Top 50 NFL Quarterbacks: #35 - Daunte Culpepper

Daunte Culpepper

Daunte Culpepper does not seem to belong on this list, especially given the short duration of his career as a starting quarterback, but what he did during that short time helped him move ahead of several quarterbacks who played for much longer.

Culpepper was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the 1999 NFL Draft and spent the first year of his career riding the bench, but became a starter the next season and had an amazing few years before injuries derailed his career. In 2000 he threw for 3937 yards and a league-leading 33 touchdowns, and he also rushed for 7 touchdowns, most among NFL quarterbacks. It was one of the best seasons ever for a man who hadn't thrown a pro pass before the season.

The success, however, was short-lived, as he struggled with accuracy over the next two years, throwing more picks than touchdowns. He did rush for 10 touchdowns in 2002, however, which is still the 6th-best mark for a quarterback in league history, which kept that period of his career from being a total disaster.

He improved his accuracy in 2003, with a TD:INT ratio of 25:11, but Minnesota still missed the postseason for the third straight year, but he was just building up to a great performance in 2004. That season was one of the best for a QB in history, as he led the league with 4717 passing yards, threw 39 touchdowns with only 11 picks, and ran for 406 yards, which helped him break Dan Marino's record for most total yardage in a season.

He was unable to match the feat the next season, struggling mightily through 7 games before going down with a major knee injury, tearing 3 ligaments in one knee. He would never be the same after the injury, and although he did manage to start 20 games over the next 4 seasons for 3 different teams, he was just a ghost of his former self.

Although it may seem that he didn't accomplish much during the short time he was healthy, add together one great season and one of the greatest seasons ever recorded, and you have a career worth remembering as one of the best we've ever seen.

Top 50 NFL Quarterbacks: #36 - Charlie Conerly

Charlie Conerly

Charlie Conerly is one of the best quarterbacks of the era before the Super Bowl, but he is not well-known today due to being left out of the Hall of Fame, but he did win a championship and an MVP during his long career.

Conerly was drafted in 1945, before he had even played a game of college football, while he was stationed with the Marines on Iwo Jima. He returned from war to play two seasons in college with Ole Miss, then joined the New York Giants, where he played his entire pro career.

He was named the Rookie of the Year in 1948 after throwing for 2175 yards and 22 touchdowns, both of which would turn out to be career highs. He still owns Giants franchise records for most passing yards, attempts, completions, and touchdowns by a rookie more than 70 years later.

Back when he played, making the playoffs was a pretty rare thing because there was only a championship game. Conerly led the Giants to 5 title games during his time in New York, winning twice. The biggest one came in 1956, when he was serving as backup to Don Heinrich, who threw for only 21 yards in the title game before Conerly replaced him and tossed 195 and 2 touchdowns in a 47-7 blowout of the Bears.

He helped the Giants reach the title game again in 1958, which came after he scored the only touchdown in a divisional tiebreaker game against Cleveland. He again backed up Heinrich in the title game, and came in to throw the only passing touchdown for the Giants in an overtime loss to the Colts.

The next year he was named the full-time starter again, after splitting time for the past several seasons. That year he was named the MVP after leading the Giants to a 10-2 record while throwing 14 touchdowns and only 4 picks, and the Giants reached their third title game in 4 years, where they fell to the Colts again.

Conerly spent the final decade of his career as the oldest quarterback in the league, and though his numbers are mediocre by today's standards, they were pretty good for the era, and his performance in title games, especially the 1956 championship, are the biggest reason that he is a part of this list of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

Top 50 NFL Quarterbacks: #37 - Jim McMahon

Jim McMahon

Jim McMahon was not the offensive juggernaut that many on this list were, but he was a winner who led one of the most dominant teams in history to a Super Bowl victory.

He was the 5th overall pick out of BYU in 1982, and became the team's starter right away. He missed 2 games to injury that season, which would be the smallest number of games he would miss in a season in his career.

After a couple of seasons of just missing the playoffs, the Bears got off to a great start with McMahon in 1984, climbing to 7-3 before a violent hit knocked their quarterback out for the season with a lacerated kidney. They would go 3-3 in the remaining games, good enough for a playoff berth, but would fall to Joe Montana's 49ers in the NFC title game.

The next season was the best of his career, the best in the history of the franchise, and the biggest reason he is on this list. He set career highs with 2392 yards and 15 touchdowns, and led the Bears to wins in all 11 games he started. They finished the season 15-1, then blew through the NFC playoffs, outscoring their opponents 45-0 to advance to the Super Bowl behind 4 total touchdowns from McMahon. That Super Bowl was one of the biggest blowouts ever, and McMahon became the first QB ever to run for 2 touchdowns in a Super Bowl, and he went through the entire postseason without throwing a single pick.

