The list of greatest QBs ever includes a man with ice in his veins, a guy who played like a maestro, and an all-around wonder of efficiency.
In the chaotic symphony that is NFL football, quarterbacks are almost always the triumphant (and tragic) main character.
Everything about this wonderfully haphazard drama they call a sport runs through the brain and dominant throwing arm of the quarterback. Football would not dominate American culture nearly as much as it does today without the presence of seminal, legendary quarterbacks. I don't even think that's debatable. Yes, we can still appreciate the general qualities of a truly great football team. However, chances are that their story would be incomplete without a magical protagonist at the center.
It's just the truth.
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Below is a comprehensive ranking of the best men to ever consistently take snaps from a center. They were geniuses and pioneers in their respective eras, and their impact still resonates to this day. Not one part of this exercise was an exact science. Some of it was off feel. Some of it was rooted in career accomplishments. All of it was subjective, meaning my personal preference and opinion. If a particular ranking irritates you, that was not my intention, but you are always welcome to yell at me online in some fashion. Don't worry, I don't bite.
Let's dive in and see which quarterbacks stand tallest amongst the greats.
11. Drew Brees
Teams: Los Angeles Chargers (2001-2005), New Orleans Saints (2006-2020)
Accolades: Super Bowl 44 MVP, Super Bowl 44 champion, two-time Offensive Player of the Year, 13-time Pro Bowler, seven-time passing yards leader, six-time completion percentage leader, two-time passer rating leader
What Brees lacked in prototypical quarterback traits (he played at a listed 6-foot, 209 pounds and had an average arm at best), he made up for with impeccable efficiency, accuracy, and touch. Over the years, Brees has distinguished himself as one of the most prolific passers ever, with impeccable poise and a deep understanding of how defenses would try to attack him. He was a composed conductor and a picture of greatness in an unassuming body (by elite football player standards). If not for the horrific luck of the late 2010s Saints teams who dominated the top of the NFC, Brees would have one of his hands decorated with Super Bowl rings, instead of one fateful February victory that stands alone.
10. Fran Tarkenton
Teams: Minnesota Vikings (1961-1966, 1972-1978), New York Giants (1967-1971)
Accolades: MVP (1975), Nine-time Pro Bowler, Offensive Player of the Year (1975), First-Team All-Pro (1975), passing yards leader (1978), passing touchdowns leader (1975), completion percentage leader (1977)
In his heyday, Tarkenton broke the mold as a dual-threat quarterback. He was the real first signal-caller to present a credible threat as a runner and scrambler in addition to his downfield passing. One could even say that Tarkenton was probably the first quarterback to present defenses with the impossible choice of either squatting on his downfield targets or keeping him in check in the pocket. In addition to over 340 career touchdown passes, Tarkenton scored at least one rushing touchdown in 15 of his 18 seasons and averaged 5.4 yards per carry over his entire career. At the time of his retirement in 1979, Tarkenton possessed most relevant all-time NFL passing records.
Aside from his all-around production, Tarkenton is best known for taking the traditionally snakebitten Vikings to three Super Bowls. He didn't win one, of course, because of the Vikings of it all, but that is still quite commendable.
9. Aaron Rodgers
Teams: Green Bay Packers (2005-2022), New York Jets (2023-2024), Pittsburgh Steelers (2025-Present)
Accolades: Super Bowl 45 champion, Super Bowl 45 MVP, Four-time MVP, 10-time Pro Bowler, four-time First-Team All-Pro, four-time passer rating leader, two-time passing touchdown leader, all-time career passer rating leader
These days, Rodgers has sullied his remarkable NFL accomplishments with a hard turn toward becoming an unabashed crank at worst and an attention-seeking ghoul, at best. On this recency bias note, much of his resume is difficult to properly contextualize. But the numbers don't lie. Rodgers' peak, marked by four MVP trophies in a decade's span from 2011 to 2021, at the very least, presents an argument for the best years a quarterback has ever enjoyed.
One of Rodgers' best traits was avoiding backbreaking mistakes, as his remarkable nearly 5:1 touchdown-to-interception career ratio suggests. At the same time, it is arguably his biggest fault because Rodgers' tendency to avoid on-field mistakes meant he sometimes didn't take enough risks. Alas, for (partly) this reason, Rodgers will likely finish his career with just one Super Bowl championship. If he were to capture one more Lombardi Trophy, we'd start entertaining his case for the top overall choice.
He will be remembered as an all-timer all the same.
8. John Elway
Teams: Denver Broncos (1983-1998)
Accolades: Two-time Super Bowl champion, Super Bowl 33 MVP, MVP (1987), Nine-time Pro Bowler, three-time Second-Team All-Pro, passing yards leader (1993)
The early days of Elway's Denver career saw him put a mediocre Broncos on his back en route to three blowout Super Bowl losses. The late Elway era was marked by the elder statesman acting as the steady, experienced caretaker for the NFL's premier roster en route to back-to-back Super Bowl triumphs.
