Top Quarterbacks of All Time

I've recently been seeing some Top-? Quarterbacks of All Time lists. There's probably at least a couple reasons for that. It's a never-ending debate. It's early July. Whatever the reason, it's a fun debate and everyone has an opinion. Here are four of those opinions. The first two posted their lists recently recently and sparked this post.

 Elliott Harrison, NFL.com

1.   Tom Brady
2.   Joe Montana
3.   Peyton Manning
4.   Johnny Unitas
5.   Otto Graham
6.   Drew Brees
7.   Dan Marino
8.   Roger Staubach
9.   John Elway
10. Aaron Rodgers
11. Sammy Baugh
12. Brett Favre
13. Bart Starr
14. Troy Aikman
15. Steve Young
16. Sid Luckman
17. Terry Bradshaw
18. Russell Wilson
19. Ben Roethlisberger
20. Kurt Warner
21. Jim Kelly
22. Warren Moon
23. Fran Tarkenton
24. Len Dawson
25. Norm Van Brocklin

Former Colts, Chargers, and 49ers beat writer, current football columnist, and Hall of Fame voter Clark Judge recently wrote an article for the Talk of Fame Network about the all-time best quarterbacks and Drew Brees' place among them. That article included his Top-12 list.

1.   John Unitas
2.   Tom Brady
3.   Otto Graham
4.   Joe Montana
5.   John Elway
6.   Roger Staubach
7.   Peyton Manning
8.   Bart Starr
9.   Sammy Baugh
10. Dan Marino
11. Terry Bradshaw
12. Brett Favre

Judge's 13th best quarterback of all time comes from a group that includes the following:
Drew Brees, Norm Van Brocklin, Sid Luckman, Bobby Layne, Troy Aikman, Steve Young, and Aaron Rodgers

Few football historians, professional and amateur, are as thorough in his or her research as John Turney of Pro Football Journal. His ranking of the NFL's best quarterbacks goes far beyond the 25 that I've included here.

1.   Tom Brady
2.   Johnny Unitas
3.   Joe Montana
4.   Otto Graham
5.   Peyton Manning
6.   Sammy Baugh
7.   John Elway
8.   Aaron Rodgers
9.   Brett Favre
10. Roger Staubach
11. Steve Young
12. Drew Brees
13. Dan Marino
14. Troy Aikman
15. Terry Bradshaw
16. Bobby Layne
17. Bart Starr
18. Len Dawson
19. Fran Tarkenton
20. Sonny Jurgensen
21. Y.A. Tittle
22. Dan Fouts
23. Warren Moon
24. Bob Griese
25. Sid Luckman

Check out his entire rankings at Pro Football Journal. Actually, I highly recommend the blog for reasons beyond his quarterback rankings. It's extremely informative and always fun.

That leads me to the most significant NFL quarterback ranking. Mine. Here's my Top-15.

1.   Johnny Unitas
2.   Tom Brady
3.   Otto Graham
4.   Joe Montana
5.   Sammy Baugh
6.   Peyton Manning
7.   Aaron Rodgers
8.   Roger Staubach
9.   John Elway
10. Dan Marino
11. Steve Young
12. Drew Brees
13. Brett Favre
14. Bart Starr
15. Bobby Layne

Perhaps I'm remembering past rankings incorrectly but it seems as though Roger Staubach has been trending upwards. If I recall correctly, he was often on the outside of most people's Top-10. If he really is trending upwards, it's a very good thing. As a Minnesota Vikings fan, there was no quarterback that I feared more in the 1970s, especially late in a game, than Staubach. And it wasn't just because of a particular, wrongly officiated Hail Mary pass. He was simply one of the best quarterbacks I've ever seen.