This post is absolutely necessary for some all-time context!
(NOTE: "Rings" include pre-Super Bowl era championships won)
Years: 1920 to 1929 (more rushing, basically no passing)
- Hall of Famer: Jimmy Conzelman (1920-1929), 13 career rushing touchdowns, 11 career receiving touchdowns, 169 points scored
- Hall of Famer: John "Paddy" Driscoll (1920-1929), 25 career rushing touchdowns, 4 career receiving touchdowns, 402 points scored
How I would rank them:
1. John "Paddy" Driscoll
2. Jimmy Conzelman
Years: 1930 to 1939 (still a lot of rushing, but passing is evolving)
- Hall of Famer: Earl "Dutch" Clark (scrambled a lot) (1931-1938), 11 passing touchdowns, 26 interceptions, 40.3 passer rating, 45.6% completions
- Hall of Famer: Benny Friedman (1927-1934), 66 passing touchdowns, 19 interceptions, 60.2 passer rating, 41.9% completions
- Hall of Famer: Clarence "Ace" Parker (1937-1946), 30 passing touchdowns, 50 interceptions, 53.1 passer rating, 46.7% completions
How I would rank them:
1. Benny Friedman
2. Clarence "Ace" Parker
3. Earl "Dutch" Clark
Years: 1940 to 1955
- Hall of Famer: Sammy Baugh (1937-1952), 187 passing touchdowns, 203 interceptions, 72.2 passer rating, 56.5% completions, 2 rings
- Hall of Famer: Arnie Herber (1930-1945), 81 passing touchdowns, 106 interceptions, 50.1 passer rating, 40.9% completions
- Hall of Famer: Sid Luckman (1939-1950), 137 passing touchdowns, 132 interceptions, 75.0 passer rating, 51.8% completions, 4 rings
- Hall of Famer: Otto Graham (1946-1955), 174 passing touchdowns, 135 interceptions, 86.6 passer rating, 55.8% completions, 3 rings
- Hall of Famer: Y.A. Tittle (1948-1964), 242 passing touchdowns, 248 interceptions, 74.3 passer rating, 55.2% completions, 0 rings
- Hall of Famer: Norm Van Brocklin (1949-1960), 173 passing touchdowns, 178 interceptions, 75.1 passer rating, 53.6% completions, 2 rings
- Hall of Famer: Bob Waterfield (1945-1952), 97 passing touchdowns, 128 interceptions, 61.6 passer rating, 50.3% completions
How I would rank them:
1. Otto Graham
2. Sid Luckman
3. Sammy Baugh
4. Norm Van Brocklin
5. Y.A. Tittle
6. Bob Waterfield
7. Arnie Herber
Years: 1956 to 1970
- Hall of Famer: George Blanda (1949-1975), 236 passing touchdowns, 277 interceptions, 60.6 passer rating, 47.7% completions, 3 rings
- Hall of Famer: Len Dawson (1957-1975), 239 passing touchdowns, 183 interceptions, 82.6 passer rating, 57.1% completions, 3 rings
- Hall of Famer: Sonny Jurgensen (1957-1974), 255 passing touchdowns, 189 interceptions, 82.6 passer rating, 57.1% completions, 1 ring
- Hall of Famer: Bobby Layne (1948-1962), 196 passing touchdowns, 243 interceptions, 63.4 passer rating, 49.0% completions
- Hall of Famer: Joe Namath (1965-1977), 173 passing touchdowns, 220 interceptions, 65.5 passer rating, 50.1% completions, 2 rings
- Hall of Famer: Bart Starr (1956-1971), 152 passing touchdowns, 138 interceptions, 80.5 passer rating, 57.4% completions, 5 rings
- Hall of Famer: Fran Tarkenton (1961-1978), 342 passing touchdowns, 266 interceptions, 80.4 passer rating, 57.0% completions
- Hall of Famer: Johnny Unitas (1956-1973), 290 passing touchdowns, 253 interceptions, 78.2 passer rating, 54.6% completions, 4 rings
How I would rank them:
1. Johnny Unitas
2. Bart Starr
3. Len Dawson
4. Fran Tarkenton
5. Sonny Jurgensen
6. George Blanda
7. Joe Namath
8. Bobby Layne
Years: 1971 to 1984
- Hall of Famer: Terry Bradshaw (1970-1983), 212 passing touchdowns, 210 interceptions, 70.9 passer rating, 51.9% completions, 4 rings
- Hall of Famer: Dan Fouts (1973-1987), 254 passing touchdowns, 242 interceptions, 80.2 passer rating, 58.8% completions, 0 rings
- Hall of Famer: Bob Griese (1967-1980), 192 passing touchdowns, 172 interceptions, 77.1 passer rating, 56.2% completions, 2 rings
- Hall of Famer: Ken Stabler (1970-1984), 194 passing touchdowns, 222 interceptions, 75.3 passer rating, 59.8% completions, 1 ring
- Hall of Famer: Roger Staubach (1969-1979), 153 passing touchdowns, 109 interceptions, 83.4 passer rating, 57.0% completions, 2 rings
How I would rank them:
1. Roger Staubach
2. Bob Griese
3. Dan Fouts
4. Terry Bradshaw
5. Ken Stabler
Years: 1985 to 2005
- Hall of Famer: Troy Aikman (1989-2000), 165 passing touchdowns, 141 interceptions, 81.6 passer rating, 61.5% completions, 3 rings
- Hall of Famer: John Elway (1983-1998), 300 passing touchdowns, 226 interceptions, 79.9 passer rating, 56.9% completions, 2 rings
- Hall of Famer: Brett Favre (1991-2010), 508 passing touchdowns, 336 interceptions, 86.0 passer rating, 62.0% completions, 1 ring
- Hall of Famer: Jim Kelly (1986-1996), 237 passing touchdowns, 175 interceptions, 84.4 passer rating, 60.1% completions, 0 rings
- Hall of Famer: Dan Marino (1983-1999), 420 passing touchdowns, 252 interceptions, 86.4 passer rating, 59.4% completions, 0 rings
- Hall of Famer: Joe Montana (1979-1994), 273 passing touchdowns, 139 interceptions, 92.3 passer rating, 63.2% completions, 4 rings
- Hall of Famer: Warren Moon (1984-2000), 291 passing touchdowns, 233 interceptions, 80.9 passer rating, 58.4% completions, 0 rings
- Hall of Famer: Steve Young (1985-1999), 232 passing touchdowns, 107 interceptions, 96.8 passer rating, 64.3% completions, 3 rings (only 1 as starter)
How I would rank them:
1. Joe Montana
2. Steve Young
3. John Elway
4. Brett Favre
5. Dan Marino
6. Troy Aikman
7. Jim Kelly
8. Warren Moon
Years: 2006 to 2015
- Hall of Famer: Peyton Manning (1998-2015), 539 passing touchdowns, 251 interceptions, 96.5 passer rating, 65.3% completions, 2 rings
- Hall of Famer: Kurt Warner (1998-2009), 208 passing touchdowns, 128 interceptions, 93.7 passer rating, 65.5% completions
How I would rank them:
1. Peyton Manning
2. Kurt Warner
John Frascella is a published sports author and NFL Analyst on X (formerly Twitter) @NFLFrascella. Follow him for all things NFL, NBA and MLB.