And in between? Elway regularly put on a showcase as perhaps the finest natural thrower of the football we've ever seen. His arm was more akin to a rocket launcher than the standard series of ligaments, joints, bones, and blood. In terms of his athleticism and gifts, he was unmatched amongst his peers. A young Elway was basically like if a young Patrick Mahomes didn't get to work with a Hall of Fame coach, a Hall of Fame tight end, and a field-tilting defense. He was indeed that good.
If Elway had a supporting cast worthy of his abilities at the start of his career, larger swaths of the pro football community would talk about him in GOAT terms.
7. Peyton Manning
Teams: Indianapolis Colts (1998-2011), Denver Broncos (2012-2015)
Accolades: Two-time Super Bowl champion, Super Bowl 41 MVP, five-time MVP, two-time Offensive Player of the Year, 14-time Pro Bowler, seven-time First-Team All-Pro, four-time passing touchdowns leader, three-time passing yards leader, three-time passer rating leader, two-time completion percentage leader
No one has ever controlled a game of football quite like Manning. Right down to the studs, Manning knew the ins and outs of both his offensive operation and was often several steps ahead of the opposing defense's strategy. He was a veritable walking encyclopedia who could unfathomably condense his vast wealth of knowledge and practice into layperson's terms for his Colts and Broncos teammates. He was effectively a player-coach who revolutionized no-huddle offense into the standard, simple but complex engine it is for the modern NFL. There was no one like him in his heyday, and there is still no one like him now, years after his retirement.
The only real knock Manning gets as a quarterback is a disappointing postseason record. Yes, I hate to play into #QBWinz. Yes, I understand that football is the ultimate team sport, characterized by the quintessential "everyone on the field has to do their job" environment. But it's really hard to look past Manning's 14-13 career playoff record. It's also really hard to look past the fact that his teams went one-and-done nine times in a 17-year career. At a certain point, Manning becomes the glaring common denominator in that equation of failure.
I'd also argue that Manning was not the primary catalyst for victory in either of his two Super Bowl championships in Indianapolis and Denver. That is, unfortunately, not something you could say for any of the other champions on this list. Nevertheless, the man they called "The Sheriff" was something special, and he still deserves to be lionized forever.
6. Otto Graham
Teams: Cleveland Browns (1946-1955)
Accolades: Three-time NFL champion, three-time MVP, five-time Pro Bowler, four-time First-Team All-Pro, three-time completion percentage leader, two-time passing yards leader, two-time passer rating leader, passing touchdowns leader (1952)
A brief overview of Graham's place in NFL history must begin with his ultimate claim to fame. It's an achievement that will likely never be matched by another team, let alone an individual quarterback.
Graham played just 10 seasons of professional football, and appeared in a championship game (either the AAFC or NFL) on every occasion. He won seven of them, giving him a (theoretical) two extra rings to put on his other hand. What made Graham additionally unique was his status as a pioneer. In the post-World War II era, Graham made the forward pass — then considered devil magic to most coaches hellbent on keeping football as close as possible to its rugby cousin — a viable threat worth tapping into for offenses. Graham was the definition of a winning player unafraid to win by unconventional means (for that time, anyway).
5. Dan Marino
Teams: Miami Dolphins (1983-1999)
Accolades: MVP (1984), Offensive Player of the Year (1984), Comeback Player of the Year (1994), nine-time Pro Bowler, three-time First-Team All-Pro, three-time passing touchdowns leader, five-time passing yards leader, passer rating leader (1984)
I recognize that, without a championship, Marino's placing this high is probably blasphemous to a lot of people. Still, I'm not going to penalize a guy many believe was a Terminator among men at the most important position in American sports for never being lucky enough to be on a team good enough to win it all. At his absolute finest, the ball would effortlessly leave Marino's right arm like he uncorked an iron crossbow. At his worst, he was a field general with moxy, one of the first quarterbacks to always have an answer when you seemingly had him backed up against the wall.
Marino's early-career peak, in particular, was dizzying. At the ripe age of 23, only roughly a year removed from college, the first-ballot Hall of Famer threw for over 5,000 yards, nearly 50 touchdowns, and averaged over nine yards per pass attempt. That he achieved this in the 1980s, when three yards and a cloud of dust was still considered preferable offense for most NFL franchises, made his dominance even more remarkable.
Unfortunately for Marino, the Dolphins would eventually plateau as an organization. After winning four playoff games in his first three appearances, which included a successful run to Super Bowl 19, Marino's Dolphins never advanced past the conference championship round again. As a result, to this day, Marino arguably possesses the regrettable title of "best NFL player to never win a ring." Ah, well, his playing career remains unforgettable.
