Top 25 Quarterbacks of All Time

The quarterback is the most celebrated and scrutinized position in American team sports. Major passing statistics only tell part of the story of a QB. The player under center is also heavily credited or faulted with the wins and losses of his team. Quarterbacks whose teams achieve championships are often given priority in these greatest-ever discussions. This list, however, will largely be determined by their approximate value (AV) – a regular season statistic. Although football stat lines do not capture all the contributions of a player the way they do in baseball and basketball, approximate value is a regular season-only statistic that attempts to attach a single number to every player since 1960. With that considered, here are the 25 best quarterbacks of all time in alphabetical order.

Ken Anderson’s MVP, All-Pro season in 1981 propelled the Bengals to the franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance. Anderson spent nine of his 15 seasons in the top ten in completion percentage, all with Cincinnati. One could make the argument that “Kenny” is the best eligible NFL player to not be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

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Terry Bradshaw led the Steelers to their first four Super Bowl titles, doing so while leading the league in passing touchdowns, yards per attempt, and game-winning drives during two seasons each. The 1978 MVP’s 14 legendary seasons make him one of the top quarterbacks of all time.

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Largely considered the greatest football player of all time, Tom Brady has spent the 21st century rewriting the record books. Tom Brady has essentially had two separate Patriots careers that could each make this list. From 2001 to 2007, Brady started in four Super Bowls, winning three. Including the postseason, TB12 had a 98-27 QB record during this stretch. After an early season ACL injury in 2008, Brady went on to win three of five more Super Bowls with New England (from 2009 to 2019) all while throwing 344 more touchdowns – the second-most during that stretch in the NFL. At age 42, Brady signed with Tampa Bay with whom he immediately won a seventh Super Bowl and broke all major passing records for good. These include completions (7,644), touchdown passes (641), fourth-quarter comebacks (41), and game-winning drives (56).

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Drew Brees is a 13-time Pro Bowl quarterback, 2004 Comeback Player of the Year, and the MVP of Super Bowl XLIV. Brees was selected by the Chargers with the first pick of the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft and later signed with the Saints. With New Orleans, Brees led the league in passes completed six times, yards seven times, and touchdowns four times. In 2018 (at age 39), Brees put together seven game-winning drives, tying an NFL season record.

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Len Dawson was one of the first great quarterbacks in the Super Bowl era. He led the AFL in completion percentage in his First-Team AP All-Pro season (1966), and his Super Bowl MVP-winning season in 1969. He did so an additional six times, all with Kansas City, including his age 40 season in 1975 (66.4).

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John Elway has a career 206 approximate value (15th among any player in any position). He led the NFL comebacks in 1985, 1987, and 1996. Of his 51,475 career passing yards, 3,776 came in his final two seasons (at age 37 and 38) where he won his first and only two Super Bowl championships.

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Brett Favre’s first NFL passing attempt was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. In his three other attempts as a rookie with the Falcons, he was picked off another time and completed neither of the other two passes. It was largley uphill from there. After being traded to the Packers in 1992, he led the league in passing yards twice and touchdowns four times. Between then and 1997, he made the Pro Bowl five times and was named AP MVP three consecutive times. The last of which came ahead of him leading the Packers to their first Super Bowl in 29 seasons.

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Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts played his entire career with the San Diego Chargers. He led the league in passing yards in four consecutive seasons from 1979 to 1982. No other football player had a higher approximate value (19) in 1981. This was a season in which he recorded three game-winning drives and fourth quarter comebacks, led the NFL in passing touchdowns (33), and led the Chargers to the conference championship for the second straight season.

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Although not a Hall-of-Famer, John Hadl is the only player to lead the AFL and NFL in season pass completions (among other passing categories), doing so in 1968 and 1971, respectively. Hadl was traded from the Chargers to the Los Angeles Rams in 1973, where he promptly earned his only First-Team All-Pro nod.

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Peyton Manning still leads football history in MVP shares, having won the award five times in ten seasons (the most ever). Although forever remembered as a Colt who delivered the team’s most recent Super Bowl championship, it was in 2013 with the Broncos in which Manning threw 55 touchdown passes, a record that still stands safely despite efforts from Brady, Rodgers, and Mahomes in the years since. Manning also holds records for most league-leading passing seasons including 4,000-yard passing seasons (13), passing yards (3), and completions (4).

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Eli Manning’s hall of fame candidacy has been a contended point since even before his retirement. Manning’s Super Bowl heroics are going head-to-head against his .500 regular season win percentage. What is not up for debate is his longevity. He never missed a game to injury and started 210 consecutive games. Manning ranks tenth in both passing yards (57,023), and passing touchdowns (366).

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Dan Marino is arguably the best football player to never win a Super Bowl. He threw for a league-leading 44, 30, and 48 touchdowns in 1984-1986. To put that in perspective, no other player ever surpassed 36 before the 1990s. The 1984 AP MVP led the league in season passer rating (108.9) – a then record in the Super Bowl era.

