Who are your top 5 QB's?

[carolinatony]

That you have seen play?

1 Johnny Unitas. In his day nobody was close
2 Joe Montana Had that something
3. John Elway Won with bad teams by himself
4 Tony Brady whats his playoff record?
5 Manning win a few more and more up

 

[Digger44]

1. Montana
2. Brady
3. Manning
4. Marino
5. Elway
6. Young

 

[primetime]

1. Unitas
2. Montana
3. Manning
4. Brady
5. Elway

 

[richpats]

Brady
Montana
Manning
Marino
Elway

 

[Keegs]

1.) Billy Joe Hobert
2.) Billy Joe Tolliver
3.) Aaron Brooks
4.) Drew Bledsoe
5.) Drew Henson

 

[TripleOption]

Drew Bledsoe
Hugh Millen
Tommy Hodson
Tom Ramsey
Scott Zolak

 

[FloridaHerb]

How soon we forget Rohan Davey

GO DRAGONS!

http://www.newyorkdragons.com/team/playerbios.asp?playerid=230

:rocker:

 

[ayjackson]

1. Joe Montana
2. John Elway
3. Tom Brady
4. Pete Manning
5. Dan Marino

I put Tom behind John primarily out of respect for elders. Tom should be #2 after the Superbowl next year and #1 after the Superbowl in 2009.

 

[PonyExpress]

One reasonably objective way to judge top Qbs is by playoff victory totals as starters (or coming off the bench to lead a team to victory), with Sbs victories as a tie breaker. That shows that a Qb was the head of a winning organization over a long period of time. It does not penalize a QB for not "winning the big one", but rewards him for doing so. Since the merger in 1970, here are the QB playoff victory standings:

1. Montana 16 (4 Sb wins)
2. Bradshaw 14 (4 Sbs wins)
3. Elway 14 (2 Sb wins, 3 Sb losses)
4. Brady 12 (3 Sb wins)
5. Staubach 12 (2 Sb wins, 2 Sb losses)
6. Aikman 11 (3 Sb wins)
7. Favre 11 (1 Sb win, 1 Sb loss)
8. Kelly 9 (4 Sb losses)
9. Plunkett 8 (2 Sb wins)
10. Young 8 (1 Sb win)
11. Marino 8 (1 Sb loss)
12. (tie) Stabler 7 (1 Sb win)
Manning 7 (1 Sb win)
13. McNabb 7 (1 Sb loss)
14. Theisman 6 (1 Sb win, 1 Sb loss)
15. Simms 6 (1 Sb win)
16. Tarkenton 6 (3 Sb losses)
17. Danny White 6
18. Warner 5 (1 Sb win, 1 Sb loss)
19. Roethlisberger 5 (1 Sb win)
20. McNair 5 (1 Sb loss)

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Montana
Brady
Manning
Young
Unitas/Starr (I can't pick between the two)

 

[PatsFanSince74]

One reasonably objective way to judge top Qbs is by playoff victory totals as starters (or coming off the bench to lead a team to victory), with Sbs victories as a tie breaker. That shows that a Qb was the head of a winning organization over a long period of time. It does not penalize a QB for not "winning the big one", but rewards him for doing so. Since the merger in 1970, here are the QB playoff victory standings:

1. Montana 16 (4 Sb wins)
2. Bradshaw 14 (4 Sbs wins)
3. Elway 14 (2 Sb wins, 3 Sb losses)
4. Brady 12 (3 Sb wins)
5. Staubach 12 (2 Sb wins, 2 Sb losses)
6. Aikman 11 (3 Sb wins)
7. Favre 11 (1 Sb win, 1 Sb loss)
8. Kelly 9 (4 Sb losses)
9. Plunkett 8 (2 Sb wins)
10. Young 8 (1 Sb win)
11. Marino 8 (1 Sb loss)
12. (tie) Stabler 7 (1 Sb win)
Manning 7 (1 Sb win)
14. Theisman 6 (1 Sb win, 1 Sb loss)
15. Simms 6 (1 Sb win)
16. Tarkenton 6 (3 Sb losses)
17. Danny White 6
18. Warner 5 (1 Sb win, 1 Sb loss)
19. Roethlisberger 5 (1 Sb win)
20. McNair 5 (1 Sb loss)

So much of this is gut feel and that's as good a way as any to try to be more objective. Or, you could go by the Passer Rating. I looked at all of the SB Era HOF QB's with Ratings above 80 and at the "usual suspects" among active players with the same; i threw in their numbers of regular season games played and SB Rings held. Most interestingly, there are only two QB's in the TOP FIVE on BOTH your list and my list: Montana and Brady.