He missed a lot of time in the following season, but the Bears won all 6 games he started, but he was lost for the season in week 12 after being slammed to the ground after the play had ended. The Bears still finished 14-2, but lost their first playoff game. Between 1984 and 1987, McMahon won 22 straight regular season starts, which was a record until 2009, when Peyton Manning reached 23. When you include playoff games, McMahon had a streak of 25 straight wins, which is far more than anyone else ever, since Manning had a playoff loss in the middle of his streak.

After 1988, McMahon bounced around the league, playing for San Diego, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Arizona, and finally Green Bay, where he was the backup to Brett Favre when the Packers won the Super Bowl, exactly 10 years after McMahon and the Bears had beaten the same Patriots in the big one.

Most of the players on this list racked up numbers like crazy, and although McMahon never threw for 2500 yards or more than 15 touchdowns in a season, he was one of the greatest winners of all time, and his playoff run in 1985 was one of the best ever recorded by any QB, which is why he belongs on this list of the best of all time.

Top 50 NFL Quarterbacks: #38 - Philip Rivers

Philip Rivers

Philip Rivers has been the starting quarterback of the Chargers for over a decade, and has not missed a game since taking over the starting job when Drew Brees left prior to the 2006 season, giving him the longest current streak of games started, and the third-longest of all time.

Rivers did not start a game in his first two seasons with San Diego, throwing a total of 30 passes while backing up Drew Brees. When Brees left as a free agent in 2006, Rivers was promoted and immediately became a strong player, leading the Chargers to a 14-2 record in his first season at the helm. They lost to New England in their first playoff game, however, wasting their best chance at a title.

He was pretty solid again the next season, leading the Chargers to another division title, and this time they won a couple playoff games, ultimately falling to the Patriots once again in the AFC title game, coming up just a game short of making the Super Bowl. It was revealed after the game that Rivers had played most of the game on a torn ACL, but he refused to abandon his team.

The following season was his best as a pro, as he threw for a league-leading 34 touchdowns and led the Chargers to their third straight division title, as well as an upset of Peyton Manning and the Colts in the wild card game. It was also the first time he eclipsed 4000 yards, something he has done 9 more times since.

Over the course of his career he has also slowly taken over most of the Chargers franchise passing records, many of them from Dan Fouts. He set the team record for TD passes in a season in 2008, topping Fouts by one, then took the single-game passing yardage record from him in 2010 when he recorded 455. In 2015 he took the career TD record, and in 2016 the career yardage record.

He has also led the league in passing yards once, with 4710 in 2010, and completion percentage, at 69.5% in 2013. He has reached 4000 yards 10 times, and 30 touchdowns 6 times, while winning 4 division titles and starting every game for 13 straight seasons. While he has only made it to the conference title game once in his career, he has still been so good for so long that he has earned the right to sit ahead of the man whose records he keeps surpassing.

Top 50 NFL Quarterbacks: #39 - Dan Fouts

Dan Fouts

Dan Fouts was a 3rd-round draft pick of the Chargers in 1973, and though he was their primary starter almost immediately, it took him several years to break through to elite status. In his 6th season, Don Coryell was hired as the coach, and Fouts started to show some promise, throwing for 2999 yards and 24 touchdowns, but San Diego failed to make the playoffs.

He became a superstar in 1979, when he set a new NFL record with 4082 passing yards while guiding the Chargers to the best record in the league at 12-4. He also led the league in completion percentage, but dropped a real dud in their first playoff game, tossing 5 picks in a 17-14 loss.

In 1980 he obliterated his own record from the previous season, putting up 4715 yards while leading his team back to the playoffs, where he improved on his previous performance, getting past 300 yards with 2 touchdowns in consecutive games, but it wasn't enough to reach the Super Bowl, as Jim Plunkett and the Raiders knocked them out in the AFC title game.

In 1981 he again beat his own passing record, for the third straight year, this time reaching 4802 yards and 33 touchdowns, also the best in the league. While he couldn't be matched in the regular season, he was once again disappointed in the playoffs, losing to Cincinnati in the AFC title game, once again ending up one step short of the ultimate goal.

He may have broken his own record yet again in 1982, but the season was cut down to 9 games by a strike. He finished the season with 2883 yards, which put him on pace for 5125, and he also ended up with 17 touchdowns, the second year in a row that he led the league in both categories. Also for the third year in a row, San Diego lost in its 2nd playoff game.

That was his final chance at winning a title, sadly. The Chargers were not able to make the playoffs again during his final 5 seasons, and although he remained a good quarterback, he was not near the level of his record-breaking years. The length of his solid years was enough to push him into the top 40, but the biggest reason he is here is for his amazing 4-year run, which has only been matched by a few quarterbacks in the history of the league.

