Brutally Honest All-Time NFL Qb Rankings

Too many of these top QB lists suffer from recency bias. You know, the ones that have Eli Manning on them. Don’t get me wrong, I like Eli Manning, but I’m not buying him as a top 20 QB of all time. Similarly, and spoiler alert: Tom Brady isn’t number one. That’s why this is the “brutally honest” top 20 QBs.

Some people will say I shouldn’t have included him on the list, and some people will say he deserves to be higher. I can agree with the latter group. The fact is that Aikman is a three-time Super Bowl champion (once the MVP), and his career playoff record is an impressive 11-4.

20. Troy Aikman

The career numbers don’t lie: 101 wins, 35,467 yards, 237 touchdowns, a 7.4 yards per pass attempt average, an 84.4 rating, and a 60.1 completion percentage. He also led the Buffalo Bills to 4 straight Super Bowls (though he played poorly) and went to 5 Pro Bowls.

19. Jim Kelly

Staubach went to four Super Bowls, winning two. He made it to 6 NFC championship games and could also be a mobile threat, rushing for 20 touchdowns during his career. But his lack of time as a starter, coupled with some very ordinary-looking regular season statistics put him here.

18. Roger Staubach

Machine-like in his passing, with more 5,000-yard seasons than any other QB in NFL history. Add to that a completion percentage of 70%, which he did SEVEN times in his career, and you can see why he goes down as one of the best, albeit in a golden era of quarterback play. His downfall is his post-season record (9-9 over 20 years).

17. Drew Brees

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