The Top 10 Quarterbacks list took a lot of time, hard work, dedication, and study. If you do not agree with the list you are wrong. There are a couple players who are playing their way on this list right now (Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees). I’ll start with the honorable mentions and work my way to number one. 

Dan Fouts- Hall of Famer and an Oregon Duck. He was the first quarterback to pass for over 4,000 yards three consecutive seasons, was selected two times All-Pro, and two times 2nd team All-Pro. He passed for over 40,000 yards and also won NFL offensive player of the year.
Fran Tarkenton- The proof is in the pudding. Tarkenton passed for 47,003 yards and 342 TDs. He was selected to nine Pro Bowls, was league MVP in 1975, and was All-Pro two times. Only one problem, no championships.
Doug Williams- First Black QB to win Super Bowl MVP. The QB was looked at as a white man’s position and for a long time and he helped change that. Doug gets on the list simply because he changed the game by breaking ground and paving the way for a new era of players.
10. Warren Moon- He amassed over 49,000 passing yards and 291 touchdowns in the NFL alone. When you add his CFL and NFL career together, you see how truly great he was. He amassed over 70,000 yards 400 touchdowns. Moon was clearly an NFL quarterback, but was forced to the CFL because black quarterbacks were not given the same opportunity to lead NFL franchises as they are today. He was selected to 9 Pro Bowls, and was NFL league MVP in 1990. Moon, along with Doug Williams and James”Shack” Harris proved that great quarterbacks have no color.

9. Brett Favre- He played at a high level until he was 40. The season before his last with the Vikings could have arguably been his finest if he had reached or won the Super Bowl. He is one of the best to play the position, but his stats are a product of inevitability with the number of years played. If it were not for a 1.5:1 touchdown to interception ratio he would be in the Top 5. But I will say, if he was not one of the greatest he could not have done it for this long at such a high level. He won’t WOW you with completion percentage or accuracy but he has everything you ask for in a great QB: Toughness, Leader, Winner, MVP, and Champion.

8. Dan Marino- Marino piled up a ton of stats but couldn’t stack them on top of a championship. People will argue that his unbelievable numbers make him the best of all time, but they don’t. Kareem Abul-Jabbar has easily scored the most points in NBA history and 3rd all-time in rebounds but we don’t call him the greatest of all-time. I cannot put him in the Top 5 because he has no championships. The reason he has no championships is because he never had a running game. His philosophy was why run the football when he could throw it further than they could run each play.

7. Kurt Warner- This Arena League QB who went undrafted out of college has turned into one of the best quarterbacks the league has ever seen. He bagged groceries for $5.50 per hour to earn money for his family and lived with his in-laws to keep his NFL dream alive. Now, Warner is a future Hall of Famer and owns the three highest single game passing yardage totals in Super Bowl history. He also earned the NFL league MVP twice and was the MVP of Super Bowl XXXIV. Warner has cemented his place in NFL history; all you have to do is check the record books.

6. John Elway- California boy from Granada Hills HS (which is minutes from my house, FYI). When you hear “The Drive” you already know what game they are referring to (Jan. 11 1987 Denver Broncos vs Cleveland Browns in the AFC Championship game). He has championships, wins, played in five Super Bowls, and basically invented the 4th quarter comeback stat! Not only was he selected to nine Pro Bowls, he is also a two-time Super Bowl Champion, Super Bowl MVP, and 1987 league MVP.

5. Steve Young- If “Montana to Rice” was a good combo “Young to Rice” was even better. He helped revolutionize the position to what it is today. Teams only wanted a “pocket” passer until Young showed how much a mobile quarterback could help the offense. Three time Super Bowl champion. Two-time NFL MVP. Young holds numerous NFL records including highest career passer rating (98.6), and most rushing touchdowns by a QB (43). And he did it all with a disability, he’s left-handed. Joke. LOL

4. John Unitas- Innovator of the passing game. He revolutionized the QB position therefore he changed the game. There would be no Jerry Rice or Randy Moss without Unitas because there would be no Young, Montana, or Brady. I would not be acknowledging history if I left “Johnny U” off the list. Its like Michael Jordan. A better/more talented player may come along but he will always be regarded as the man who changed the game; the original QB. He was league MVP three times and still owns the NFL record for most consecutive games with a TD pass (47) which has stood since 1960!

3. Tom Brady-This man has three championships. Brady, aka the “Check Down King” is calm, cool, and collected. In big game situations ice water runs through his veins. All he does is, “win, win, win, no matter what”. When I first made the Top 5 list last year I had him as an honorable mention. He has since assaulted the record books and won another league MVP. Brady has 3 championships and 2 Super Bowl MVPs. That said he is still clearly one of the best QBs of all-time. Some might even argue that he should be above Manning, but I give his team and head coach Bill Belichick higher marks than Manning’s supporting cast. Brady missed a season and his team still won 10 games. Manning missed a season and the Colts were the worst team in the league.