Top 50 NFL Quarterbacks: #40 - Tony Romo

Tony Romo

Tony Romo was one of those guys that everybody loved to hate, and most are convinced that he ass not a great NFL quarterback, but that is not true. He was one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL for 8 years, and though his playoff success was nearly nonexistent, he still did enough to be ranked.

Romo's story is even more impressive when you consider the fact that he was not even drafted by an NFL team, and spent his first three seasons as as third string quarterback for the Cowboys, never throwing a single pass. His hard work finally paid off in 2006, when he was inserted in place of an ineffective Drew Bledsoe, and he did not give up the starting gig for a decade.

It is hard to pinpoint which season was his best, but a strong contender would be 2007, his first full season as a starter, in which he threw for 4211 yards and 36 touchdowns, which is his career high. The Cowboys also finished 13-3 that season, their best record under his leadership.

He missed most of the 2010 season due to a broken clavicle, and though he rebounded statistically rather quickly, the Cowboys missed the playoffs 4 straight seasons, but in 2014 he finally got Dallas back over the hump, leading the league with a 69.9% completion rate while throwing 34 touchdowns and only 9 picks, and bringing the Cowboys a division title. He also had his first ever good playoff performance, throwing for 484 yards and 4 touchdowns over 2 games, without turning the ball over once.

He broke his clavicle again early in the 2015 season, which caused him to miss 8 games, then he injured his left shoulder shortly after his return, and ended up playing in only 4 games. He hurt his back during the preseason in 2016, and by the time he returned, Dak Prescott had taken over the starting role.

Perhaps surprisingly, Romo is the all-time Cowboys leader in passing yards and touchdowns, not Troy Aikman or Roger Staubach. Though quarterback rating is a flawed statistic, it's still notable that he has the 4th-highest career rating of any quarterback who never reached the Super Bowl. Maybe it would have turned out different if his body didn't fall apart, but he definitely deserves to be remembered as one of the top quarterbacks of all time.

Top 50 NFL Quarterbacks: #41 - Michael Vick

Michael Vick

Michael Vick may be the greatest running quarterback of all time, but he also had a pretty good arm, and if he hadn't lost 2 full seasons in his prime due to legal troubles, there's no saying how great he could have been.

Vick was drafted #1 overall by the Atlanta Falcons in 2001, and after playing sparingly as a rookie, he burst onto the scene in a big way in 2002. He was the best quarterback in the league that year, his first as a starter, compiling 2936 passing yards, 16 touchdowns with only 8 interceptions, along with 777 yards and 8 touchdowns on the ground. He also led the Falcons to a wild card playoff win before falling to the Eagles in the divisional round.

He broke his fibula during the following preseason, which caused him to miss 11 games, but he started returning to form in 2004, when he became the first quarterback ever to get 250 passing yards and 100 rushing yards in the same game. They made it back to the playoffs, where they again won their first game before falling to Philadelphia.

In 2006, he became the first, and so far only, quarterback to rush for 1000 yards in a season, but off-the-field issues were looming, and Vick was arrested and sent to prison for running a dogfighting ring before the 2007 season began. He spent nearly 2 years in prison, and the Falcons decided to release him rather than reinstate him upon his return.

That huge black mark made it difficult for Vick to find a team in 2009, but Philadelphia decided to offer him a non-guaranteed contract for the season during training camp, and he played out the season as the backup to Donovan McNabb, and was even able to record both a passing and rushing touchdown in a game against his former team, the Falcons.

Vick began the 2010 season as a backup, but numerous injuries to Kevin Kolb forced Vick into the lineup, and he responded with his best career season. He threw for 3018 yards, with 21 touchdowns and only 6 picks, while rushing for 676 yards and a career-high 9 touchdowns.

He remained the starter in Philly for a few more seasons, but age was beginning to catch up to him, and he was eventually replaced by the younger Nick Foles. He played a couple final seasons as a backup for the Jets and Steelers before retiring for good before the 2017 season.

Vick is most well-known for his rushing ability, and he still holds the records for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a season and in a career, but when he was at his best, he was a very good passer as well, making very few mistakes and leading winning teams. He lost a couple of his prime seasons, but when viewed as a whole, his career is worthy of inclusion on this list of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

Top 50 NFL Quarterbacks: #42 - Roman Gabriel

Roman Gabriel

Roman Gabriel was the first Filipino-American quarterback in the NFL, and he was one of the top quarterbacks of the period around the NFL-AFL merger, though he never won a championship.

Gabriel was drafted in 1962, as the #1 pick in the AFL Draft by Oakland and the #2 overall NFL pick by the Rams, and he chose to go south to LA. He started only half of his team's games in his first 4 seasons, but they won 11 of those games, and only 4 games combined when someone else started.

When the team switched coaches before the 1966 season, he was named the starter, and led the team to its first winning record in nearly a decade. The next year he led the Rams to the division title with an 11-1-2 record, with a personal best 25 touchdown passes and only 13 interceptions during the season, but they fell in the playoffs to the eventual champion Green Bay Packers.

