NFL’s 100 Greatest Quarterbacks of All-Time

Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning and New England Patriots QB Tom Brady — SetNumber: X78980 TK2 R5 F103

10 Greatest QBs of All-Time? Nope. 25 Greatest QBs of all time? Nope. 50 Greatest QBs of All-Time? We went all the way to 100.

It started as a simple task. With Aaron Rodgers saying this is probably his last season, I wanted to rank my top ten quarterbacks of all time. When I finished my top 10, there were a few more names I wanted to rank. I reached about 17 and said, Well, now I need to make a top 25. After that, nerdom took over.

I tried to look at everything. Era, which I look at with basically four eras. Pre-modern era (1920-1958), early passing era (1958-1980), birth of the modern passing era (1980-2005), and the current era (2005-present).

I weighed postseason performance heavily. QBs need to perform well in the regular season, but in the end, this game is about championships, not compiling statistics.

For current quarterbacks, I used 5 years as a starter as the threshold; Jalen Hurts and Trevor Lawrence would be “eligible” starting next year.

I reviewed the statistics, examined the eye test for those I’ve seen, and analyzed how historians view the players from the early years of the NFL. With that being said, here’s my top 100 quarterbacks in NFL history. Made comments for some, but not for all.

1. Tom Brady

There’s not even a debate at this point; Mahomes needs to win two more Super Bowls to even enter the conversation.

2. Patrick Mahomes

He doesn’t have the perfect Super Bowl record like Montana does, but the skills and success are hard to argue.

3. Joe Montana

4-0 in Super Bowls, a game-winning drive in Super Bowl XXIII, 55 points scored in Super Bowl XXIV.

4. Johnny Unitas

Unitas’ passing skills in an era of running the football helped start to evolve the game into what it is today.

5. John Elway

Some may argue that he’s this high on the list, but nobody wanted to face John Elway with two minutes to go in a one-score game. He was a magician.

6. Peyton Manning

Greatest regular season QB of all time, unfortunately, he had some stumbles in the postseason that cost him a couple of spots.

7. Aaron Rodgers

Possibly the best pure arm talent of any QB I’ve ever seen.

8. Dan Marino

Had he won a Super Bowl, he would probably be a little higher on this list, but his arm talent, release, and volume stats were second to none for his era.

9. Otto Graham

Graham had success throwing the ball in an era when nobody was throwing the ball.

10. Roger Staubach

Only 8 seasons as a starter keep him a little further down, he was the best QB of the 70s, even with Bradshaw’s 4 championships.

11. Steve Young

His ability to run and throw was remarkable. I’d say he’s underrated, and he’s 11th all-time.

12. Drew Brees

He and Sean Payton put up some obscene volume numbers for several years.

13. Terry Bradshaw

Had a great defense, but four Super Bowls is hard to argue against.

14. Brett Favre

The Dallas Cowboys are the only reason he isn’t higher on this list.

15. Sid Luckman

Luckman and Baugh were the first Brady and Manning. Most probably have Baugh ahead of Luckman, I’ll take the championships.

16. Sammy Baugh

Still want to rank Baugh ahead of Luckman? Don’t forget Baugh lost to Luckman 73-0 in the NFL Championship game.

17. Troy Aikman

Three titles. Statistics were never gaudy, but he rarely made a crippling mistake which is why the Cowboys consistently won under his leadership.

18. Jim Kelly

Kelly’s offenses in Buffalo were all-time great. 0-4 in the big game will always be a blackeye on his resume.

19. Bart Starr

The 1960s Packers just won championships. They technically 3-peated winning the title before the Super Bowl started and the first two Super Bowls. Never eclipsed 20 TDs or 2500 passing yards.

20. Fran Tarkenton

Tark was the league’s first running quarterback. A phenomenal scrambler, Tarkenton was also the league’s all-time passing leader in yards from 1976 to 1995.

21. Kurt Warner

22. Ben Roethlisberger

23. Dan Fouts

24. Warren Moon

25. Ken Stabler

26. Len Dawson

27. Joe Namath

Won the most important game in NFL history.

28. Norm Van Brocklin

29. Matthew Stafford

The Super Bowl and the success with a great organization showed that Stafford deserves a place high up on this list.

30. Russell Wilson

I think so many people think about Russ about what he is now, they forget what he was for 10 years.

31. Sonny Jurgensen

32. Lamar Jackson

Lamar needs to start having more postseason success and win a Super Bowl, and he will find himself in the top 20, potentially knocking on the door to enter the top 10.

33. YA Tittle

34. Bobby Layne

35. Josh Allen

See Lamar Jackson.

36. Roman Gabriel

37. Phillip Rivers

38. Bob Waterfield

39. Eli Manning

40. Phil Simms

41. Donovan McNabb

42. Jim Plunkett

43. Matt Ryan

44. Boomer Esiason

45. Carson Palmer

46. Drew Bledsoe

47. Randall Cunningham

If Cunningham entered the league 20 years later, I think he would be much higher on my list.

48. Ken Anderson

49. Bob Griese

50. Matt Hasselbeck

51. John Brodie

52. Rich Gannon

53. Jim Hart

54. Steve McNair

55. Joe Flacco

56. Joe Thiesmann

57. Mark Brunell

58. Joe Burrow

59. John Hadl

60. Earl Morrall

61. George Blanda

62. Archie Manning

63. Doug Williams

Probably over-ranked him, but a historic Super Bowl win has to be considered.

64. Bert Jones

65. Craig Morton

66. Ron Jaworski

67. Tony Romo

68. Darryle Lamonica

69. Brian Sipe

70. Dak Prescott

71. Cam Newton

Newton was a tough one for me to rank. Short peak, but really good for a few years.

72. Andrew Luck

What could have been…

73. Andy Dalton

74. Michael Vick

Phenomenal athlete, if he had the quarterback skills to back it up, he’d be up near Lamar, or at least Cunningham.

75. Vinny Testaverde

76. Bernie Kosar

77. Norm Snead

78. Kirk Cousins

79. Justin Herbert

80. Derek Carr

81. Jim McMahon

I think McMahon is a top 50 talent, but the injuries push him way down the list.

82. Dave Kreig

83. Ken O’Brien

84. Alex Smith

85. Kerry Collins

86. Jared Goff

Not a Goff fan, but can’t ignore the resume.

87. Jim Everett

88. Neil Lomax

89. Trent Green

90. Baker Mayfield

Surprised he made my list, but he’s already 83rd all-time in passing yards. The last two seasons have been monstrous.