Top Qbs By Decade
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Per Zombo's comment, I am going to try to list here whom I think may have been the Top 3 QBs of each decade. Advise if you think otherwise:
1930s: Arnie Herber, Ed Danowski, Ace Parker (other candidates: Bennie Friedman, Glen Presnell)
1940s: Sid Luckman, Sammy Baugh, Bob Waterfield. (other candidates: Cecil Isbell, Tommy Thompson)
1950s: Otto Graham, Bobby Layne, John Unitas (other candidate: Norm Van Brocklin)
1960s: Bart Starr, Len Dawson, Joe Namath (other candidates: Sonny Jurgenson, John Hadl, John Brodie)
1970s: Terry Bradshaw, Roger Staubach, Bob Griese (other candidates: Stabler, Anderson, Tarkenton)
1980s: Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Dan Fouts (other candidates: ???)
1990s: John Elway, Steve Young, Brett Favre (other candidates: Jim Kelly, Warren Moon)
2000s: Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees. (other candidates: Roethlisberger, Rivers, E. Manning.
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Now that you mention Favre, I would put him up there with the 00's as well.
I don't know if you were ordering them, but in the 1970's, I think I'd go Staubach, Tark, Bradshaw, Griese in that order.
Elway crosses two decades too, you gotta put him up there, maybe third ahead of Fouts who accumulated a lot of 70's stats.
Zombo
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Now that you mention Favre, I would put him up there with the 00's as well.
I don't know if you were ordering them, but in the 1970's, I think I'd go Staubach, Tark, Bradshaw, Griese in that order.
Elway crosses two decades too, you gotta put him up there, maybe third ahead of Fouts who accumulated a lot of 70's stats.
Zombo
Zombo said:
Now that you mention Favre, I would put him up there with the 00's as well.
I don't know if you were ordering them, but in the 1970's, I think I'd go Staubach, Tark, Bradshaw, Griese in that order.
Elway crosses two decades too, you gotta put him up there, maybe third ahead of Fouts who accumulated a lot of 70's stats.
Zombo
That is a difficulty with guys who play nearly 15 years or more.
I put Elway in the 90s because that is when he won his two Super Bowls. I also put Favre in there because that is when he won his one and played in another SB.
The same deal occurred in the 40s/50s . I put OG in the 50s, when he could also be in the 40s. Same with Unitas. I had him in the 50s....when he won his first two Colt titles....but he also played in the 60s...and even won a title in the 70s.
I thought of doing it like this:
Decades
1930-1940
1935-1945
1940-1950
1945-1955
1950-1960
1955-1965
1960-1970
1965-1975
1970-1980
1975-1985
1980-1990
1985-1995
1990-2000
1995-2005
2000-2010
2005- current.
Go ahead an fill in your top QBs in each of those eras.
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Zombo said:
Now that you mention Favre, I would put him up there with the 00's as well.
I don't know if you were ordering them, but in the 1970's, I think I'd go Staubach, Tark, Bradshaw, Griese in that order.
Elway crosses two decades too, you gotta put him up there, maybe third ahead of Fouts who accumulated a lot of 70's stats.
Zombo
That is a difficulty with guys who play nearly 15 years or more.
I put Elway in the 90s because that is when he won his two Super Bowls. I also put Favre in there because that is when he won his one and played in another SB.
The same deal occurred in the 40s/50s . I put OG in the 50s, when he could also be in the 40s. Same with Unitas. I had him in the 50s....when he won his first two Colt titles....but he also played in the 60s...and even won a title in the 70s.
I thought of doing it like this:
Decades
1930-1940
1935-1945
1940-1950
1945-1955
1950-1960
1955-1965
1960-1970
1965-1975
1970-1980
1975-1985
1980-1990
1985-1995
1990-2000
1995-2005
2000-2010
2005- current.
Go ahead an fill in your top QBs in each of those eras.
How about I give one guy for each of these eras:
Decades
1930-1940 Arnie Herber
1935-1945 Sammy Baugh
1940-1950 Sid Luckman
1945-1955 Otto Graham
1950-1960 Bobby Layne
1955-1965 John Unitas
1960-1970 Bart Starr
1965-1975 Bob Griese
1970-1980 Terry Bradshaw
1975-1985 Dan Fouts
1980-1990 Joe Montana
1985-1995 Dan Marino
1990-2000 John Elway..or Troy Aikman?