After falling just short of the playoffs in 1968, he had an MVP season in 1969, leading the league with 24 touchdowns and only 7 picks, and the Rams started the season with 11 straight wins, which is still a franchise record. They lost their first playoff game to Minnesota, which meant that they ended their season with 4 straight losses.

After a couple more seasons with the Rams, in which they slid further from contention each year, Gabriel was traded to the Eagles. He left the Rams as the all-time franchise leader in many categories, and he still holds the marks for wins and touchdown passes.

In Philadelphia, he was named the Comeback Player of the Year after leading the league in touchdowns, completions, and passing yards. He started for the Eagles for 3 years, then played backup for two more, but never saw the playoffs again and retired without a championship.

Though not many remember him today, Gabriel was one of the best in the league for a good number of seasons right after the merger. He led the league in yardage once and touchdowns twice, and was a decent runner as well, but the fact that he never even played in a championship game has made him fade somewhat into obscurity, but I still believe that he deserves this spot on the list of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

Top 50 NFL Quarterbacks: #43 - Boomer Esiason

Boomer Esiason

Boomer Esiason did not make many playoff appearances as a starter, making it out of the regular season just twice in his career, but he was a great QB during the regular season.

Boomer was drafted in 1984 by the Bengals to eventually replace Ken Anderson, and his time to take over came in his second season. While Cincinnati did not see a ton of success during his run as starter, he did finish in the top 10 in both passing yards and touchdowns 7 times in his first 9 seasons.

The biggest reason he is on this list is the 1988 season, in which he finished with 3572 yards, 28 touchdowns, and just 14 interceptions while leading the Bengals to a 12-4 record and the #1 seed in the AFC. For his efforts during that season, Esiason was awarded the league MVP award, becoming only the second Bengal ever to receive it.

That postseason was also the best in Bengal history, as they won each of their first two playoff games easily on their way to face San Francisco in Super Bowl XXIII. Cincinnati took the lead on a field goal with 1:22 remaining in the game, but Joe Montana led a 92-yard touchdown drive to seal the win and keep Cincinnati from their first title. Esiason threw for only 144 yards and one pick in the game, which happened to be his best game of a subpar postseason in which the team rode running back Ickey Woods as far as he could take them.

The Bengals made it back to the playoffs 2 years later, and Esiason played better than the previous time, with 254 yards and 3 touchdowns over two playoff games, but they were knocked out in the divisional round by the Raiders. Boomer Esiason would never see the playoffs again.

A few years later he was traded to the New York Jets, and he had a bit of a renaissance that year, throwing for 3421 yards and 16 touchdowns during the season, but by that point he was 32 years old and on the downside of his career. He joined the Arizona Cardinals in 1996, and set a team passing record with 522 yards in one game, making him the only player in history to hold the single-game passing records for two different franchises.

Boomer never suffered a major injury during the prime of his career, which allowed him to rack up some big numbers. He is currently among the top 25 all-time in passing yards and touchdown passes, and is #1 all-time in both categories among left-handed quarterbacks, but the lack of success in the postseason prevented him from climbing any higher on the all-time list of greatest quarterbacks.

Top 50 NFL Quarterbacks: #44 - Y. A. Tittle

Y. A. Tittle

Yelberton Abraham Tittle is the full name of the quarterback who is often named as one of the early greats, but he was always known as Y.A. for obvious reasons. He retired over 50 years ago, so it's actually somewhat impressive that his career still stands up to many of today's offensive-minded quarterbacks.

He began his career with the Baltimore Colts of the AAFC, a short-lived league that was absorbed into the NFL after Tittle's second year. One year later, the team folded, and Tittle and his teammates were thrown back into the draft to be dispersed among the remaining teams, and Tittle ended up being picked up by San Francisco.

He spend the entire decade of the 1950's in San Francisco, starting most of the games for a team that was almost always in the middle of the pack in the Western Division, back in the days before playoffs existed and you had to win your division to play in the championship game. During his 10 years leading the 49ers, they tied for the division lead once, which put them in a one-game playoff with Detroit, who beat them to advance to the title game.

The 49ers felt that he was washed up, so he was traded to the New York Giants prior to the 1961 season, and he most likely wouldn't be on this list if that hadn't happened. Despite playing only four seasons in New York before retiring, Tittle amassed some amazing numbers that made him one of the greats. He was named MVP in 1961, 1962, and 1963, leading the Giants to the Eastern Division title each time, but losing in the championship game all three times, twice to Green Bay and once to Chicago.

Even though he did not win a championship during his career, or even a playoff game, his passing prowess was amazing. In 1962 he threw for 3224 yards and 33 touchdowns, 4 more than any other quarterback that season and a new record. The following season was even better, with 3145 yards and another NFL-record 36 touchdowns with only 14 interceptions.