2. Peyton Manning- We are watching him rewrite history. He is the fastest QB in history to reach 4,000 completions and 50,000 passing yards. Manning is an 11 time pro bowl selection, and has been voted all-pro 8 times. There isn’t a throw he can’t make or a receiver he doesn’t hit in stride. Peyton is the consummate perfectionist, but you could never tell by his pre-play antics. At first glance he looks like a mad man in disarray, but after the whistle blows and the clock has all zeros you know Peyton is the Chess Master. Defenses try to throw everything at him: blitzes, zone dogs, and every other scheme, to no avail. He will be #1 on this list while he is still in uniform with one more championship. Do I really need to list ALL his stats to qualify this? Peyton has missed all of the 2011 season, and the Colts were 2-14. He proved he was the most important player to his team in the league, and one of the greatest to ever wear cleats. Now a member of the Denver Broncos, and three neck surgeries later, Manning is having another MVP caliber season. 

1. Joe Montana- The best QB of all-time. Four time Super Bowl champion. Three time Super Bowl MVP. Two-time league MVP. He holds postseason records for most career passing TDs (45), games with over 100.0 passer rating (12), and games with 300 passing yards (6, recently broken by Manning). The most important stat of them all, 0, that’s the number of interceptions he threw in four Super Bowls! What more can you say? He is the very definition of what a coach, owner, or teammate could ever ask for in a QB!

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25 Comments

  1. Dont really understand who Williams is even an honorable mention. Career losing record and completion percent under 50. Obviously he changed the game but wasn't that good. Also Unitas is too high and moon is to low.
    @aasportsblog1
    http://www.aaaportsblog.weebly.com.

  2. The Colts were 2-14 last season because they tanked the season in order to draft a QB to replace Manning. To say that they went from The best to the worse team without Manning is wrong. There's no way anyone can say that Manning is Greater than Brady. Manning has the worse playoff record (and performances) of any elite QB…Fact.

  3. Terry Bradshaw?

  4. I can say without a doubt Manning > Brady. Brady rings always have an asterisk. Spygate.

  5. Honorable mention for Trent Dilfer , he was the first "Dilfer" to win the Superbowl and paved the way for future "Dilfer's".

    Makes about as much sense as Doug Williams does.

  6. This is bullsh*t , The Patriots weren't the ONLY team to record the other teams signals.What they WERE was the the team that got caught doing it.

  7. spy gate really hs a lot to do with it…..he's in Super Bowl contention every single year. if he doesn't get to the superbowl it's considered a failure. Brady has the most important stat records and that's wins. best winning percentage and most play off wins and 3 superbowls and he will probably win at least one more by the end of his career

  8. As a Pats fan, I want to say that Brady is better than Manning, and while I certainly want to, I think the points made in the above article are valid. Brady *did* have a better team supporting him than Manning. If you look solely at the quarterback, I have to give Manning the nod.
    Having said that, if this were a list of coaches, I would expect Belichick to be very high on the list. Being able to put together an 11-5 season when your star quarterback goes out in the first week and you have to play with a guy who hasn't started since high school is pretty impressive in my book.

  9. FAIL OF A LIST!!!

    Kurt Warner better than Dan Marino is laughable.

    Dan "The Man" had the prettiest release of all time!

    He easily is top 5.

  10. no argument Montana is #1

  11. brady is good but the team spyed

  12. I hate it when people rank players before they retire. But seriously, can you honestly say Peyton is the second best QB of all time? You need to compare them by era, not just stats. Manning has won only one ring and Brady won 3 and 0 since spygate. Wait until the retire so they can prove me wrong, but so far they may be top 10, but not top 5.

  13. The only one I don't like is Kurt Warner. He did some awesome things in the playoffs, but his regular season and stats aren't all that impressive. He was pretty efficient so I can see why you would rate him in the top ten. There is just too many other qualified QBS in the same position though.

  14. just recent qbs. doesnt include otto graham or samme baugh. look at some films.

  15. Bradys atleast ahead of manning at 2 5 superbowl appearances onde dropped pick away from perfect season brought a 31st ranked def to superbowl n most playpff wins manning is 9-11 in playoffs

  17. You claim to put a lot of research into this, then dont even have Starr as an honorable mention?

  18. Glanced at the list and did not see Y A Tittle listed – knew right away somebody was smoking something.
    TLP

  19. Moon was a tremendous talent. I have no problem with him on this list and would probably put him above Favre- overrated.

  20. Lombardi said jergenson was the greatest he ever saw.

  21. Peyton over brady??? Are u f#@$ing kidding me!!! This man has one of the worst playoff records in nfl history..brady is the second best qb of alltime all he does is win an win an win..numbers don't lie..brady over peyton any fucking day of the week

  22. only player with four MVP's…..

    and look at the HOF's on the defense when the Pats won the Super Bowls. Check Brady's stats in those games…and not to mention look on his sideline at the undisputed greatest coach of our era. Stop talking….if Super Bowls were the real defining factor, why don't any of you ever argue for Terry Bradshaw.

  23. numbers don't lie? How about: only player with four MVP's, on pace to break every QB record faster than Favre. If you're going to argue playoff record, Starr was undefeated in the playoffs. If you're going to argue super bowls, Terry Bradshaw had four and Trent Dilfer has more than Dan Marino. Not to mention, the greatness of those Pats teams when Brady's stats really weren't very impressive during those super bowl years…

  24. You might want to think about staubach and drew brees also.

  25. The best QB's should be defined by games won, Super Bowl appearances, playoff appearances, playoff wins, career stats,and…the icing on the cake Super Bowl WINS! After that add the crap like most 4th qrt comebacks and years played. On my scale you'd have Tarkington, Bradshaw, Montana, Elway, Favre, Brady…and a few others.

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