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Plus, the game changes so much.. Take Sonny Jurgensen.. The most pass attempts he had in a season was 508 and he averaged about 400 per year. The LEAST pass attempts Drew Brees had in a season was 500 and he averages about 575.
Yes, it was a 14 game vs 16 game season, but still..
The best way, my opinion, is to break it down by decades.. Even the 80's when Montana and Elway were playing.. Hard to compare them against current QBs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2nd trick op
The role of a quarterback changes constantly, due to the slow-and-subtle changes in the game itself; so I'm just going to toss in a few more names overlooked up to this point in the thread:
Ken Stabler, John Brodie, Y A Tittle, Bobby Layne, George Blanda,
well said. it isnt possible to properly compare quarterbacks of different eras as the game has changed so much over the decades. for instance YA title was so good in his ear, that an award was named after him. roger staughbach was a great QB along with terry bradshaw in the 70s. but compare their stats to today and modern quarterbacks show up as being "better".
but are they? in every era, the successful quarterbacks got things done given the rules at the time. for instance i think unitas would have had greater passing stats if he played under the same rules that quarterbacks of today play under. remember back in the unitas era, defensive backs could just about mug the receivers and not get called for pass interference, where as today if the DB look at a receiver cross eyed they get a flag thrown at them.
or how about in the unitas era a receiver coming across the middle had better know where the linebackers are, and hope the QB doesnt throw to him or he just might end up flat on his back from a vicious hit that today would be unnecessary roughness or what ever else they call it these days.
also back in the unitas era, roughing the passer was different than today as well. back then you could level a quarterback by hitting him anywhere on his body, today if you make incidental contact with his helmet with your hand, you get flagged.
so i agree, if you want to name the top five quarterbacks, pick them by eras rather than overall.
one more thing to consider, most people will pick quarterbacks by what they have seen, and who is the hot hand at the moment. so while i would pick unitas, staughbach, and bradshaw as three of my top fives, someone else would pick otto graham, ya title, and sonny jurgensen as three of their top five. and a lot of people would today pick rodgers, brady, and montana as three of their top five. these are nine of the best overall, but who is to say that brady is better than staughbach, graham, or title?
Marino, Montana, Brady, Rodgers, Staubach would probably be my top 5 of those I've seen play. I could arrange them in any order for a myriad of reasons- all of them had their faults as well- depends how much you want to account it to surrounding talent, coaching, opposition, etc... . Manning was tough to leave off- huge upside on some fronts, but also some huge downsides that bothered me compared to my five. Did someone actually say Bradshaw??? Really?
Location: East Texas, with the Clan of the Cave Bear
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No love for Aikman? So much love for Favre????
Aikman was 7 and 1 against Favre led teams. Favre never won in Dallas (0-9). Favre even lost one game when Jason Garrett (current Cowboy HC) QB'ed the team and another when Emmitt Smith missed the game and Blair Thomas was Dallas' RB. Guess I was never impressed with him because I always thought he was good for screw ups at crunch time. One SB victory vs Aikman's 3. Gotta use championships and playoffs as a measuring stick. MAdden would say every game he broadcast how accurate Aikman was.
I've only watched the pro game since 1965 so I've missed some greats but since I haven't seen them in game action they don't make my list.
1. Brady (plays under the best NFL coach I've seen and I don't care if his career is ongoing, he's working on GOAT status)
2. Montana (very cool customer)
3. Aikman (I've used the SB measuring stick but this man was driven and a perfectionist)
4. Staubach (Captain America ... a true leader. The one player the 70's Stealers said they feared on the Cowboys)
5. P. Manning (best football acumen of any)
Honorable mention: Elway, Unitas, Bradshaw (poor completion % comparatively and the Steal Curtain won for them BUT ... 4 SB's), Steve Young, Starr, Brees
.
Some great QB's but not winners: Fouts, Marino, Romo, Tarkington, Moon
1. Montana
2. P. Manning
3. Marino
4. Brady
5. Favre - played in the worst conditions known to man (which none of the above softies had to do) & still threw dead accurate missiles
Kurt Warner is somewhere in 6-10 range. He has to be the most underrated QB. His accuracy was tops & he could read defenses like no other. Rams & Cardinals were awful before he arrived & after he left.
Packers will have 3 QBs in the top 10 once Rodgers retires & Rodgers will be top 5.
Aikman was 7 and 1 against Favre led teams. Favre never won in Dallas (0-9). Favre even lost one game when Jason Garrett (current Cowboy HC) QB'ed the team and another when Emmitt Smith missed the game and Blair Thomas was Dallas' RB. Guess I was never impressed with him because I always thought he was good for screw ups at crunch time. One SB victory vs Aikman's 3. Gotta use championships and playoffs as a measuring stick. MAdden would say every game he broadcast how accurate Aikman was.
I've only watched the pro game since 1965 so I've missed some greats but since I haven't seen them in game action they don't make my list.
1. Brady (plays under the best NFL coach I've seen and I don't care if his career is ongoing, he's working on GOAT status)
2. Montana (very cool customer)
3. Aikman (I've used the SB measuring stick but this man was driven and a perfectionist)
4. Staubach (Captain America ... a true leader. The one player the 70's Stealers said they feared on the Cowboys)
5. P. Manning (best football acumen of any)
Honorable mention: Elway, Unitas, Bradshaw (poor completion % comparatively and the Steal Curtain won for them BUT ... 4 SB's), Steve Young, Starr, Brees
.
Some great QB's but not winners: Fouts, Marino, Romo, Tarkington, Moon
For all but his first season (when Dallas went 1-15) Aikman had the NFL's all-time leading rushing. During the Super Bowl runs in the early/mid 1990s, Smith was running behind one of the NFL's all-time great offensive lines.
Favre had ... Edgar Bennett and Dorsey Levens.
Simply put, Favre was the overwhelming reason the Packers one that Super Bowl in the 1990s. Aikman was a very good quarterback - but not a great quarterback - surrounded by a level of talent that was far and away greater than anything Favre ever had to work with.
Ghengis, Good list; I agree with you on Otto Graham. He's in my top 5.
Problem for Graham (in my opinion), is that a lot of contemporary NFL fans have either a shallow (or short-term) knowledge of pro football history, so Graham gets overlooked.
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