1995-2005 Bret Favre
2000-2010 Tom Brady
2005- current. Two years for these guys to duke it out: P. Manning, Eli Manning, Ben R. Brees. Rodgers.
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I'll throw in a prognostication for the 2010s: Matt Ryan, RG3, Andrew Luck, Aaron Rodgers
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I'll throw in a prognostication for the 2010s: Matt Ryan, RG3, Andrew Luck, Aaron Rodgers
I'll throw in a prognostication for the 2010s: Matt Ryan, RG3, Andrew Luck, Aaron Rodgers
Brandon Weeden: 3 titles?

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How about I give one guy for each of these eras:
Decades
1930-1940 Arnie Herber
1935-1945 Sammy Baugh
1940-1950 Sid Luckman
1945-1955 Otto Graham
1950-1960 Bobby Layne
1955-1965 John Unitas
1960-1970 Bart Starr Unitas
1965-1975 Bob Griese
1970-1980 Terry Bradshaw Staubach
1975-1985 Dan Fouts
1980-1990 Joe Montana
1985-1995 Dan Marino
1990-2000 John Elway..or Troy Aikman? Young
1995-2005 Bret Favre
2000-2010 Tom Brady Manning
2005- current. Two years for these guys to duke it out: P. Manning, Eli Manning, Ben R. Brees. Rodgers. I'd have brees in the lead
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How about I give one guy for each of these eras:
Decades
1930-1940 Arnie Herber
1935-1945 Sammy Baugh
1940-1950 Sid Luckman
1945-1955 Otto Graham
1950-1960 Bobby Layne
1955-1965 John Unitas
1960-1970 Bart Starr Unitas
1965-1975 Bob Griese
1970-1980 Terry Bradshaw Staubach
1975-1985 Dan Fouts
1980-1990 Joe Montana
1985-1995 Dan Marino
1990-2000 John Elway..or Troy Aikman? Young
1995-2005 Bret Favre
2000-2010 Tom Brady Manning
2005- current. Two years for these guys to duke it out: P. Manning, Eli Manning, Ben R. Brees. Rodgers. I'd have brees in the lead
Zombo said:
How about I give one guy for each of these eras:
Decades
1930-1940 Arnie Herber
1935-1945 Sammy Baugh
1940-1950 Sid Luckman
1945-1955 Otto Graham
1950-1960 Bobby Layne
1955-1965 John Unitas
1960-1970 Bart Starr Unitas Bart won 5 titles in that era, JU none...besides, I gave JU the prior period
1965-1975 Bob Griese
1970-1980 Terry Bradshaw Staubach For me two head to head wins for Terry gave this period to him over Roger the Dodger
1975-1985 Dan Fouts
1980-1990 Joe Montana
1985-1995 Dan Marino
1990-2000 John Elway..or Troy Aikman? Young I know titles aren't everything, but it was 3-2-1, Aikman/Elway/Young
1995-2005 Bret Favre
2000-2010 Tom Brady Manning Again, 3 titles to 1, 5 SB appearance to 2 in Tom Terrific's favor
2005- current. Two years for these guys to duke it out: P. Manning, Eli Manning, Ben R. Brees. Rodgers. I'd have brees in the lead
If BR or Eli get #3 that would be hard to argue with.
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I give credit for QBs winning Super Bowls, but it's just a factor. There are so many things that go into winning a championship.
Are Dan Marino and Dan Fouts greater QBs than Eli Manning and Jim Plunkett? Without a doubt.
Was Steve Young a better quarterback than Troy Aikman? Yes he was.
Johnny Unitas was a better QB than Bart Starr.
The thing with Elway was his Great years were 85-95, but he was slightly outshone by Marino during that era. He won his titles after the peak of his career, so I don;t think he wins any ten year period per se.
I can buy the "how many rings" thing to a large degree in the NBA, where you've got the five guys on the floor, and everything goes through through the star, but even then, teammates don't get enough credit.
In the NFL, not only does the QB rely heavily on his offensive teammates, but there is the whole other side of the ball that he has nothing to do with, his defense. Plus special teams and coaching.
Is Jim Kelly less of a QB because Scott Norwood missed a FG?
Would Dan Marino have won SBs if he had a running back like Terrel Davis?
How many rings would Dan Fouts have if he had the defense that Terry Bradshaw did?
Would Johhny U have won the Title every year on Vince Lombardi's team?
Stick any of these QBs on Aikman's Cowboys of the 90's and do you think they would be champions with all that talent too?