He is one of the quarterbacks who holds the record for most touchdowns in a game with 7, and was the league leader in touchdowns three times, and his great play in those two seasons at the end of his career were enough to push him over the edge and get him included on this list of the greatest of all time.

Top 50 NFL Quarterbacks: #45 - Jeff Hostetler

Jeff Hostetler

Jeff Hostetler is one of the few backup quarterbacks to lead his team to a Super Bowl victory, and as a result he was able to earn a starting job for several years and became a pretty good quarterback.

Hostetler was drafted by the Giants in 1984, but didn't even take his first snap until 1988, when he moved up to the backup role behind Phil Simms. He played well when he was needed, but it wasn't often, and near the end of the 1990 season he was considering retirement when his moment finally came.

Phil Simms injured his foot late in the 14th game of the season, which they eventually lost to the Bills, but Hostetler led them to victory in their final two games, then guided them through the playoffs as well, throwing 3 touchdowns and running for another without an interception in 3 playoff games, and the Giants held on in the Super Bowl against Buffalo to become world champions.

When Simms was healthy again before the next season, Hostetler was able to win the starting job in training camp, but he broke his back in game 12, which resulted in him missing the remainder of the season. The next year, Simms won the starting job in camp, but was lost for the season in week 4, giving the job back to Hostetler again, but missed 3 games of his own with injuries.

After the season, the Giants decided not to resign him, so he went west to claim the starting job with the Raiders. His first season in LA was his best, with 14 passing touchdowns and a career high 5 rushing touchdowns, and he led the Raiders to a huge wild card win with 294 yards and 3 touchdowns before they fell to the Bills in the divisional round. In his 5 career playoff starts, Hostetler had a 4-1 record with 7 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.

He was elected to his only Pro Bowl the following season, and had a couple more solid but injury-ridden seasons with the Raiders, but the twin peaks of his career were the two playoff runs while he was starting, when he really stepped up his play over his regular season levels. He may have had a short starting career, but he played best when he needed to, and has a Super Bowl title and a spot on this countdown of the best quarterbacks of all time to show for it.

Top 50 NFL Quarterbacks: #46 - Norm Van Brocklin

Norm Van Brocklin

Norm Van Brocklin may not be a household name, but he was a great quarterback way back in the 1950's, winning titles with two different teams and setting a huge record that has still never been broken.

He began his career in 1949 with the Los Angeles Rams, but the team already had a star quarterback named Bob Waterfield, so he hardly played as a rookie. After that season, the Rams got a new coach with a new approach, a platoon system at quarterback that gave each of them equal time. It worked well, with the Rams advancing to the title game, which they lost 30-28.

The following year the Rams returned to the NFL championship game and earned their revenge, beating the Cleveland Browns 24-17 on Van Brocklin's first-ever playoff TD, a 73-yard pass late in the 4th quarter. That play enabled them to overcome Waterfield's two earlier interceptions, and Van Brocklin was a champ for the first time.

1951 was also the season that Van Brocklin set his most famous record. In the season opener, the Rams were hosting the New York Yanks, who would finish in last place, and Waterfield was out with an injury, so Van Brocklin got to take every snap of the game. That perfect set of circumstances led to him throwing for 554 yards, a record that still stands 68 years later. He also threw 5 touchdowns in that game, which was a huge blowout for the future champs.

The next year the Rams lost a tiebreaker game to Detroit after the regular season, which kept them from their 4th straight championship game, and Waterfield retired after the season ended, which handed the quarterback reins exclusively to Van Brocklin for the first time. The following season was one of his best, with new career highs in passing yards, touchdowns, and TD:INT ratio, but it was also the first time in his career that his team missed the playoffs.

He continued to be one of the better quarterbacks in the league for several more years with the Rams, but only made it back to the title game once more, another loss to Cleveland in 1955. He had won a title in 1951, but had yet to win one as a starter. He grew tired of LA's offensive scheme and decided to retire after the 1957 season, only to unretire after being told he would be traded to Philadelphia.

When he arrived, the Eagles had missed the playoffs 8 straight years, and they did no better in his first season with the new squad, but they improved the following season, posting a winning record for the first time in nearly a decade, then made the big jump in 1960, earning the best record in the league at 10-2. Van Brocklin also won the league MVP honor that season, with 2471 yards and 24 touchdowns, both among the league leaders.

Because they won the Eastern Division, they got to play in the 1960 championship game, in which they faced the Green Bay Packers. The Eagles won that game 17-13 behind 204 yards and a touchdown from Van Brocklin, and he finally earned his title as a starter. He retired a couple weeks after the game to begin a career as a coach, which didn't go nearly as well, but he remains the only quarterback to beat the Packers in a playoff game while Vince Lombardi was the coach.

