By Brandon Hereford, PSO VP of Sports Operations
Jul 05, 2019

Ranking the greatest QBs of all-time is a fun topic no matter what time of the year it is. The list is never concrete from person-to-person, and is changing almost on an annual basis with the continued excellence of active passers like Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, and Russell Wilson, among others. These are not PSO rankings. The rankings below originated from NFL.com’s Top-25 QBs of all-time. Limiting this list to just the top-10 here (notable exclusions including Brett Favre, Troy Aikman, & Steve Young) is much simpler to create your own ‘Top QBs Ever’ rankings below and spark the conversation with your friends. The words shown under each player’s name are quotes from Elliott Harrison’s original article on NFL.com.

NFL.com Rankings

1
Tom Brady (2000-present)

“Brady’s career has been a study in steady greatness, but it’s also bookended by both individual and team accomplishments. There simply hasn’t been much decline, and if anything, Brady might have improved in his later years. His first and most recent MVP seasons came a decade apart. Brady’s first and most recent passing yards titles were 12 years apart. His first and most recent passing touchdowns titles were 13 years apart. More than any other numbers, a single line exemplifies what Brady’s legacy will be: In 17 healthy seasons as a starter, he’s made more Super Bowls (9) than he’s missed (8).”

2
Joe Montana (1979-94)

“Montana’s Super Bowl feats are well-documented. What is not as highlighted is how effective he was during a three-year span in which he almost lifted the 49ers to the first three-peat. Montana’s postseason run from 1988 to 1990 pushed him to the lofty perch of being the greatest quarterback of all time, as he posted a 100-plus passer rating in eight straight playoff games, winning all but one start. That was the 1990 NFC Championship Game, when Montana got knocked out in the second half by the Giants‘ Leonard Marshall. San Francisco was winning at the time of his injury. Montana’s TD-to-INT ratio in those eight games: 22:2. Gooooodnight.”

3
Peyton Manning (1998-2015)

“Peyton Manning managed to change fantasy football. You know why so many fantasy leagues end by Week 17? Because Manning and the Colts had so thoroughly dominated the AFC that he only played a drive or two the final week of the season to stay fresh, making way for backups Jim Sorgi or Curtis Painter (Yay). Other teams followed suit upon clinching. (OK, I don’t know if that’s 100 percent true, but it holds up, right?) Back to those MVPs for a moment. To be considered the most important player at the highest level of pro football is special. But five times!? Good grief. Someone on here will be a snob about Manning not winning more “big games.” First, someone please define big games, because based on the media blanket which exists today, they all seem rather big. Second, look at some of the ways his teams lost. Was he perfect? No. But if Mike Vanderjagt doesn’t slice that field goal in the 2005 Divisional Round, Indy would have gone on to win that Super Bowl. They were the best team in the league. Either way, two rings ain’t bad, right? Don’t forget a few of the clutch throws he made in Super Bowl 50 either, even if he was clearly past his prime at that point.”

4
Johnny Unitas (1956-73)

“Unitas is the only player to lead the league in passing touchdowns four straight years, a feat he pulled off from 1957 to 1960. During that time, he also completed a streak of 47 straight games with at least one touchdown pass. Drew Brees beat it in 2012, some 52 years later. However, when Unitas produced his record streak, he was throwing the ball fewer than 29 times per game. Brees? Nearly 40. Huge difference. Moreover, while Brees tossed a touchdown on 6.2 percent of his passes during his span, an excellent number, Unitas did the same on 7.6 percent of his attempts. That Unitas streak from the late ’50s is every bit as golden as Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak.”