Young 96.8 (169 Regular Season Games, one SB ring as starter)
Manning 94.4 (144, one)
Montana 92.3 (192, four)
Brady 88.4 (96, three)
Marino 86.4 (242, zero)
McNabb 85.2 (104, zero)
Favre 85.0 (241, one)
Kelly 84.4 (160, zero)
Staubach 83.4 (131, two)
Dawson 82.6 (211, one)
Jurgenson 82.6 (218, zero--played on 1960 NFL Champion, but not as starter)
Aikman 81.6 (165, three)
Moon 80.9 (208, zero)
Tarkenton 80.4 (246, zero)
Fouts 80.2 (181, zero)

 

[PonyExpress]

So much of this is gut feel and that's as good a way as any to try to be more objective. Or, you could go by the Passer Rating. I looked at all of the SB Era HOF QB's with Ratings above 80 and at the "usual suspects" among active players with the same; i threw in their numbers of regular season games played and SB Rings held. Most interestingly, there are only two QB's in the TOP FIVE on BOTH your list and my list: Montana and Brady.

Young 96.8 (169 Regular Season Games, one SB ring as starter)
Manning 94.4 (144, one)
Montana 92.3 (192, four)
Brady 88.4 (96, three)
Marino 86.4 (242, zero)
McNabb 85.2 (104, zero)
Favre 85.0 (241, one)
Kelly 84.4 (160, zero)
Staubach 83.4 (131, two)
Dawson 82.6 (211, one)
Jurgenson 82.6 (218, zero--played on 1960 NFL Champion, but not as starter)
Aikman 81.6 (165, three)
Moon 80.9 (208, zero)
Tarkenton 80.4 (246, zero)
Fouts 80.2 (181, zero)

Vey interesting. The only problem I have with "passer rating" is that it penalizes Qbs who played prior to 1978, when the downfield contact rules were changed and the passing game was opened up. As I'm sure you know (since 1974), that era was one of brutal play in the defensive backfield, contact downfield was legal until the ball was in the air, offensive holding was much more strict, late hits on the Qb were par for the course, and your team was lost unless it had a 6'2'' 230 lb fullback battering ram like Sam Bam Csonka, Van Eghen etc. So passer rating is really only a relevant stat from 1978 onward. That's why I left it out. This way all time greats like Staubach and Bradshaw are given their just due... BTW, given that, isn't amazing that Staubach still shows up on your list? If I were making a list based purely on gut feeling, I would have Staubach and Montana tied at #1. Staubach is constantly overlooked, but he was THE classic NFL QB...

 

[RyanTheColtsFan]

One reasonably objective way to judge top Qbs is by playoff victory totals as starters (or coming off the bench to lead a team to victory), with Sbs victories as a tie breaker. That shows that a Qb was the head of a winning organization over a long period of time. It does not penalize a QB for not "winning the big one", but rewards him for doing so. Since the merger in 1970, here are the QB playoff victory standings:

1. Montana 16 (4 Sb wins)
2. Bradshaw 14 (4 Sbs wins)
3. Elway 14 (2 Sb wins, 3 Sb losses)
4. Brady 12 (3 Sb wins)
5. Staubach 12 (2 Sb wins, 2 Sb losses)
6. Aikman 11 (3 Sb wins)
7. Favre 11 (1 Sb win, 1 Sb loss)
8. Kelly 9 (4 Sb losses)
9. Plunkett 8 (2 Sb wins)
10. Young 8 (1 Sb win)
11. Marino 8 (1 Sb loss)
12. (tie) Stabler 7 (1 Sb win)
Manning 7 (1 Sb win)
13. McNabb 7 (1 Sb loss)
14. Theisman 6 (1 Sb win, 1 Sb loss)
15. Simms 6 (1 Sb win)
16. Tarkenton 6 (3 Sb losses)
17. Danny White 6
18. Warner 5 (1 Sb win, 1 Sb loss)
19. Roethlisberger 5 (1 Sb win)
20. McNair 5 (1 Sb loss)

Yes. Because Jim Plunkett was/is a better QB than Peyton Manning.

And Bradshaw is the 2nd best QB ever?

How can you have ANY top QB list without Unitas? I know this is a post merger list, so shouldn't that make this DQ'd right off the bat?

 

[mgteich]

I like this list and the order, although I would drop Marino to #6. I would add Tarkingon, Stauback, Kelly and Aikman.

1. Montana
2. Brady
3. Manning
4. Marino
5. Elway
6. Young

 

[DarrylS]

YA Tittle.. showed me how tough the NFL was and what Football was all about
Unitas.. finesse, how the game should be played
Bart Starr.. more finesse, how important the QB was
Terry Bradshaw... found out that QB's are human
Joe Montana.. brought the QB position to a new level
Marino... kept the QB position at that level
Elway.. played a long time, till he finally achieved his goal
Brady.. will be remembered as one of the best\
Manning... as much as I do not like his team, respect him for what he has done

 

[PonyExpress]

Yes. Because Jim Plunkett was/is a better QB than Peyton Manning.

And Bradshaw is the 2nd best QB ever?

How can you have ANY top QB list without Unitas? I know this is a post merger list, so shouldn't that make this DQ'd right off the bat?

