Top 25 Quarterbacks of All-Time # 6-10
This is a continuation of a series that covered quarterbacks one through five.
6. Johnny Unitas 6’1” 194 lbs.: 1956-1973 Baltimore Colts, San Diego Chargers
Accolades: Hall of Fame, 1x Super Bowl champ with a 1-0 record, 3x NFL champ, 10x Pro Bowl, 5x All-Pro, 3x MVP, Hall of Fame, All-1960s team
Career Numbers: 40,239 yards (22nd), 290 TD passes (15th), 78.2 passer rating (95th)
Johnny U deserves the respect and rank this high. He’s one of the all-time greats that was ahead of his time, and he was able to win the title multiple times in his great career.
At the time of retirement Unitas was number one all-time in pass yards with 40,239making him the first in the 40,000-yard passer club, while the next closest retired player was YA Tittle at 33,070. In touchdown passes Unitas (290) threw 48 more than the closest retired player, who was again YA Tittle at 242. Ranking 6th all-time in passer rating was nice as well.
Unitas’ 1970 Colts team that won the Super Bowl beat the Bengals and Raiders in the playoffs before edging the Cowboys 16-13 in the Super Bowl. It took a while for Unitas to win the Super Bowl but he finally got his. This all-time legend absolutely belongs at number six.
7. Fran Tarkenton 6’0” 190 lbs.: 1961-1978 Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants
Accolades: Hall of Fame, 9x Pro Bowl, 1975 NFL MVP, 1x All-Pro
Career Numbers: 47,003 yards (13th), 342 TD passes (11th), 80.4 passer rating (78th), 3,674 career rush yards, 32 career rush TD’s
The scrambler had to go through two trades before he’d end up taking the Vikings to the Super Bo. Despite only going to the playoffs five times in his career and never winning the Super Bowl (0-3) Fran Tarkenton is worthy of this spot and it’s because he was a transcendent player and ahead of his time.
His first head coach in Minnesota, Norm Van Brocklin, clashed with Fran over his frequent scrambling which is what led to the first trade. His scrambling style however wasn’t what prevented the Vikings from winning in the Tarkenton-Van Brocklin era – it was the fact they just weren’t very good. Tarkenton’s scrambling style is part of what led them to three Super Bowls, but Fran could also throw in a way that was ahead of his time. At the time of his retirement Tarkenton has nearly 7,000 more career passing yards than second place all-time (47,003 to Unitas’ 40,239) and 52 more touchdown passes than second most all-time (342 to Unitas’ 290). Fran was 6th all-time in passer rating when he retired, and his scrambling produced 3,674 rushing yards and 32 rush touchdowns in his career.
All three Super Bowl losses were to great teams as they fell to Chuck Noll and the Steelers’ Steel Curtain defense, Don Schula’s Dolphins, and John Madden’s Raiders. Fran didn’t have the team to help him win those games. Tarkenton never won but was ahead of his time and that mixed with his performance makes him deserving of this spot in these rankings.
8. John Elway 6’3” 215 lbs.: 1983-1998 Denver Broncos
Accolades: Hall of Fame, 2x Super Bowl Champion with a 2-3 record, 1x NFL MVP, 9x Pro Bowl
Career Numbers: 51,475 yards (10th), 300 TD passes (12th), 79.9 passer rating (84th), Average DVOA rank: 13.4
Elway took a long time to win but when he did it was that much sweeter as he ended his career with Super Bowl victories in 1997 and 1998. In the ‘80s Elway’s Broncos were put through a meat grinder on three occasions. The first against the New York Giants in ’86 39-20 (39-13 with 2:34 remaining), in ’87 they lost 42-10 to the Washington Redskins, and then in ’89 lost 55-10 against the San Francisco 49ers.
Things changed shortly after Mike Shanahan was hired as Head Coach and Gary Kubiak as Offensive Coordinator in 1995. The 1997 Broncos narrowly defeated Brett Favre’s Packers 31-24 and in ’98 roughed up the Atlanta Falcons 34-17.