5
Otto Graham (1946-55)

“Arguments can be made for an old-timer like Graham ranking this high that, unfortunately, some football fans just won’t consider. Imagine a world in which people only believe what they want to believe, basing their opinions on alternative facts. Thank goodness that only happens in pro football. The stat/number/fact that you hear the most about Graham is concise and carries import: 10 seasons, 10 championship game appearances. The first four came in the All-America Football Conference, a rival league that contributed three franchises to the NFL: the Cleveland BrownsSan Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Colts (who later folded, then reformed.) Graham’s Browns dominated the AAFC, winning the title all four years. During those seasons, Graham not only engineered plenty of wins, but he also generated impressive stats in a prehistoric era for the passing game, including a 2:1 TD-to-INT ratio and a 99.1 passer rating.”

6
Drew Brees (2001-Present)

“Many in the football business think he’s been underrated, partially because his record 74,437 passing yards have come in workmanlike fashion. The fact that Brees has finished ahead of all comers in passing yards seven times, a league record, doesn’t validate the uniqueness of his production. Rather, it’s how often Brees has reached numbers that other greats either never do or rarely do. For example, while he has passed the aforementioned 5,000-yard-barrier five times, no other player has managed that total more than once. He has completed over 70 percent of his passes four times, and no other player has surpassed that number more than one time.”

7
Dan Marino (1983-99)

“Marino is considered the universal exception to the “thou shalt win a Super Bowl to be great” sports proverb that has pervaded analysis over the last 25 years. While Marino displayed an impressive release and arm strength in college, he seemed to grow into his body by the time he entered the NFL. He was quicker and stronger from an arm standpoint at 22 than he was at 19 or 20. The ball zipped off his hand, and it only took. 30 seconds to cock the arm and let fly. Marino was phenomenal as a rookie, going 7-2 as a starter and finishing as the AFC’s top-rated passer. His sophomore season is the most incredible offensive season in 100 years of the NFL. The line: 5,084 passing yards, 48 touchdowns, and a 108.9 passer rating. Those are Mahomes-esque numbers in an era that had never conceived of Mahomes-esque numbers. Marino led the NFL in passing yards in 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1992. The ’86 campaign is particularly notable in that his 44 scoring tosses were 19 ahead of the next closest guy! That discrepancy is an NFL record.”

8
Roger Staubach (1969-79)

“Staubach’s .746 winning percentage ranks second all-time among quarterbacks with 100 starts. Only Tom Brady can claim a superior winning percentage with a sterling .775. While Staubach “only” went 2-2 in his four Super Bowl starts, his two losses came by a grand total of eight points. The Cowboys averaged almost 25 points per game in those contests, despite going against defenses that had finished third, second, third, and first in points allowed in the season when they met. Combined, those opponents — the DolphinsBroncos, and both Steelers defensive units — gave up 11.7 points per game. So you could say Roger the Dodger did more than all right.”

9
John Elway (1983-98)

“John Elway was the first quarterback to start in five Super Bowls. Yet, even more noteworthy was how often he rescued the Broncos from what appeared to be certain defeat. At the time of his retirement, Elway had the second-most game-winning drives by any QB since 1950 with 40 (he had six more in the postseason). While his 1986 comeback drive against the Browns in the AFC Championship Game is the most famous, his frenzied drive to bring Denver back against the Oilers — including converting two fourth-and-longs — in the 1991 Divisional Round might have been more dramatic. He moved the Broncos from their own 2 to the Oilers’ 11, without a timeout, to set up the game-winning field goal.”

10
Aaron Rodgers (2005-Present)

“There will be those in the peanut gallery who would expect to see Rodgers higher than 10th, and those that would be just fine putting him behind Favre (12th). His 4.23:1 TD-INT ratio defies logic. His career passer rating is in the over-100 stratosphere. Rodgers also boasts two MVPs despite competing with Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and Drew Brees for those accolades. When Rodgers entered the league in 2005, Steve Young was the NFL’s all-time best in terms of TD-INT ratio. His 232 touchdowns to 107 interceptions represented a 2.17:1 ratio. Fourteen seasons later, Rodgers has nearly doubled that mark, throwing 338 touchdown passes to 80 interceptions for a 4.23:1 ratio.”

My Rankings

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