The 20 Greatest QBs in the history of the NFL

Are you forgetting that Brady started 4 years before Roethlisberger? Then add in all the extra post season games for NWE.

 

Bubby looks like a demon with blacked out eyes.

 

Eyeballing looks like ~ 280 for Ben and ~ 380 for Brady.

Does look right:

Brady 335 G (333 starts). 48 playoffs (all starts).

Ben 249 G (247 starts). 23 playoffs (all starts).

So X-axis does look like games.

But is each data point on the y-axis some QB rating with a value in the 10,000 range (with guys like NOD getting a negative value)?

Or is it maybe some kind of cumulative measure or rolling sum?

Seems like maybe cumulative since everyone seems to start at ~ 0.

Knowing what the data is is important for trying to figure out what it's trying to say.

If it is cumulative QB rating (which I think it is?), then I think it would be the approximate slope of the line that would determine the quality of the QB. FWIW, I think this is why a rolling average would probably be a better way to look at this because then the value is the measure of the quality instead of the instantaneous slope (i.e., derivative)...which I think it harder for us to figure out by just looking at it.

If that's right, the total final values would really just be a proxy for games played (if average per game is positive). And I guess that length of career is a pretty good proxy for how good a QB is.

 

Like just focus on the colours man

 

NOD’s statistics are misleading

If it was third and 7 he would throw a 5 yard out pattern and we would have had to punt

His stat would show him completing a pass for 5 yards

He was not a good quarterback

 

Why did that make me think of mushrooms

 

Honestly don't recall details on the ratings but it seems obvious it is cumulative across games played.

 

Bradshaw led his teams to 4 superbowl victories and yet he's behind guys that have won only one (Manning) or none (Marino and Tarkenton)? Sorry, that list is sh** and the author is an obvious pats fan who pays too much attention to the individual stat line and didn't nearly watch enough live games. .

Brady by the way never had to deal with the punishment Terry or even Ben faced. If Brady had played in the 70’s or 80’s he'd be Ken O’Brien.

 

I agree that he wasn't a great QB.

But I think he was a better passer than Kordell (although Kordell looks better in these graphs). Kordell may have been a better QB though because his mobility was a big advantage. Particularly in a league where that wasn't really that relevant.

Re: NOD, maybe I'm over-indexing on the SB run year vs the rest of his career.

From just the stats, I think the '93 and '95 (SB run) year were both good. But the rest of his career isn't.

 

I think you're right here.

Makes it a little harder to interpret the data than something like rolling average.

Brady has a a dip just before game 320. But then strong positive slop after about 330 (wonder if that's when he went to TB?).

AR's slope turns negative somewhere around 240.

Ben kind of turns negative at the end, but not many negative points. Two kind of flat points. Wonder what happened around game 220 or something. Went from a plateau to a pretty positive slope (then a plateau and a decline...probably after the elbow).

 

Recency Bias at its finest.


The lack of both Sammy Baugh and Sonny Jurgenson already makes this list a joke. Both Unitas and Graham are ranked comically too low while Marino is ranked way too high.


He stat monster he was. A playoff champion he isn't.

 

Marino was that dude Miami could never build a good enough team around him, I'm not sure his 1984 season will ever be topped by another QB in only his second season.

 

Marino was today's Lamar Jackson, except he actually made a SB.
People flog themselves talking about their regular seasons, and yet complain about not winning playoffs games for us. Somehow regular season matter for Lamar, and Marino, but not for us. Make it make sense, and I don't want to hear about regular season MVPs being a individual award. I've never seen a Qb win a regular season MVP on a bad team.
Hell I watched Burrow score more tds , and throw for more yards than anyone 2 years ago, and they didn't even mention him as MVP. You aren't winning one as a Qb without a great team.

 

That performance by Burrow that year was one of the best season's I have ever seen by a quarterback. He had great weapons, but no offensive line. He stands in there and gets hammered to make those throws.

Burrow is just so impressive. If you like high-end traditional quarterback play with great processing, accuracy, and guts, Burrow is probably the best pure passing quarterback in the NFL. The dude can flat out play.

 

Agreed, and yet no mention of a MVP for him that year because his team sucked. That's why I laugh when people say they are individual awards, if they were individual awards Burrow would have won that year hands down.

 

It take both to have a chance to win the MVP.Sometimes the teams have a great record because of the play of your QB,not because your team is great

 

Agree, Burrow is very impressive, he just got picked by the wrong team.

 

LOL, yeah, that was quite a stretch to make a point comparing Lamar Jackson with Dan Marino! But I get it... teams with a great QB who can't get over the hump. Still, I think I'd use someone like Joe Burrow as today's Dan Marino because everything else about Marino vs. Jackson is an apples to some-other-fruit-you-can't-get-on-this-planet comparison.

 

well if he does then we failed

 

Nobody can't be compared to the great Dan Marino in the current era...I mean he rewrite the record book in 1984 with the best season ever by a QB.He was the only QB with a 5000 yards season until Drew Brees in 2008 and he break the TD record for a season by 12 that season!...And what he did the next season against the 1985 bears defense was just legendary!

His defense let him down so often in the playoffs and his running game was anemic.His team was outrushed by 150-200 rushing yards in so many playoffs game.It was out of his control

 

Well, the Dolphins built up their roster on the offensive side of the ball. They went all in on the offense with little defense. They had great weapons to throw to with two #1 wide receivers, and the rest of the NFL wasn't equipped to stop what they were doing with much of their personnel. They were attacking in a way with Marino that the rest of the NFL didn't.

Marino was great, but as the NFL adjusted to their style of play and teams figured out how to play them, the Dolphins became less of a threat. Most teams went for a more balanced approach. Miami tried to outscore everyone. Marino was awesome, but the system and philosophy they went with helped him put up bigger numbers.

When a great quarterback throws the ball as often as they did with a good offensive line and great weapons, that quarterback is going to pile up huge stats. They had no defense so they were always in shootouts. The had to continue to throw the ball all game. They couldn't run the ball well, and they didn't run the ball trying to close out games. The stats piled up. Just as you saw run and shoot quarterbacks put up outrageous numbers, but the teams very rarely went far.

Don't get me wrong. I would have killed to have Dan Marino and I have always cursed the Steelers for not drafting him that season. He wouldn't have put up the stats he did in Miami, but in my opinion Marino and the Steelers would have won multiple championships over his career with him as the triggerman.