Baltimore Ravens Top 5 Quarterbacks of All Time

(last updated on February 9, 2026)

The Baltimore Ravens are one of the NFL’s youngest franchises. In 1996, owner Art Modell relocated the Cleveland Browns to Charm City, and the Baltimore Ravens were born. For a relatively new team, they are already quite decorated: 16 playoff appearances, 8 division titles, and 2 Super Bowl titles. Yes, they have experienced lots of recent postseason heartache, but they seem to always be in the AFC mix. The consistency of having only two great coaches since 1999, Brian Billick and John Harbaugh, has anchored this franchise for success. Will new coach Jesse Minter repeat their productivity? Intimidating defenses and good quarterback play have also been staples of this team by the harbor. It’s time to head down I-95 and identify the top quarterbacks of all time for the Baltimore Ravens.

Trent Dilfer’s career passing stats pale in comparison to other franchise quarterbacks, but his one year in Baltimore resulted in a Super Bowl title, so Dilfer gets a spot with the top quarterbacks in Ravens history. Interestingly, Trent started the 2000 season as the Ravens backup to Tony Banks but then became the starter midway through the year. From that point on, this former top-10 pick went 11-1 as the signal caller in Baltimore (7-1 in the regular season and 4-0 in the playoffs). Yes, the defense of that team was very stout, but you still need someone behind center to hold down the fort. In the regular season, Dilfer had a completion % of 59.3, 1,502 passing yards, and 12 TD passes. During that dominating postseason run, this man steadily did his job with almost 600 yards in the air and three touchdowns; he led them to road wins at Tennessee and Oakland. Most importantly, he minimized mistakes and only threw one interception in four games. The Ravens’ margin of victory was 18 points in those four games. In Super Bowl XXXV, Baltimore bludgeoned the Giants 34-7, and the Ravens got their first Lombardi Trophy. Trent Dilfer made the most of his year in Baltimore, and that makes him one of the best quarterbacks ever for the Ravens.

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The Baltimore Ravens acquired Steve McNair in 2006 with the goal of getting a second Lombardi Trophy. That didn’t happen, but McNair had a phenomenal year, and that puts him on the list of greatest Ravens quarterbacks of all time. After a strong tenure with the Titans, McNair came to Baltimore and led the Ravens to a 13-3 record in 2006. He threw for 3,000+ yards and 16 TDs with a 63% completion rate. Although not as agile as his younger self, this Alcorn State product still rushed for 16 first downs. In the regular season, he had eight games with 200+ passing yards. Unfortunately, the Ravens were stymied in the playoffs by the eventual champion Colts. The following year Steve was injured and only started six games; he retired after the 2007 season. Baltimore may have gotten Steve McNair at the end of his career, but he had a solid 15-7 record as their starter, and that gets him a seat at the table with the top Ravens quarterbacks of all time.

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Before the 2003 NFL Draft, to show off his prolific arm strength, Kyle Boller released a video of himself kneeling on the 50-yard line and throwing a football through the goalposts. That is quite impressive, and Baltimore ended up selecting the Cal QB in the first round. He never reached those lofty expectations, but for a franchise with a short history, Boller did enough to earn a spot with the top quarterbacks in Ravens history. From 2003 to 2007, this bazooka-armed QB threw for 7,846 yards (third in franchise history) and 45 touchdowns (4th in franchise history) for the team in Charm City. 2004 would have to be his best year with the Ravens: 2,559 passing yards, 13 TD tosses, and 189 rushing yards. If you had to pick the best game of Boller’s Baltimore career, in December of 2004 he led the Ravens to a 37-14 win over the Giants behind his 4 TD passes to 0 INTs and a 112.3 passer rating. Kyle Boller didn’t have an overly long stay in Baltimore, but his numbers say he was one of the best Ravens quarterbacks of all time.

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Now we get to the top of the all-time quarterbacks list for the Baltimore Ravens. Lamar Jackson is one of the best players in the NFL today. He has won two MVPs since 2019 and narrowly missed a third last season. In 2024 he became the NFL’s all-time leader in rushing yards for a quarterback (6,522 yards). In his first MVP season of 2019, Jackson had a league-best 36 TD passes and a league-best 83 QBR; his team also went 14-2 and was the AFC’s top seed before losing in the Divisional Round. Then in 2023, his second MVP season, he once again put up stellar stats: a 67.2 completion %, 3,678 passing yards, 24 TDs to just 7 INTs, a 102.7 passer rating, and 821 rushing yards. This former Heisman winner has off-the-charts athleticism and arm talent; he has a best-in-history 102.2 passer rating with multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons … as a quarterback. In 2024 he became the first QB to ever have 4,000+ yards passing, 40+ passing touchdowns, and 800+ rushing yards in a season. Yes, we all know about the playoff disappointments, but Lamar has a 76-31 regular-season record as the Ravens starter, and he is not even 30 years old. Hopefully, Lamar Jackson will win a Lombardi Trophy for Baltimore someday, but he is already an all-time quarterback for the Ravens.

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Joe Flacco may not have Lamar Jackson’s MVPs or athleticism, but he did something that Lamar hasn’t done yet: he led the Baltimore Ravens to a Super Bowl title. When you combine that Lombardi Trophy with being the franchise’s all-time leader in passing yards (38,245), passing TDs (212), completions (3,499) and game-winning drives (24), you have maybe the greatest quarterback in Baltimore Ravens history. As a rookie in 2008, this former Delaware Blue Hen won two road playoff games and got Baltimore to the AFC Championship Game. That started a string of five straight postseason appearances, culminating with a win at Super Bowl XLVII. On the way to that championship, Flacco beat Peyton Manning at Denver (Remember that insane throw to Jacoby Jones?) and then vanquished Tom Brady in New England. In that Super Bowl, the Ravens beat the Niners 34-31, and Joe threw for 287 yards, 3 TDs with 0 INTs, a 67 completion %, and a 124.2 passer rating to take home the Super Bowl MVP award. Under #5’s leadership, the Ravens had a 96-67 regular-season record and made seven playoff trips. After leaving Baltimore, this South Jersey native continued adding to his lofty numbers: 4,417 completions (12th in league history), 48,176 passing yards (14th in league history), and 272 passing touchdowns (21st in league history). It’ll be interesting to see what Lamar Jackson accomplishes in the coming years because as of the moment you could make a strong argument that Joe Flacco is the top quarterback of all time for the Baltimore Ravens.  

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This entry was posted on Friday, March 28th, 2025 at 4:40 pm and is filed under NFL History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.