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In his last two full seasons with the 49ers (1989 & 1990), Montana won league MVP twice, and went one-for-two in the Super Bowl, becoming the second of five quarterbacks to win NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP in the same season. At the time of his retirement in 1994, Montana ranked fourth all-time in passing touchdowns (273), and third in completions (3,409). Montana’s 16 postseason wins are the second most all-time.

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Warren Moon won AP Offensive Player of the Year in 1990 in a season when he led football in completions (362), yards (4,689), and touchdown passes (33). Moon never played past the divisional round of the playoffs and had a career QB record a sliver over .500 (102-101) but was a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee in 2006.

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Carson Palmer won the Heisman Trophy before being drafted first overall by the Bengals in 2002. He ranks 5th all-time in touchdown passes thrown by a former first-overall pick with 294, just six behind John Elway. The three-time Pro Bowl QB enjoyed success with star receivers such as Chad Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Larry Fitzgerald, and Terrell Owens.

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Philip Rivers was one of three quarterbacks taken in the first round of the 2004 NFL draft who went on to play their entire careers with the same team through at least the 2019 season. He and his colleagues (Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning) have eerily similar statistics but Rivers has a slight edge in some major categories. Among them, Rivers has the most completions (5,277), touchdown passes (421), fewest interceptions (209), and the best completion percentage (64.9).

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Aaron Rogers’ four AP MVP awards and 10 Pro Bowl selections speak for themselves. Dive a little deeper to find his career passer rating of 103.8 ranking second all-time. One argument against Aaron’s status on Quarterback Mount Rushmores is his pedestrian (compared to the rest of this list) rank among players to play his career length or shorter in game-winning drives (30, 17th) and fourth quarter comebacks (21, 22nd). His 145 quarterback wins paint a better picture of his greatness – that, and his Super Bowl XLV MVP performance.

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“Big Ben” Roethlisberger was named AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award in 2004 and won Super Bowl XL the very next season at the age of 23 years and 340 days (the youngest starting quarterback to ever do so). Roethlisberger also ranks sixth all-time in completions (5,440), fifth in passing yards (64,088), and eighth in passing touchdowns (418). His teams won two of his three Super Bowl appearances.

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Although forever tied to the Falcons’ Super Bowl LI collapse, Matt Ryan’s 2016 regular season (21 AV) was one of the best ever by a quarterback, when he rightfully won an MVP award. Four Pro Bowl selections and the Offensive Rookie of the Year award in 2008 also highlight his résumé. Ryan leads the Falcons’ franchise in every major passing category. In the 2010s, only Drew Brees had more passing yards than Matty Ice (44,830). Upon retirement, Ryan will have arguments for and against his Hall of Fame candidacy, but statistically speaking, he is in good company.

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During Matthew Stafford’s 12 seasons with the Lions, the team finished below .500 eight times and never won a playoff game. Despite the team’s performance, Stafford (133) ranks second all-time behind only Barry Sanders (149) in the franchise’s history in approximate value (measured since 1960). He currently sits at 12th on the all-time touchdown passes list, ahead of Hall-of-Famers such as John Elway, Warren Moon, Johnny Unitas, and Joe Montana.

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Just ahead of Stafford in career touchdown passes is Fran Tarkenton (342). At the time of his retirement in 1978, he led the list. Additionally, he was the leader in games started (239), yards (47,003), and team wins in games started (124). And those are just the passing records! He also was the leader in rushing yards by a quarterback (3,674).

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Vinny Testaverde (21) trails only Tom Brady and George Blanda in seasons played by a quarterback. He started for the Buccaneers, Browns, Ravens, Jets, Cowboys, Jets again, and Panthers. Testaverde also backed up Tom Brady on the 2006 Patriots. An unfortunate byproduct of his longevity is 123 losses as a starting quarterback – the most ever.

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Johnny Unitas was the first quarterback to do each of the following: win 100 games, complete 2,500 passes, throw for 35,000 yards, and throw for 250 touchdowns. All these marks add up to countless records he held at the time of his retirement in 1973. 10 Pro Bowls and 3 MVP awards cement Unitas as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. To this day, his 38 game-winning drives remain in the top 10 on the list.

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Russell Wilson was selected to the Pro Bowl in all but one of his ten seasons with Seattle. At the age of 25, he led an offense that won Super Bowl XLVII 43-8. Since entering the league in 2012, he leads all of football in career approximate value.

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Steve Young is the greatest left-handed quarterback of all time and the only one on this list. During his first four seasons with the 49ers, Young threw 23 touchdowns and six interceptions as a backup. After his predecessor’s injury and trade, Steve picked up where Joe Montana left off and led the league in completion percentage and touchdowns four times each. On top of that, he was named MVP in the 49ers’ most recent Super Bowl win.

Standing out among not mentioned active quarterbacks is Patrick Mahomes (75 AV). If he were to maintain his production for the next ten seasons, he would have a place on this list. A notable name left off this list is Cam Newton. Newton’s 75 career rushing touchdowns surpasses the next closest quarterback by 31. His rushing yardage (5,628) is second only behind Michael Vick. However, his career passing touchdowns (194) and passing yards (32,382) hover around 50th all-time.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 7th, 2023 at 12:37 am and is filed under Top Lists. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.