but was just good in the regular season which holds him out of numbers 1 and 2. Also had a lot to work with on his team.
Elway- If there were QBs like Elway the world would be a better place but it seems like Denvers trying to find another Elway somewhere. He was another Comeback Kid performer and was very clutch. I think that whats putting him on everyone top.
Young- arguable but I think what he could do as far as rush and throw was amazing at his peak point but hes going to be a tie most likely with others like Stauback and Starr and others I missed. Starr would get other top 5s but he lacked consistency. Only had his good years with Lombardi.)

 

[THUMPER]

Jim Kelly was one of the ALL Time QBs..just not in the SBs.

Same thing with Fran Tarkenton.

They would look ALL World getting their teams in position but then couldn't wedge them thru the door.

Common demonstrator there is that both QBs played in very cold weather in December and January and those QBs had quality defenses that just wore you down until you just got so cold in the 4th QT the game was over.

But Kelly I saw a bunch down here in Florida from '83-'97. Him and Marino would just light it up and Kelly usually got the better of him because Kelly had Thurman Thomas to hand off to and Bruce Smith to watch blowup other defenses.

So I agree..one tough hombre and did it with class.

:starspin ReDBaLL ExPreSS :starspin

Kelly was another of those great QBs who was just a little less than the guys considered as the greatest ever. I put him in that 2nd tier with Moon, Tarkenton, Ken Anderson, Fouts, Jurgensen, Tittle, and a few others.

 

[DWhite Fan]

Kelly was another of those great QBs who was just a little less than the guys considered as the greatest ever. I put him in that 2nd tier with Moon, Tarkenton, Ken Anderson, Fouts, Jurgensen, Tittle, and a few others.

I would add my favorite Cowboy, Danny White, this group. If White could have gotten just one ring, like Steve Young did, he would be thought of in a different light.

I know Dan Marino was the prototype QB, but I loved watching Dan Fouts and the Chargers during the late 70s and early 80s. San Diego had no defense to speak of, but my goodness could they score. It seemed that all their games ended 51-50 and who ever had the ball last won. I have always thought Fouts was a great QB and a lot of fun to watch (as long as he wasn't playing Dallas).

A few more: Neil Lomax of the Cardinals, Ken O'Brien of the Jets (Can you say Richard Todd), Bert Jones of the Colts, Tommy Krammer and Wade Wilson of the Vikings.

They are second-tier but still not too shabby either.

I like this thread

 

[THUMPER]

I would add my favorite Cowboy, Danny White, this group. If White could have gotten just one ring, like Steve Young did, he would be thought of in a different light.

I know Dan Marino was the prototype QB, but I loved watching Dan Fouts and the Chargers during the late 70s and early 80s. San Diego had no defense to speak of, but my goodness could they score. It seemed that all their games ended 51-50 and who ever had the ball last won. I have always thought Fouts was a great QB and a lot of fun to watch (as long as he wasn't playing Dallas).

A few more: Neil Lomax of the Cardinals, Ken O'Brien of the Jets (Can you say Richard Todd), Bert Jones of the Colts, Tommy Krammer and Wade Wilson of the Vikings.

They are second-tier but still not too shabby either.

I like this thread

Lots of great QBs over the years and it is cool to see what other people value in a QB and how they rank them.

I have a statistical rating system that I am working on that looks at how successful a QB is and it is interesting to see the results. I am only including players with 10 years or more (so no Brady). The top-10 according to this system (strictly based on numbers folks):

1. Otto Graham
2. Joe Montana
3. Roger Staubach
4. Peyton Manning
5. Steve Young
6. Brett Favre
7. John Elway
8. Sid Luckman
9. Bart Starr
10. Dan Marino

The stats include their won/lost record, which I believe is a significant factor in evaluating QBs, as well as a "leadership" factor which is the only non-statistic used in the formula. I had to have some way of differentiating between a guy who put up numbers but never really won anything (Jurgensen for instance) and a guy like Staubach or Montana (my two highest in leadership) who truly inspired their team to rise above.

I also include a player's playoff stats in all of my career analysis as I believe that those are the most valuable and should not be left out. That dropped some guys down a bit and helped others.

It is not perfect and I am still tweaking it but I believe that overall it is a pretty accurate measurement of a QB's success. Not whether one QB was more talented but which one was more successful. Anyway, it gives me something to do when I can't sleep... like tonight.

 

[THUMPER]

How about ranking some of those 2nd tier guys (1970-on)?

Dan Fouts
Kim Kelly
Warren Moon
Ken Anderson
Ken Stabler
Neil Lomax
Joe Theisemann


Add any you can think of...