Other than his one huge single-game passing record, Van Brocklin didn't do anything super flashy during his career, but was a very good quarterback for an entire decade and won 2 NFL titles while narrowly missing a third. That is enough to say that he deserves a place among the all-time greats.

Top 50 NFL Quarterbacks: #47 - Kordell Stewart

Kordell Stewart

Kordell Stewart was one of the most versatile players in history, playing every skill position at some point and even punting once in an emergency situation, and while his passing numbers were somewhat lacking at times, he was a strong runner who made defenses plan differently.

He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1995, but they were hoping that he would agree to play another position, as they had 3 other quarterbacks on the roster at the time. He did play multiple positions as a rookie, and was able to record touchdowns passing, rushing, and receiving that year. In his second year, he scored 2 rushing touchdowns in a playoff game during his regular spot duty.

In his third season, he was able to secure the starting quarterback job he coveted, and he led the Steelers to the AFC title game, with 21 passing touchdowns and 11 rushing touchdowns during the season, becoming the first QB ever to surpass 20 and 10 in a season.

The team was in turmoil for the next couple seasons, losing many of its starters and going through multiple offensive coordinators, and Stewart did not perform well, throwing more picks than touchdowns and losing his starting job. He opened the 2000 season on the bench, but was able to earn it back, and he rode that momentum to his best season as a passer in 2001.

That year, he made his only Pro Bowl appearance after throwing for a career-high 3109 yards and leading the Steelers to a 13-3 record, though they again fell short of the Super Bowl, and Stewart's TD:INT radio was a mediocre 14:11, and he would lose his starting job again the next year after being unable to reduce the turnovers.

He played for a few more years with the Bears and Ravens, but was never able to regain his form from his three good seasons. He threw more interceptions than touchdowns in his career, but he has the 4th-most rushing touchdowns of all time for a quarterback, behind only Cam Newton, Steve Young, and Jack Kemp. He made up for his shortcomings as a passer with his rushing ability, and though he never developed into the all-around quarterback most on this list did, he still deserves to be remembered as one of the best to play the game.

Top 50 NFL Quarterbacks: #48 - Steve Grogan

Steve Grogan

Steve Grogan had one of the most injury-plagued careers of any quarterback in history, but on those rare occasions when he was healthy, he was one of the top quarterbacks in the league.

Grogan was drafted by the Patriots in the 5th round in 1975 to back up Jim Plunkett, who was a Heisman winner and #1 overall pick, but by the end of his rookie season he had taken over the starting job, leading to Plunkett being traded to the 49ers after the season.

During his first full season as a starter, he led the Patriots to an 11-3 record, the best in franchise history to that point, and their first playoff berth in over a decade. That year he also set a record that would stand for 35 years, most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in a season, with 12, which was 3 times as many as any other QB that year, and wasn't broken until Cam Newton had 14 in a 16-game season in 2011.

In 1978, he led the Patriots to a division title and their first-ever home playoff game on a team that set the record for most rushing yards by a team (3156), which still stands today. It was also the only team ever to have 4 players record over 500 rushing yards, and QB Grogan was among them. The following season he led all players in passing touchdowns with 28, but it would also be his final full season.

His injury problems started in 1980, when he missed 4 games due to 2 sprained knees, one of each. In 1981, he missed 4 games with a neck injury and 4 more with a knee injury. The Patriots drafted Tony Eason in 1983 as insurance, and he came in handy when Grogan broke his leg near the end of that season, missing the final 4 games and most of the 1984 season.

In 1985, he was finally looking healthy again, and the Patriots were winning, but then he broke his led and injured his MCL, which kept him out until the Super Bowl. Eason still started the Super Bowl, but after being unable to complete a pass, Grogan took over and led the Patriots to 10 points, the only points scored against the Bears in that entire postseason.

He continued to play off and on between injuries through the 1990 season, when the Patriots decided it was time to part ways. When he retired, he was the franchise's all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns, and the only Patriot to play longer for the franchise is Tom Brady.

He may have never won a playoff game as a starter, never been voted to a Pro Bowl, and be largely forgotten today, but he had a good run of great years early in his career, and was a solid player in stretches for another decade. He was one of the early dual-threat quarterbacks, having led the league in both rushing touchdowns and passing touchdowns at one point, and helped a franchise that had never seen any success reach a Super Bowl.

Top 50 NFL Quarterbacks: #49 - Jim Kelly

Jim Kelly

Jim Kelly is best known for being the only quarterback to start in 4 consecutive Super Bowls, but his making this list actually has very little to do with that. He quarterbacked some great teams and was always solid in the regular season, but was usually not at his best during the playoffs, which may be a big part of the reason he never won a Super Bowl.