4. Patrick Mahomes
Teams: Kansas City Chiefs (2017-Present)
Accolades: Three-time Super Bowl champion, three-time Super Bowl MVP, three-time MVP, Offensive Player of the Year (2018), six-time Pro Bowler, two-time First-Team All-Pro, two-time passing touchdowns leader, passing yards leader (2022)
If Mahomes retired tomorrow, his laundry list of NFL accomplishments as he turns 30 would already make him a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Full stop. So, spare me any consideration about this No. 4 ranking being too high or too early for him. Because he deserves it and honestly, with just one more Super Bowl victory, he can probably get as high as No. 2. Seriously.
Where do you even start with Mahomes' story?
Here's an old college try. (Inhales)
He threw 50 touchdowns in his first year as a starter. He has played in the AFC title game every year he's been a starter, for ... seven straight times. He's played in five of the last six Super Bowls, winning three of them. Most guys would consider themselves fortunate to see ONE conference title game appearance, let alone that many berths in the Big Game. Even after a recent downturn in regular-season production, Mahomes remains arguably the biggest playoff riser in NFL history. He is downright unflappable in the second season as an on-the-fly problem solver of the highest order. At his current pace, Mahomes remains on track to shatter every major football passing record well before he even turns 40. And if he plays as long as the guy most compare him to, he will likely leave behind such a massive gap that no one will catch him for decades.
(Exhales)
The dude who wears Chiefs red in a No. 15 jersey is a unicorn. Seeing as how his entire 30s are ahead of him, it's scary to ponder whether we've seen the best of him yet. Knowing Mahomes, that answer is probably not.
3. Johnny Unitas
Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers (1955), Baltimore Colts (1956-1972), Los Angeles Chargers (1973)
Accolades: Three-time NFL champion, Super Bowl 5 champion, three-time MVP, 10-time Pro Bowler, five-time First-Team All-Pro, four-time passing yards leader, four-time passing touchdowns leader, two-time passer rating leader, completion percentage leader (1967)
It's actually kind of amusing that two Colts quarterbacks are arguably the biggest purveyors of no-huddle offense ever. In Unitas's case, he employed the strategy as an all-powerful force. You have to remember that in those mid-20th-century days, most defenses weren't accustomed to running right back to the line of scrimmage after a play. It was a distinct offensive advantage that Unitas deployed with ruthless efficiency. In effect, he ran the Colts' offense like a well-oiled machine with uncanny precision and leverage.
Unitas remained consistently effective for most of his career, until a near-twilight elbow injury threw him off track. Even then, Unitas adapted like the chameleon he always was, finding a path to succeed when it wasn't clear that one still existed in the first place. Of everyone in this quarterback class, the word "genius" probably applies to Unitas most thanks to creativity and flexibility.
2. Joe Montana
Teams: San Francisco 49ers (1979-1992), Kansas City Chiefs (1993-1994)
Accolades: Four-time Super Bowl champion, three-time Super Bowl MVP, two-time MVP, Offensive Player of the Year (1989), eight-time Pro Bowler, five-time completion percentage leader, three-time First-Team All-Pro, two-time passing touchdowns leader, two-time passer rating leader
For decades, Montana comfortably held the title of "best quarterback ever." He was the catalyst behind Bill Walsh's revolutionary West Coast offense predicated on affording elite receivers the chance to make something magical happen after the catch. It asked Montana to use such play design as an extension of the running game in itself, inherently putting more responsibility in his hands than quarterbacks those days were used to. The reason Montana was able to thrive was that he always knew how to put the ball in the right place, even as an average athlete.
As the poster boy of the team of the 1980s, Montana was virtually flawless. He was clinical in routine dismantlings of ostensible 49ers rivals like the Chicago Bears. His success is made all the more impressive given how defenders in that era of the game were allowed to punish offensive signal-callers with nary a second thought.
Montana's greatness can perhaps best be exemplified by the 49ers' decision to give up on him in the late stages of his career. When that happened, Montana turned around and took the Chiefs to their first-ever AFC title game in 1994. Even on his last legs, Montana's brilliance couldn't be denied.
1. Tom Brady
Teams: New England Patriots (2000-2019), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2020-2022)
Accolades: Seven-time Super Bowl champion, five-time Super Bowl MVP, three-time MVP, two-time Offensive Player of the Year, 15-time Pro Bowler, three-time First-Team All-Pro, five-time passing touchdowns leader, four-time passing yards leader, two-time passer rating leader, completion percentage leader (2007)
At the risk of being redundant, everything I could write about Tom Brady in this space, you likely already know.
He has the most Super Bowl wins, the most Super Bowl MVPs, and owns every major passing record by a mile. In an exceedingly brutal game like football, he was a top-five-caliber quarterback for the better part of two decades. You cannot think of the NFL in any capacity, past, present, or future, without throwing in Brady's name.
In league lore filled with icons and legends, Brady is the face of the sport. No questions asked. He's Tom Brady.
What else do I really have to say?
This article originally appeared on For The Win: NFL quarterback rankings: 11 greatest of all time
Category: Football