Bradshaw was the Qb of the greatest team in NFL History since the merger, won 4 Sbs, and 2 Sb MVPs. He was a fanstastic big game performer. Those who downgrade Bradshaw do so because they seem offended by his regular season "statistics", as I'm sure a fan of Manning would feel. However, that betrays a lack of hsitorical understanding about the Qb position and how difficult it was to accumulate fantasy stats prior to 1978. Plunkett, like Manning, was the #1 overall pick, and led his team to 2 SB wins in a 4 year span, in one of which he was MVP. When the money was on the table, he won games, and that is the definition of good Qb'ing. Manning's career is a work in progress, not a finished product. If he wins 2 more playoff games in his career he will pass Plunkett on this list, and he is in prime position to do so. As for Unitas, Unitas' prime was in another era, before the merger, when the game and the environment around the game were so different as to not be comparable. It would be an exercise in historical elitism to begin including Otto Graham and Sid Gillman. Nobody can compare those players to todays QBs. Although Unitas' career overlapped into the 1970s, he was a shadow of himself. An interesting list to produce, to quell your unease, would be a pre-1970 list, which would include Otto Graham, Johnny U., Bart Starr, Roman Gabriel and Benny Friedman et. al. Have fun putting that one together...

 

[gomezcat]

It's tough to think of just 5, but Manning, Montana and Brady would DEFINITELY be in (not in that order though). I would put Montana top at this point. After that, for me, it's two from the three of Marino, Elway and Young. Elway's ability to engineer fourth quarter comebacks was truly astonishing.

Edit: my list goes back to 1986 and a lot is based on the scraps of highlights and Superbowls.

 

[NE_PATS_FAN_54]

i know this wont be widely accepted on this forum, but i dont think we can put any active quarterback on this list right now. obviously brady and manning are great qb's and both will be hall of famers but it seems to me that putting them on this list doesnt seem right. i think we need to let them finish their careers first and then sit back and compare then with the likes of unitas, marino, montana, etc. and im pretty surprised to see that marino is not on most of people's list. sure he didnt win a super bowl, but trent dilfer won a super bowl, does that mean he's better than marino....well i think not. i think this year showed it perfectly. its the team that wins the super bowl, not one specific player.
anyways here is my list(no current players)
1. Montana
2. Marino
3. Elway
4. Unitas
5. Young

 

[Fanfrom1960]

Bradshaw was the Qb of the greatest team in NFL History since the merger, won 4 Sbs, and 2 Sb MVPs. He was a fanstastic big game performer. Those who downgrade Bradshaw do so because they seem offended by his regular season "statistics", as I'm sure a fan of Manning would feel. However, that betrays a lack of hsitorical understanding about the Qb position and how difficult it was to accumulate fantasy stats prior to 1978. Plunkett, like Manning, was the #1 overall pick, and led his team to 2 SB wins in a 4 year span, in one of which he was MVP. When the money was on the table, he won games, and that is the definition of good Qb'ing. Manning's career is a work in progress, not a finished product. If he wins 2 more playoff games in his career he will pass Plunkett on this list, and he is in prime position to do so. As for Unitas, Unitas' prime was in another era, before the merger, when the game and the environment around the game were so different as to not be comparable. It would be an exercise in historical elitism to begin including Otto Graham and Sid Gillman. Nobody can compare those players to todays QBs. Although Unitas' career overlapped into the 1970s, he was a shadow of himself. An interesting list to produce, to quell your unease, would be a pre-1970 list, which would include Otto Graham, Johnny U., Bart Starr, Roman Gabriel and Benny Friedman et. al. Have fun putting that one together...

Thanks for giving Otto Graham a little love here. There were a lot fewer teams and no super bowl in his time, but he's still won more championships than any other QB. Granted, four were in the defunct AAFC.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Vey interesting. The only problem I have with "passer rating" is that it penalizes Qbs who played prior to 1978, when the downfield contact rules were changed and the passing game was opened up. As I'm sure you know (since 1974), that era was one of brutal play in the defensive backfield, contact downfield was legal until the ball was in the air, offensive holding was much more strict, late hits on the Qb were par for the course, and your team was lost unless it had a 6'2'' 230 lb fullback battering ram like Sam Bam Csonka, Van Eghen etc. So passer rating is really only a relevant stat from 1978 onward. That's why I left it out. This way all time greats like Staubach and Bradshaw are given their just due... BTW, given that, isn't amazing that Staubach still shows up on your list? If I were making a list based purely on gut feeling, I would have Staubach and Montana tied at #1. Staubach is constantly overlooked, but he was THE classic NFL QB...

Great points all. Yeah, I think they added an official in '78 too to police the five yard rule.

Staubach did pretty well anyway at 83.4 for a QB who spent virtually his entire career pre 78. The modern-era guy who suffers on the Pass rating is Bradshaw who played most of his career pre 78 and whose Pass rating of 70.9 belies his impact. Interestingly enough, Montana began his pro career in 79.

(BTW, Otto Graham's Pass rating was 78.17; Y.A. Tittle's was 73.65; Sid Luckman's was 75.01.)

I guess the bottom line is that no one measure is perfect, which is why matching results on multiple "lists" is kind of interesting.