The Best QB of All Time (1 Viewer)

[Chase Stuart]

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/blog/?p=547

Before the 2006 season, I wrote about the best quarterbacks of all time. With some more data on my hands, I decided to update that post. On Friday I discussed the methodology used, and yesterday, I ranked the worst quarterbacks in league history.

A couple of reminders. One, I ignored all post-season data, at least for now, mostly because it’s a complicated issue that’s worth separating out for a day. Later on this week, I plan to revisit post-season data. Two, on the list of the greatest QBs ever, I’m including sack data, and rushing yards, and using the league average as my baseline. Occasionally, though, I’ll use some other requirements when the rankings change substantially as a result.

What was the greatest season in QB history? It’s been almost a quarter-century, but Dan Marino’s 1984 season still stands alone. Sure, Marino averaged 8.51 adjusted yards per pass and 8.11 adjusted <em>net</em> yards per pass, but a few other QBs have topped that. What makes Marino's season so amazing was that he kept that pace up for over 564 passes, in an era where the league average QB threw for just 4.61 adjusted net yards per attempt.

Peyton Manning and Tom Brady don’t come far behind, with their 2004 and 2007 seasons ranking second and third, respectively. Right behind those years is Otto Graham’s 1953 season, an oft forgotten yet incredible season. Graham averaged 9.41 AY/A while the rest of the NFL averaged only 3.40 adjusted yards per attempt. The table below shows the top 50 seasons by all QBs in NFL history.

Click here for the rest of the article, showing the best QBs of all time, and the single season leader each year since the merger.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Great article Chase. And about time someone showed Anderson the love.

 

[FUBAR]

Another great article

One thing I love about these types of articles is looking to see what elite players are rarely mentioned, always overlooked.

Everyone knows Marino etc. but thanks for reminding us of Ken Anderson, Norm Van Brocklin and Roman Gabriel.

 

[Bri]

Very interesting read Chase.

Kurt and Daunte each had one spectacular year that just really blew me away(they had others but everything clicked so perfectly one year). I would have thought one of them would be higher even though they already are plenty high on the list.

None of Trent Green's 4000(or almost 4k) yard seasons made the list huh? Neither did Favre? Interesting

Q, are rushing yards accounted for?

I don't think so. If I may, at some point can you look at rushing(almost forget FF scoring for a sec) QBs and whether or not their efforts equal Ws. Vince's rookie year, Vick's best year, Randall in Philly, Kordell's best years, young McNair, young McNabb-I think there might be some evidence that we need to give running QBs a little more credit

 

[Chase Stuart]

Very interesting read Chase.

Kurt and Daunte each had one spectacular year that just really blew me away(they had others but everything clicked so perfectly one year). I would have thought one of them would be higher even though they already are plenty high on the list.

None of Trent Green's 4000(or almost 4k) yard seasons made the list huh? Neither did Favre? Interesting

Q, are rushing yards accounted for?

I don't think so. If I may, at some point can you look at rushing(almost forget FF scoring for a sec) QBs and whether or not their efforts equal Ws. Vince's rookie year, Vick's best year, Randall in Philly, Kordell's best years, young McNair, young McNabb-I think there might be some evidence that we need to give running QBs a little more credit

First, rushing numbers are included. I gave a QB credit for all rushing yards (and 10 yards for all rushing TDs) over 4.0 yards per carry. For example, Cunningham's 1990 season ranks as the 155th best season of all time, but if you excluded rushing data, it would rank as the 603rd best season of all time. One of the reasons you might think running seasons are undervalued is that they're highly correlated with high sack seasons. For example, Cunningham's 1990 season if you exclude sacks but include rushing, ranks as the 46th best season of all time.As you can see, Warner and Culpepper each had a top 12 season of all time, but obviously that alone isn't enough.

Favre's top season (1995) ranks 54th, his second best season 104th (2007) and his third best 107th (2001).

Trent Green's top season (2003) ranks 59th, his 2002 season ranks 99th, and he also has the 105th (2005) and 125th best (2004) seasons.

 

[DawnBTVS]

It's kind of mind blowing to see just how great Steve Young was with 4 seasons in the Top 30 and 2 in the Top 10. Even more so considering he came after arguably the best QB ever in Joe Montana.

 

[quickhands]

It's kind of mind blowing to see just how great Steve Young was with 4 seasons in the Top 30 and 2 in the Top 10. Even more so considering he came after arguably the best QB ever in Joe Montana.

Did anyone notice that there where no Lions on that....

 

[Chase Stuart]

It's kind of mind blowing to see just how great Steve Young was with 4 seasons in the Top 30 and 2 in the Top 10. Even more so considering he came after arguably the best QB ever in Joe Montana.

And it wasn't just individual statistics.SF ranked 1st in points scored for four straight years, '92 to '95. Six of the eight seasons that Young was the 49ers QB, San Francisco ranked in the top 3 in yards.

