On this day the Dolphins drafted Dan Marino
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GhostArmOfMarino
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I highly recommend people go on Google and dig up some articles about Dan from his early playing days. It really provides depth to how transcendent he really was to those of us who mainly caught the tail end of his career.
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Right. The 1984 season was Dan Marino's first full season as a starter.
The NFL had to adapt to him, not the other way around. To be honest, I had never seen that before where a quarterback just absolutely dominated from the get-go.
Joe Montana and John Elway are Hall of Fame quarterbacks from the same time period. Neither were stars their first season. Both had some struggles.
With the rule changes, today’s game is different as it's not uncommon to see quarterbacks have success early in their careers. Not the case in the 1980's.
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John Elway' first two seasons...25 td's/28 int.
Dan Marino 68 tds/22 int.
Dan Marino 68 tds/22 int.
I was in Sixth grade, and read it in the paper on the way to school. I told my friend, Bob Weir, (no, really…and he was legit a good drummer in band). “Miami drafted Dan Marino!” People in South Jersey knew who he was - Pitt got a lot of air time.
Bob was jealous.
Bob was jealous.
Even Peyton in a more QB friendly era had a rough rookie year. Dan was great right from his very first start when he took over a lethargic offense and lit up the Bills for 35 points slinging it all over.
Yes, the league had to adapt to him. Timing patterns were too easy, it brought back the bump and run and away from zone coverage to an extent. Our window was ‘83-‘86 before the league figured out how to make him mortal - same things that’s happened to Mahomes for example - and our inability to put a defense on the field is the no reason we didn’t get it done.
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How scary would it be to the NFL if we had a young Marino throwing to Hill, Waddle and company right now.
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It still bothers me when I see all-time quarterback rankings that place Elway ahead of Marino. Watching them both a lot throughout their careers, Marino was clearly better.
I get that Elway got his ring when they put a dominant run game around him and I'm certainly not disputing that he was a great player.
GhostArmOfMarino
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Elway in my opinion is one of the most overrated QB of all time. I wouldn't even put him in the top 50 let alone ahead of Marino. He was the Eli Manning of his era. Really good and could get hot and be great, but not actually elite or great.
Just my opinion.
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I always thought Bradshaw was overrated. Funny that you mentioned Eli Manning because that’s who I'd compare Bradshaw with. Both were great in the postseason, but overall good not great.
Favre is a quarterback I loved to watch, but he made too many mistakes. I definitely see top 20 but sometimes have seen him over-ranked. At least in my opinion.
No one talks about Dan Fouts anymore, but he deserves more credit.
GhostArmOfMarino
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There really are a ton of older era QB that don't get enough credit and some like Bradshaw who get pumped up due to team success.
People will tell you Archie Manning was one of the best in his era, but you'll never see him ranked highly because those teams were so bad...but he was probably a better QB than Bradshaw at least.
While Marino was certainly a great QB. The fact is he was drafted by a team which had just gone the SB the previous year. So he was fortunate to be going to a team loaded with talent and the best HC in the league at that time.
While his arm and his ability at the QB position would have certainly allowed him to be a successful QB no matter which team he had played for in the league. Being able to end up being drafted by the Dolphins and having the talent around him they had at that time and with Shula as their HC obviously allowed him to have have success immediately. While those QB’s drafted earlier were drafted by teams that had struggled the previous year.
While his arm and his ability at the QB position would have certainly allowed him to be a successful QB no matter which team he had played for in the league. Being able to end up being drafted by the Dolphins and having the talent around him they had at that time and with Shula as their HC obviously allowed him to have have success immediately. While those QB’s drafted earlier were drafted by teams that had struggled the previous year.
Marino was better in every measurable way. And as far as intangibles they both were about the same in leading 4th quarter comebacks etc. Elway was a shell of a QB when he got his rings. His QBR of about 38 in his first SB win tells you how he played. It was all Davis. When both were in their primes Marino was much superior. I’ve seen more rankings the last 5 years that show Marino ahead - I think things are beginning to normalize a bit.