BOSMA’S BREAKDOWN
This is part 1 of a 2-part series. Click here for part 2.
Who is the best quarterback of all time?
It’s the age old question. The holy grail of the sports media. Every fan, writer or critic has an opinion; none of which can be labeled as fact. There is no proven method, and there never will be.
So, why try to even figure it out if there’s no definitive answer and it only leads to debate, arguing, and someone being offended? First of all, it’s a long quest of research, head scratching, and wondering why you’re spending so much time on something you’ll never really have an answer to.
Many before me have tried to answer this question before me. In my opinion, many have failed to truly capture who had the biggest impact, made the least mistakes, and thrived most when it counted.
For this reason, I decided to evaluate only the playoffs statistics and records of the quarterbacks in this list. Maybe that’s short-sighted, but I don’t care about a quarterback who tore up the regular season and continually floundered in the playoffs. I’ve always valued quarterbacks based on the number of Super Bowls they won and how well they performed in their pursuit toward that Super Bowl victory. It was also important to rate the value of quarterbacks that were great before the Super Bowl era (i.e. Bart Starr, Otto Graham), and extend the list beyond 10 to include all the quarterbacks that I believe deserved mentioning.
Formula
Step 1: I selected 14 Modern Era quarterbacks: Brett Favre, Joe Montana, John Elway, Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach, Otto Graham, Bart Starr, Steve Young, Dan Marino, Terry Bradshaw, Johnny Unitas, Tom Brady and Kurt Warner.
Step 2: After selection I decided to pull their playoff statistics in 13 categories (Games Played, Wins, Losses, Winning %, Super Bowl Wins, Super Bowl Losses, Super Bowl Win %, Completions, Attempts, Completion %, Yards, Touchdowns, Interceptions, QB Rating, and Total Touchdowns) and then ranked them accordingly from 1-14.
Step 3: Once all the rankings were set, I added up the totals, then awarded points for Super Bowl appearances: -7 pts for a win, -3.5 pts for a loss. Lowest score wins.
Results
Based strictly on the statistics I pulled (thank you Pro-Football-Reference.com and ProFootballHOF.com), the following results may seem a bit odd. Many of the quarterbacks that appear on other lists seem to have fallen on the list I’m about to present. I’m gong to showcase this list in two ways: 1) Rank by statistics and 2) My list based on what I’ve learned throughout this process. I don’t think statistics can tell the whole story, and that’s why you’re getting both lists. Of course, the second one will be the golden ticket.
Statistics List
1. Joe Montana [Avg. Rank: 3.36, Total Pts: 19] Resume: Third round draft pick, 1979…4x Super Bowl Champion….3x Super Bowl MVP…All-NFL 3x, All-NFC 5x…8x Pro Bowler…Career statistics: 3,409 completions, 40,551 yards, 273 TDs, 92.3 passer rating
2. Tom Brady [Avg. Rank: 5.21, Total Pts: 48.5] Resume: Sixth round draft pick (2000)…5x Pro Bowler…1x First-Team All-Pro…1x Second-Team All-Pro…3x Super Bowl Champion…2x Super Bowl MVP…All-Decade Team (2000’s)…Comeback Player of the Year (2009)…MVP (2007)…NFL/Offensive Player of the Year (2007)…Career stats: 225 TD’s, 99 INT, 30,844 passing yards, 93.3 QB rating
3. Terry Bradshaw [Avg. Rank: 6.79, Total Pts: 67] Resume: First overall draft pick (1970)…4x Super Bowl Champion…2x Super Bowl MVP… Held Super Bowl records: 9 TDs, 932 yards; post-season records: 30 TDs, 3,833 yards…Career stats: 27,989 yards, 212 TDs passing, 2,257 yards, 32 rushing TDs…NFL MVP (1978)
