The 10 most underrated quarterbacks in NFL history

2. Steve Bartkowski

The Falcons took Bartkowski No. 1 overall out of Cal in the 1975 draft, anointing him as the franchise savior automatically, and simply put he played on some dreadful teams. As noted by our own Michael Collins over at Blogging Dirty, “Bart” was sacked on 9.3 percent of his dropbacks during his career, five times on more than 10 percent of his dropbacks and in 1977 that rate was an astronomical 17.6 percent.

That physical pounding led to 42 missed games over 11 seasons in Atlanta, and seven knee operations for Bartkowski during his career with four more knee surgeries after he retired. Yet there he was persevering, with back-to-back 30 touchdown seasons in 1980 and 1981 (a league-high 31 in 1980). In 1983, he led the league in passer rating (97.6), and had the best interception rate in the league (1.2 percent, 22 touchdowns against five interceptions). In 1984, he led the league in completion percentage (67.3).

Bartkowski started five games for the Falcons in 1985, then he spent his final NFL season with the Los Angeles Rams in 1986 and made six starts.

Bartkowski stands as a “what might have been.” What if he had spent his career on a better team? What if he had been healthier for longer stretches? He is too easy to set aside among the best quarterbacks of his era, and a natural runner up on my list of underrated quarterbacks.