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

Truthfully, it was really hard to decipher who should go third and who should go fourth in the rankings. Numbers one and two seem pretty solidified (until Patrick Mahomes plays a few more seasons), but John Elway could very well have a hold on number three. He came out of Stanford as the best quarterback prospect ever, according to some scouts. He delivered on that hype.

Elway had a very similar career to Dan Marino, trying to carry teams of lesser talent to the promised land. He came up famously short on multiple occasions. It became a running joke how often Elway would come up short, leading his team to ridiculous comebacks only to just miss lifting the Lombardi Trophy.

Then, he finally won the big one. He was 37 years old. It looked like he might eventually ride off into the sunset with only his wedding ring on his finger. Then, he took the Broncos to Super Bowl XXXII against the Green Bay Packers, the defending champs at the time. Elway could have been toast as young gunner Brett Favre was in his way, but he would not be denied. The clutch king handed the ball off to Terrell Davis as the Broncos finally took home a title. The next year, Elway won another one, was named MVP, and he left the game of football at the top of the mountain.

Elway doesn’t have the statistical profile of some of the other players on this list, but he knew what it took to win games. At the end of the day, that’s what matters.