 

[Chase Stuart]

Top QB, statistically, each year since the merger:

Quarterback Year Team ANY/A RatingTom Brady 2007 NWE 8.04 1817Peyton Manning 2006 IND 7.38 1396Peyton Manning 2005 IND 7.44 1189Peyton Manning 2004 IND 8.82 1885Peyton Manning 2003 IND 6.85 1220Rich Gannon 2002 OAK 6.55 1072Kurt Warner 2001 STL 6.79 1189Jeff Garcia 2000 SFO 6.81 1354Kurt Warner 1999 STL 7.53 1490Randall Cunningham 1998 MIN 7.78 1324Steve Young 1997 SFO 6.98 904Brett Favre 1996 GNB 5.94 707Brett Favre 1995 GNB 6.62 1040Steve Young 1994 SFO 7.53 1407Steve Young 1993 SFO 6.96 1262Steve Young 1992 SFO 7.54 1611Mark Rypien 1991 WAS 7.69 1257Warren Moon 1990 HOU 6.75 1214Joe Montana 1989 SFO 7.69 1277Boomer Esiason 1988 CIN 7.12 1144Bernie Kosar 1987 CLE 6.62 863Dan Marino 1986 MIA 6.30 1146Ken O’Brien 1985 NYJ 6.14 944Dan Marino 1984 MIA 8.11 2098Joe Theismann 1983 WAS 6.63 1142Dan Fouts 1982 SDG 7.20 1275Dan Fouts 1981 SDG 6.74 1399Brian Sipe 1980 CLE 6.21 1056Roger Staubach 1979 DAL 6.28 1091Roger Staubach 1978 DAL 5.62 927Roger Staubach 1977 DAL 5.57 1031Bert Jones 1976 BAL 7.14 1506Ken Anderson 1975 CIN 6.45 1292Ken Anderson 1974 CIN 5.78 1081Roman Gabriel 1973 PHI 5.48 1096Joe Namath 1972 NYJ 5.85 741Roger Staubach 1971 DAL 7.17 1144John Brodie 1970 SFO 6.90 1360

Manning, Young and Staubach all appear on the list four times, while no other QB has been tops in the league more than twice. Warner, Favre, Marino, Fouts and Ken Anderson were the others to rank as the best regular season QBs in multiple seasons. While the Bengals, Browns, Jets and Redskins each had two separate QBs once lead the league, the San Francisco 49ers had an incredible four different QBs rank as the league’s main man.

 

[bagarner]

This is an outstanding article. It's interesting to note that players such as Trent Green, Kurt Warner, Steve McNair, Rich Gannon, and Daunte Culpepper rank ahead of Troy Aikman.

 

[SSOG]

It's kind of mind blowing to see just how great Steve Young was with 4 seasons in the Top 30 and 2 in the Top 10. Even more so considering he came after arguably the best QB ever in Joe Montana.

Did anyone notice that there where no Lions on that....

You REALLY want some salt in the wound? Check out the 15th name on the single-season list. Milt Plum, QB, Cleveland. 9.13 any/a, 1344 single-season rating.Now go to yesterday's blog post about the worst QBs. Look at the first name on the list of worst QBs for a single team. Milt Plum, QB, Detroit. -2167 career rating. His 1965 season was the 8th worst single season of all time, with 3.17 any/a and a rating of -891.Stings, doesn't it?

 

[Chase Stuart]

This is an outstanding article. It's interesting to note that players such as Trent Green, Kurt Warner, Steve McNair, Rich Gannon, and Daunte Culpepper rank ahead of Troy Aikman.

Green is a guy who's been underrated because of a lack of post-season success --- because of a lack of post-season opportunities. Green had five terrific seasons -- 2000 with the Rams, and 2002-2005 with the Chiefs. The Rams year, Kurt Warner started the playoff game. In 2002, 2004 and 2005, Green was terrific, the Chiefs offense was terrific, but the KC defense (and a tough AFC) prevented KC from making the playoffs. In 2003, he lost his only playoff game despite playing well and his team scoring 31 points. I think by and large, he's a guy that's been underrated by most casual fans.

 

[bagarner]

This is an outstanding article. It's interesting to note that players such as Trent Green, Kurt Warner, Steve McNair, Rich Gannon, and Daunte Culpepper rank ahead of Troy Aikman.

Green is a guy who's been underrated because of a lack of post-season success --- because of a lack of post-season opportunities. Green had five terrific seasons -- 2000 with the Rams, and 2002-2005 with the Chiefs. The Rams year, Kurt Warner started the playoff game. In 2002, 2004 and 2005, Green was terrific, the Chiefs offense was terrific, but the KC defense (and a tough AFC) prevented KC from making the playoffs. In 2003, he lost his only playoff game despite playing well and his team scoring 31 points. I think by and large, he's a guy that's been underrated by most casual fans.

I wholeheartedly agree with you. I have been a dedicated Chiefs fan my whole life, and Trent Green probably is my favorite Chief quarterback. It pleased me to see him above Troy Aikman on your list. It just feels kind of funny to see those guys above Aikman.