Peyton Manning is the greatest QB i have ever seen, and he has the same amount of rings as Jeff Hostletter.
Zombo
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I'll throw in a prognostication for the 2010s: Matt Ryan, RG3, Andrew Luck, Aaron Rodgers
I'll throw in a prognostication for the 2010s: Matt Ryan, RG3, Andrew Luck, Aaron Rodgers
RG3, no fucking way.
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I give credit for QBs winning Super Bowls, but it's just a factor. There are so many things that go into winning a championship.
Are Dan Marino and Dan Fouts greater QBs than Eli Manning and Jim Plunkett? Without a doubt.
Was Steve Young a better quarterback than Troy Aikman? Yes he was.
Johnny Unitas was a better QB than Bart Starr.
The thing with Elway was his Great years were 85-95, but he was slightly outshone by Marino during that era. He won his titles after the peak of his career, so I don;t think he wins any ten year period per se.
I can buy the "how many rings" thing to a large degree in the NBA, where you've got the five guys on the floor, and everything goes through through the star, but even then, teammates don't get enough credit.
In the NFL, not only does the QB rely heavily on his offensive teammates, but there is the whole other side of the ball that he has nothing to do with, his defense. Plus special teams and coaching.
Is Jim Kelly less of a QB because Scott Norwood missed a FG?
Would Dan Marino have won SBs if he had a running back like Terrel Davis?
How many rings would Dan Fouts have if he had the defense that Terry Bradshaw did?
Would Johhny U have won the Title every year on Vince Lombardi's team?
Stick any of these QBs on Aikman's Cowboys of the 90's and do you think they would be champions with all that talent too?
Peyton Manning is the greatest QB i have ever seen, and he has the same amount of rings as Jeff Hostletter.
Zombo
Zombo said:
I give credit for QBs winning Super Bowls, but it's just a factor. There are so many things that go into winning a championship.
Are Dan Marino and Dan Fouts greater QBs than Eli Manning and Jim Plunkett? Without a doubt.
Was Steve Young a better quarterback than Troy Aikman? Yes he was.
Johnny Unitas was a better QB than Bart Starr.
The thing with Elway was his Great years were 85-95, but he was slightly outshone by Marino during that era. He won his titles after the peak of his career, so I don;t think he wins any ten year period per se.
I can buy the "how many rings" thing to a large degree in the NBA, where you've got the five guys on the floor, and everything goes through through the star, but even then, teammates don't get enough credit.
In the NFL, not only does the QB rely heavily on his offensive teammates, but there is the whole other side of the ball that he has nothing to do with, his defense. Plus special teams and coaching.
Is Jim Kelly less of a QB because Scott Norwood missed a FG?
Would Dan Marino have won SBs if he had a running back like Terrel Davis?
How many rings would Dan Fouts have if he had the defense that Terry Bradshaw did?
Would Johhny U have won the Title every year on Vince Lombardi's team?
Stick any of these QBs on Aikman's Cowboys of the 90's and do you think they would be champions with all that talent too?
Peyton Manning is the greatest QB i have ever seen, and he has the same amount of rings as Jeff Hostletter.
Zombo
All very valid arguments. Since I had given JU and Marino certain eras I decided to spread the wealth and give different eras to others.
The only slight disagreement I have is that I do think that Tom Brady is a slightly better QB than Peyton. In fact, I think he accomplished more with equal or lesser talent around him than Peyton had. Except for that one year with Moss, Brady never had receivers as good as Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne IMO. Nor did he ever have a RB the quality of Edgerrin James. And the Colts defenses, with Mathis, Sanders, Feeney etc. were every bit as good IMO as the defenses the Pats had. Or at least, they were equally as talented. The Pats defensive edge lied in BBs brilliance as a DC (moreso even than as a HC)
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Aaron Rodgers is #1 all time in PR and has a championship... how is he not even one of the best of his decade? Glaring omission and still the best quarterback to watch. Nobody throws like him. That release is absolutely absurd, the spin is absurdier, and the arm strength out of a guy only that big? He's a blast. He completes passes nobody else can.
For me, he's the best I've ever watched. And I've watched all of those guys.
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Aaron Rodgers is #1 all time in PR and has a championship... how is he not even one of the best of his decade? Glaring omission and still the best quarterback to watch. Nobody throws like him. That release is absolutely absurd, the spin is absurdier, and the arm strength out of a guy only that big? He's a blast. He completes passes nobody else can.
