30 greatest NFL QBs of all time: Where does Patrick Mahomes rank now?

When talking about GOATs, there are only a few names who can actually take the claim when it comes to the quarterback position. However, after another Super Bowl championship, how close is Patrick Mahomes from saying he’s the best quarterback ever?

There are few positions in sports that have as much impact on a game as the quarterback position has on the NFL. The difference between a good and bad quarterback is often the difference between a good and bad NFL team. The iconic teams always have great quarterbacks. Name a dynasty without a great QB. We’ll wait.

Think about those great teams without a fantastic QB. The 1985 Chicago Bears probably had the best defense ever, but they only won one Super Bowl. The Purple People Eaters couldn’t get over the top. Those great Baltimore Ravens defenses only had one Super Bowl, and that’s because they faced Kerry Collins that season.

We go through the best of the best that have ever thrown the ball. But first, let’s go through those who just missed the cut.

Honorable Mention

This one will hurt a few, so let’s get it out of the way right away. Eli Manning obviously had some great seasons, but he wasn’t a top quarterback for as long as we remember. Those Super Bowl teams had Manning doing just enough. We’ll always remember the David Tyree and the Mario Manningham catches. There was a clutch factor to Manning that might be unmatched, but it’s too hard to quantify that to add him to the list. Plus, leading the league in interceptions three times while never leading in touchdowns pushes him too far away from the other QBs on the list.

Philip Rivers comes from the same NFL Draft as Eli Manning, and he was actually traded for him after the Giants technically drafted him with the fourth-overall pick. For the rest of their careers, they traded places as some of the best QBs in the league. Unfortunately, Rivers didn’t see the same playoff success as Manning, never actually making it to the Super Bowl. Still, Rivers finished sixth all-time in passing yards and sixth in passing touchdowns with 421.

If we took the best “peaks” of the quarterbacks on this list, Cam Newton would absolutely be on this list. He was one of the best players in the league for a four-season stint. He won MVP in 2015, taking his team to 15 wins and the franchise’s second Super Bowl appearance. He threw too many interceptions, and his career fell off a cliff once he joined the New England Patriots (although, that first year he was weirdly good in a run-heavy offense).

Jim Plunkett finished his career with 72 wins and 72 losses, perfectly encapsulating his playing style’s inconsistencies. Plunkett was a gunslinger before it was cool, and it led to a high-risk, high-reward, high-penalty career. He threw a ton of interceptions, but he also found his niche with the Oakland Raiders late in his career. He didn’t really become a star until he was in his mid-30s, and he took advantage of the last few years in the league. He won two Super Bowls and a Super Bowl MVP but never made a Pro Bowl. It was a strange and unspectacular career, but he also made some of the biggest plays of the era.

It’s really hard to quantify the impact the quarterbacks of the 50s had on the league. Y. A. Tittle is one of the first greats of the NFL, but he played before the Super Bowl era. The league was not what it is in the 70s and 80s, let alone how passing is assessed today. Still, Tittle was one of the first greats. He is the first NFL player to don the cover of Sports Illustrated. He made it to seven Pro Bowls in his career and won the MVP in 1963 with the New York Giants. Tittle only ended up playing one more season after his MVP campaign, which shows how wild playing football was in that era.