Kelly was drafted by Buffalo in 1983, but he had no desire to play for the Bills, so he signed on with the USFL's Houston Gamblers, where he set league records for passing that nobody else was close to, but when the league folded in 1986, he had no choice but to join Buffalo.

The Bills were struggling through the rebuilding process for his first couple of seasons in Buffalo, but starting in 1988, they would make the playoffs 8 times in 9 seasons. He peaked in 1990, when he led the Bills to a 13-3 record, best in the AFC, and led the league with a 63.3% completion percentage while throwing a career-low 9 interceptions.

That season was the only time he played well in the playoffs, throwing for 639 yards and 5 touchdowns in the first two games, which earned Buffalo its first-ever Super Bowl berth. Kelly was solid in the Super Bowl, throwing for 212 yards, but did not throw a touchdown, and the Bills lost at the last moment when Scott Norwood missed what would have been the winning field goal with 8 seconds left in the game.

The following season he led them back to 13-3, led the league with 33 touchdowns, and they again made the Super Bowl, but it was in spite of Kelly, who threw for only 390 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions in the two games leading up to the big game. He added 4 more picks in the Super Bowl as the Bills lost to Washington 37-24.

In 1992 he missed the first two playoff games due to injury, which were the biggest comeback in playoff history and a blowout upset of the Steelers. He returned in time to help Buffalo upset Miami, but struggled in the Super Bowl, throwing 2 picks before going down again and being replaced as Dallas ran away 52-17.

It was more of the same in 1993, as Buffalo advanced to the Super Bowl, while Kelly threw for only 447 yards and 2 touchdowns in the first two playoff games, then again failed to throw a touchdown in the Super Bowl as they fell to Dallas, this time 30-13.

He played another 3 years, making two more playoff appearances, but he lost his best chance at a title when that kick missed in his first trip to the big game. He never played up to his potential again in the playoffs, and that is a big part of the reason that he isn't ranked higher on this list, but he was good enough in all those years of leading Buffalo to the playoffs that he has to be part of this countdown.

Top 50 NFL Quarterbacks: #50 - Joe Theismann

Joe Theismann

Today, Joe Theismann is probably best known for the gruesome leg injury that ended his career in 1985, but in the few seasons leading up to that he had become one of the top quarterbacks in the game, and who knows how much more he would have accomplished had he been able to keep playing.

He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in 1971, but after being unable to reach a contract agreement, he elected to play in the CFL, where he was an all-star twice in three seasons. In 1974, Miami gave up and traded his rights to Washington, and he decided to move back to the States and join his new team. He was a punt returner for his first couple of seasons, before moving up to backup quarterback for two years, then finally starting quarterback in 1978, at the age of 29.

He improved slowly year by year, increasing his passing yardage each year through 1981, when he threw for 3568, but Washington could not make the playoffs. That changed in 1982, when the season was shortened to 9 games by a strike. Theismann led the Redskins to an 8-1 record, tops in the league, then plowed through the first three rounds of the playoffs, winning all three games by at least 14 points.

The Redskins relied heavily on running back John Riggins in Super Bowl XVII, but it was Theismann who made one of the biggest plays of the game. Late in the third quarter, with his team trailing 17-13, Theismann's pass was tipped at the line and was about to be intercepted when Theismann stepped in and batted the ball away, preventing a sure touchdown and a double-digit deficit. Washington went on to win 27-17.

The following season was the best of his career, as he threw for career highs of 3714 yards and 29 touchdowns, and again led Washington to the league's best record, this time at 14-2. He was named the league MVP for his performance, and it kept going in the playoffs, as the Redskins outscored their first two opponents 75-28 on their way to a repeat appearance in the Super Bowl. He lost the chance at a repeat title, though, when he was outplayed by Jim Plunkett and the Raiders, losing the game 38-9.

1984 brought another playoff berth and division title, but they were surprised by the Chicago Bears in the playoffs, ending their season prematurely. He was off to a rough start in 1985 when his career ended on a sack by Lawrence Taylor. As he was taken down, his lower leg was snapped in half, and when it healed, his right leg was significantly shorter than the left, forcing him to retire.

He got a late start on his career, and it ended earlier than expected, but at his peak in 1982 and 1983, he led his team to a 28-4 overall record and won an MVP and a Super Bowl. The strength of those two seasons is what earned him this position on the all-time list.

Top 50 NFL Quarterbacks: Intro

Four years ago I released the first version of my rankings of the 50 greatest NFL quarterbacks of all time. While I feel that it was a somewhat good representation of their greatness over time, I did feel like there were some flaws in the system, causing some players to be ranked too high or too low, or to miss out on the top 50 altogether.

One issue I discovered is that players from all eras were being judged on the basis of the current game, which emphasizes passing more than it did in previous eras. I felt it was more fair to judge players based on how well they performed in the league in which they played, so I calculated the average quarterback output in each major category on a per dropback basis for each season, then calculated how far above or below average each quarterback was during that specific season. Each positive score was added together to attain a cumulative career score for each player, while negative scores were discarded.

