I took the passer rating of every QB that qualified for a career in the NFL going back to 1940. Then I deducted the average passer rating of the entire NFL during that players career from his rating. It gave me a ranking of how far above average each QB is as far as passing efficiency.
The reason I did that is there is no way you can realisticly compare players from different eras. Even going back to Favre's era, the average passer rating for his entire career is below 80. Today it is about 86. So comparing Favre to today's QB, you should raise his rating by 6.
In the 1940s when Don Hutson basically invented the WR position and they ussered in the moder passing game, the average rating was in the upper 40s. It has been increasing fairly steadily until today. There are so many rule, equipment, fitness, medical care, scheme and other changes that there isn't a reasonable way to compare. Just going from no black players to integration was a huge change.
Here is my top 25 and how far they were above average.
Rank Quarterback QBPRD
1 Sid Luckman+ 25.80
2 Sammy Baugh+ 22.02
3 Otto Graham+ 22.00
4 Aaron Rodgers 21.78
5 Steve Young+ 20.55
6 Roger Staubach+ 17.75
7 Joe Montana+ 17.40
8 Tommy Thompson 17.30
9 Norm Van Brocklin+ 16.00
10 Len Dawson+ 15.55
11 Sonny Jurgensen+ 15.47
12 Tom Brady 14.82
13 Peyton Manning 14.47
14 George Ratterman 13.81
15 Bart Starr+ 13.46
16 Kurt Warner 13.43
17 Fran Tarkenton+ 13.28
18 Ken Anderson 12.73
19 Tony Romo 12.51
20 Drew Brees 12.22
21 Philip Rivers 11.41
22 Johnny Unitas+ 11.32
23 Y.A. Tittle+ 11.19
24 Bob Griese+ 10.57
25 Bob Berry 10.41
I also do not give any credit for championships. If that were the case, Dilfer would be better than Marino.
Originally Posted by: Dexter_Sinister