4. Bart Starr [Avg. Rank: 7.36, Total Pts: 72.5] Resume: Seventeenth round draft pick (1956)…Led Packers to six division, five NFL, two Super Bowl titles…NFL Most Valuable Player (1966)…2x Super Bowl MVP…3x NFL passing champion…4x Pro Bowler…Career passing totals: 24,718 yards, 152 TDs, 57.4 completion percentage
5. Troy Aikman [Avg. Rank: 6.64, Total Pts: 76] Resume: First overall draft pick (1989)…3x Super Bowl Champion…Winningest starting quarterback of any decade with 90 of 94 career wins occurring in 1990s…Held or tied 47 Dallas passing records…Posted 13 regular season and four playoff 300-yard passing games…6x Pro Bowler, All-Pro 1993, 2x All-NFC Second Team (1994, 1995)
6. Brett Favre [Avg. Rank: 5.93, Total Pts: 79.5] Resume: Second round pick (1991)…11x Pro Bowler…3x First Team All Pro…3x Second Team All Pro…3x MVP…5x NFC Player of the Year…Super Bowl Champion…1990s All Decade Team…Career Stats: 69,329 yards passing, 497 TD’s, 317 INT, 269 straight starts
7. Kurt Warner [Avg. Rank: 6.25, Total Pts: 95] Resume: Undrafted…4x Pro Bowler…2x MVP…3x First Team All Pro…Super Bowl MVP…Super Bowl Champion…At least 100 TD passes for 2 different teams…Fastest ever to reach 10,000 and 30,000 yards passing…Most yards passing in a playoff campaign (1,156)…Career stats: 32,344 yards passing, 208 TDs, 93.7 QB rating, 128 INT…
8. Otto Graham [Avg. Rank: 9.71, Total Pts: 96.5] Resume: College tailback, switched to T-quarterback in pros…Guided Browns to 10 division or league crowns in 10 years…Topped AAFC passers four years, NFL two years…All-league nine of 10 years…Four TD passes in 1950 NFL title win…Had three TDs running, three TDs passing in 1954 NFL title game…Career passes for 23,584 yards, 174 TDs…Scored 276 points on 46 TDs
9. Peyton Manning [Avg. Rank: 7.15, Total Pts: 96.5] Resume: First overall draft pick (1998)…10x Pro Bowler…5x First team All Pro…3x Second Team All pro…4x MVP…Colts All time leader (career wins, passing touchdowns, pass attempts, completions, passing yards)…Super Bowl MVP…Super Bowl Champion…NFL 2000’s all decade team…Career stats: 50,128 passing yards, 366 TD’s, 181 INT, 95.2 QB rating
10. John Elway [Avg. Rank: 7.71, Total Pts: 104.5] Resume: First overall draft pick (1983)…Led Denver to record 47 fourth quarter comebacks…MVP (1987)…All-Pro (1987)…3x All-NFL second team…4xAll-AFC…9x Pro Bowler…Super Bowl MVP…Career stats: 51,475 yards, 300 touchdowns…Started five Super Bowls
11. Steve Young [Avg. Rank: 8.71, Total Pts: 118.5] Resume: First round pick of supplemental draft (1984)…Tied with Sammy Baugh as only QBs to win six NFL passing titles…Set then-record 112.8 passer rating, 1994…Threw 6 TDs, named Most Valuable Player, Super Bowl XXIX…4x All-Pro…2x NFL MVP…7x Pro Bowler…Career statistics include 33,124 yards and 232 TDs passing, also rushed for 43 TDs
12. Dan Marino [Avg. Rank: 8.93, Total Pts: 121.5] Resume: First round pick (1983)…First player ever to pass for 5,000 yards in a season, threw then-record 48 TDs (1984)…Recorded thirteen 3,000-yard seasons…8x First or second team All-Pro…6x All-AFC…9x Pro Bowler…Career statistics: 4,967 completions, 8,358 attempts for 61,361 yards, and 420 touchdowns
13. Roger Staubach [Avg. Rank: 10.21, Total Pts: 122] Resume: Four-year Navy service preceded pro play…Guided Dallas to four NFC titles, 2x Super Bowl Champion…Super Bowl MVP (VI)…5x All-NFC…4x NFL Passing Leader…Career stats: 22,700 yards, 153 TDs passing; 2,264 yards, 20 TDs rushing…83.4 NFL passer rating best ever at time of retirement
14. Johnny Unitas [Avg. Rank: 11, Total Pts: 147] Resume: Led Colts to 1958, 1959 NFL crowns, Super Bowl V victory…6x All-NFL…3x Player of Year…10x Pro Bowler…Completed 2,830 passes for 40,239 yards, 290 TDs…Threw at least one TD pass in 47 straight games…Had 26 games over 300 yards passing
April 28th, 2010 at 7:03 pm
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