Elway could not only throw but he could do damage with his feet as well. In John Elway’s career, which ended after the 1998 season, he would end up throwing for 51,475 yards making him only the second 50,000-yard passer all-time. Elway trailed only Dan Marino (58,913 and counting) in that category and only trailed Marino and Fran Tarkenton in career passing touchdowns through 1998. Marino had 408, Tarkenton 342, and then Elway at 300 making him just the third 300 TD pass club member.
Elway won more than Tarkenton but Elway wasn’t an “ahead of his time” type guy the way Fran was. From Elway’s era that description fit Marino and Elway also wasn’t as good as Montana and he also didn’t win as much as Montana did. At this point in time there’s no reason to have Elway lower than eighth and be able to call it reasonable.
9. Aaron Rodgers 6’2” 225Lbs.: 2005-Current Green Bay Packers
Accolades: 1x Super Bowl champ with a 1-0 record, 9x Pro Bowl, 3x All-Pro, 3x NFL MVP, All-2010s team
Career Numbers: 51,245 yards (11th), 412 TD passes (7th), 103.9 passer rating (3rd), Average Ovr. PFF rank: 5.5, Average DVOA rank: 8, EPA/play (2001-2020): 0.236 (2nd)
As of right now this is where Rodgers belongs, but he can absolutely move up this list in time. My biggest reason for putting Rodgers at nine and no higher is I just can’t help but feel like he should’ve won more and that his style of play is part of why that is.
The part of his game I’m referring to is his love for holding the ball for fucking ever and behind elite protection. Rodgers holding the ball as long as he does is why he takes more sacks than guys like Brady and Brees and being able to hold the ball for a long time and be greatly protected is a huge edge. From 2010 (Super Bowl season) to 2020 the average PFF grade for the Packers offensive line is 5.3. Rodgers from 2011 (the first year of time to throw data available) to 2020 held the ball for an average of 2.85 seconds which is an eternity in the context of a football play.
Brady for example is just about always in the 2.5’s or 2.4’s in average time to throw. There’s even a stretch from 2014 to 2020 where Rodgers O line’s average grade was 2.6 and average time to throw was 2.88 seconds. Having that type of advantage is HUGE and it’s not like he ever had bad weaponry. Jordy Nelson was a great target for him, and then they got Davante Adams after them. They’ve tried to surround one strong piece with solid pieces and that hasn’t been enough for Rodgers behind incredible protection that most QB’s would die for. This isn’t said to knock Rodgers but to state the facts and explain why I don’t see him any higher as I know some even consider Rodgers the GOAT.
What makes Rodgers deserve his spot here is his incredible arm talent, mobility, and accuracy. Rodgers also is very careful with the ball as evidenced by his 1.4% career INT%. Rodgers is still going now and could even play for a new team before he retires so we’ll see what he can do to boost himself on this list if that does happen.
10. Drew Brees 6’0” 209 lbs.: 2001-2020 San Diego Chargers, New Orleans Saints
Accolades: 1x Super Bowl champ with a 1-0 record, 13x Pro Bowl, 1x All-Pro, 2x AP Offensive Player of the Year (2008,2011)
Career Numbers: 80,358 yards (1st), 571 TD passes (2nd), 98.7 passer rating (5th), Average Ovr. PFF rank: 5.4, Average DVOA rank: 7.3, EPA/play (2002-2020): 0.205 (4th)
Brees has had one hell of a career and it’s finally over. The king of 5,000-yard seasons deserves the final spot in the top ten. Brees was deadly accurate and got the ball out lightning-fast to make things more troublesome for defensive coordinators. Among QBs who have played at least five seasons, Brees has the best completion % all-time at 67.7%. Yes, Brees had Sean Payton but results are results and he shouldn’t be knocked for it.
Brees was, however, not as good outdoors and did much of his work inside a dome while the only other QB on this list so far to do that is Peyton Manning. Brees passer rating is 98.7 but drops to 92.5 outdoors and that’s with a lot of those being warmer weather outdoor games.
From 2006-2017 Brees crossed 4,000 yards passing in each season including five 5,000 yard seasons. Brees had a stretch from 2008-2016 where he crossed 30 plus touchdown passes. In his only Super Bowl appearance, Brees outdueled Peyton Manning which is something to brag about.
All stats are from https://www.pro-football-reference.com https://www.pff.com https://www.footballoutsiders.com