For me, he's the best I've ever watched. And I've watched all of those guys.
Aaron Rodgers is #1 all time in PR and has a championship... how is he not even one of the best of his decade? Glaring omission and still the best quarterback to watch. Nobody throws like him. That release is absolutely absurd, the spin is absurdier, and the arm strength out of a guy only that big? He's a blast. He completes passes nobody else can.
For me, he's the best I've ever watched. And I've watched all of those guys.
I think he has to do more to put him in with the Baughs/Luckmans/OGs/JUs/Starr/Montana/Elway/Marino/Brady/Manning group.
I think he is fully capable, yet, he still has to do it, baby.
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I'll throw in a prognostication for the 2010s: Matt Ryan, RG3, Andrew Luck, Aaron Rodgers
RG3, no fucking way.
RG3, no fucking way.
How do you figure? It's not like he had one of the best rookie seasons ever...
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RG3, no fucking way.
How do you figure? It's not like he had one of the best rookie seasons ever...
How do you figure? It's not like he had one of the best rookie seasons ever...
Yes he did- can he stay healthy? I think there's also a certain amount of backlash from non-Redskins fans. The National Frontrunner Network (ESPN) has been giving him more air time than Luck, Kaepernick, Wilson, and Tannehill - combined. How's your owie knee todday RG III? Barf.
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RG3, no fucking way.
How do you figure? It's not like he had one of the best rookie seasons ever...
How do you figure? It's not like he had one of the best rookie seasons ever...
One season? Come on man.
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How do you figure? It's not like he had one of the best rookie seasons ever...
Yes he did- can he stay healthy? I think there's also a certain amount of backlash from non-Redskins fans. The National Frontrunner Network (ESPN) has been giving him more air time than Luck, Kaepernick, Wilson, and Tannehill - combined. How's your owie knee todday RG III? Barf.
Yes he did- can he stay healthy? I think there's also a certain amount of backlash from non-Redskins fans. The National Frontrunner Network (ESPN) has been giving him more air time than Luck, Kaepernick, Wilson, and Tannehill - combined. How's your owie knee todday RG III? Barf.
Just fine, actually

He's planting, cutting, and throwing off it like it was never hurt.

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How do you figure? It's not like he had one of the best rookie seasons ever...
One season? Come on man.
One season? Come on man.
You didn't have a problem with me putting Luck up there...
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Per Zombo's comment, I am going to try to list here whom I think may have been the Top 3 QBs of each decade. Advise if you think otherwise:
1930s: Arnie Herber, Ed Danowski, Ace Parker (other candidates: Bennie Friedman, Glen Presnell)
1940s: Sid Luckman, Sammy Baugh, Bob Waterfield. (other candidates: Cecil Isbell, Tommy Thompson)
1950s: Otto Graham, Bobby Layne, John Unitas (other candidate: Norm Van Brocklin)
1960s: Bart Starr, Len Dawson, Joe Namath (other candidates: Sonny Jurgenson, John Hadl, John Brodie)
1970s: Terry Bradshaw, Roger Staubach, Bob Griese (other candidates: Stabler, Anderson, Tarkenton)
1980s: Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Dan Fouts (other candidates: ???)
1990s: John Elway, Steve Young, Brett Favre (other candidates: Jim Kelly, Warren Moon)
2000s: Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees. (other candidates: Roethlisberger, Rivers, E. Manning.
Per Zombo's comment, I am going to try to list here whom I think may have been the Top 3 QBs of each decade. Advise if you think otherwise:
1930s: Arnie Herber, Ed Danowski, Ace Parker (other candidates: Bennie Friedman, Glen Presnell)
1940s: Sid Luckman, Sammy Baugh, Bob Waterfield. (other candidates: Cecil Isbell, Tommy Thompson)
1950s: Otto Graham, Bobby Layne, John Unitas (other candidate: Norm Van Brocklin)
1960s: Bart Starr, Len Dawson, Joe Namath (other candidates: Sonny Jurgenson, John Hadl, John Brodie)
1970s: Terry Bradshaw, Roger Staubach, Bob Griese (other candidates: Stabler, Anderson, Tarkenton)
1980s: Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Dan Fouts (other candidates: ???)
1990s: John Elway, Steve Young, Brett Favre (other candidates: Jim Kelly, Warren Moon)
2000s: Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees. (other candidates: Roethlisberger, Rivers, E. Manning.
What do Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, Joe Montana, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino and George Blanda all have in common?
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