Another issue that I discovered is that the rushing abilities of many quarterbacks was being minimized, which made many of the other per dropback averages look bad. I was able to incorporate this more fully into the formula this time, putting it on equal footing with yards gained through the air, because both are positives for the team.

This system rewards not only short periods of greatness, but also sustained periods of solid play, with the top players on the list having sustained periods of greatness. Players need to play at a high level, meaning minimizing turnovers and yards lost, while maximizing positive yardage and scoring. In addition, longevity is very important, though that longevity must go along with solid play. Also, winning matters, because quarterback is the single most important position in sports and has the greatest impact on team success, so playoff performance is also included in the formula, giving players a bonus for how well they performed in postseason games. Winning the Super Bowl does not always mean positive points for a player, because sometimes the team wins in spite of quarterback play, but great play, especially in a championship situation, can give a big boost to a player.

Nine of the 10 players from my previous top 10 remained in those spots in this iteration of the rankings, and 38 of the previous top 50 are back this time, with only 3 of those spots being taken by current players who played their way onto the list and 9 coming from older players who were missed on the previous version. 30 teams have a representative on the list, meaning a player who earned points while playing for that team, with just the Texans and Jaguars, two of the newest franchises, being shut out. An additional 4 teams, the Buccaneers, Cardinals, Jets, and Lions, are not the primary team of any player on the list, while the 49ers top the list with 4 such players.

There are 9 players each whose primary decade was the 2010's, 2000's, or 1990's, with slightly fewer in each of the earlier decades when there were fewer teams and players. There are also 9 current quarterbacks on the list, with three others who have retired in the past few years. 60 total championships are represented, including many before the creation of the Super Bowl, but 24 of the players represented do not have a ring.

I plan to reveal the 50 players over the course of the summer, finishing up before the new season starts, and I will update this post with a list of the players who have been revealed and a link to their writeup. While no ranking system can be perfect, especially with differing opinions and favoritism toward players on your favorite team, I feel that this ranking is a very good representation of the best players ever at the position. My purpose is not to create arguments about a player's worthiness to be on the list or at a certain rank, but rather to celebrate the greatness of these 50 men. I hope you enjoy it.

1. Tom Brady - Patriots - 2010's
2. Joe Montana - 49ers - 1980's
3. Steve Young - 49ers - 1990's
4. Peyton Manning - Colts - 2000's
5. Otto Graham - Browns - 1950's
6. Aaron Rodgers - Packers - 2010's
7. Drew Brees - Saints - 2010's
8. Brett Favre - Packers - 1990's
9. Dan Marino - Dolphins - 1980's
10. John Elway - Broncos - 1990's
11. Sid Luckman - Bears - 1940's
12. Terry Bradshaw - Steelers - 1960's
13. Bart Starr - Packers - 1960's
14. Roger Staubach - Cowboys - 1970's
15. Kurt Warner - Rams - 2000's
16. Fran Tarkenton - Vikings - 1970's
17. Donovan McNabb - Eagles - 2000's
18. Ben Roethlisberger - Steelers - 2000's
19. Steve McNair - Titans - 2000's
20. Johnny Unitas - Colts - 1960's
21. Matt Ryan - Falcons - 2010's
22. Randall Cunningham - Eagles - 1990's
23. Tobin Rote - Chargers - 1950's
24. Russell Wilson - Seahawks - 2010's
25. Ken Anderson - Bengals - 1970's
26. Len Dawson - Chiefs - 1960's
27. Cam Newton - Panthers - 2010's
28. Troy Aikman - Cowboys - 1990's
29. Jeff Garcia - 49ers - 2000's
30. Daryle Lamonica - Raiders - 1960's
31. Warren Moon - Oilers - 1990's
32. Rich Gannon - Raiders - 2000's
33. Ken Stabler - Raiders - 1970's
34. Alex Smith - Chiefs - 2010's
35. Daunte Culpepper - Vikings - 2000's
36. Charlie Conerly - Giants - 1950's
37. Jim McMahon - Bears - 1980's
38. Philip Rivers - Chargers - 2010's
39. Dan Fouts - Chargers - 1980's
40. Tony Romo - Cowboys - 2010's
41. Michael Vick - Eagles - 2000's
42. Roman Gabriel - Rams - 1960's
43. Boomer Esiason - Bengals - 1980's
44. Y.A. Tittle - 49ers - 1950's
45. Jeff Hostetler - Giants - 1990's
46. Norm Van Brocklin - Rams - 1950's
47. Kordell Stewart - Steelers - 1990's
48. Steve Grogan - Patriots - 1980's
49. Jim Kelly - Bills - 1990's
50. Joe Theismann - Redskins - 1980's