Where Have All The Great QB's Gone? | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Where Have All The Great QB's Gone?

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zodiak

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Watching SportsCenter this morning they had a story about the "LeBron James"
of football... Jimmy Clausen

It got me thinking where have all the great qb's gone?

Remember when the league had "GREAT QB's"...Marino,Kelly,Elway,Aikman
even the simple NFL starter guys like Esiason,O'Brien,Kosar, even these guys
in my opinion are better then 95% of the leagues star QB's today.

Lets look at who the NFL pushes as its "star" QB's....

P.Manning- ok, he is in the class of a Marino...Elway...Kelly
D.McNabb- really if you needed a QB for one drive would you take him over
say???? Boomer Esiason? I wouldnt
M.Hassellback- come on who takes this guy over any of the above guys?
M.Vick- really a "star QB" maybe a star player but he is no QB...just watch Tampa Bay defense him, or wait till he plays New England and BB show the league how to stop another un-stopable player(remember M.Faulk he hasnt been the same since that SB)

I think you get my point you may not agree but thats ok, I firmly stand behind my feelings that the league is lacking in true "STAR" qb's...todays QB's dont even have the same arm strength as the guys in the past(thanks to all these WC offense coach's)
 
ahh, come on. Couch, Rohan Davy and the other guy cut by that other team are still available.
 
retirement....Peyton is the only one I can think off of the top of my head that is currently active that could be considered "great". Oh yeah...Farve too but he's approaching retirement. He's accumulated quite a bit of statistics over his career and is a great competitor (although I personally don't like him for other reasons).

McNab....overrated although he gets his team to play great for him
Hasselwho?
Vick....guy is a mediocre "qb" at most...but adds the running game to his play to bring in another dimension which throws Defenses off....pure QB skill....avg.
 
texasPHINSfan said:
uh... .FAVRE?

Manning is in their class, as is McNabb and Culpepper.
Click to expand...

I like Culpepper too. He could become something special as his career continues. That boy has an arm.
 
McNabb is overrated this is not a popular statement but Rush Limbaugh was right, right in that McNabb is a media darling forget the racial stuff...simply put the media doesnt wanna give him a rough time.

Vick is a joke, does he present problams for NFL defense's yes but not the kind that say Steve Young did that guy was every bit as dangerous a "runner" (not as fast-thats relative when it comes to the QB because they are running against a broken field
defense's are not stack looking for the to run)but was 100 times better throwing the football not even close.

Again who would you want leading your team to a late score to win?
Chad Pennington or Phil Simms?
 
Great Now - Peyton Manning, Tom Brady

Possibly Great if they continue playing at the same level for many more years- Marc Bulger, Daunte Culpepper, Jake Delhomme

Young Ones to watch - Carson Palmer, Ben Roethlisberger, Charlie Frye, David Carr, Eli Manning, Alex Smith
 
As much as I hate him, I am going to add Brady to that list. How many do you expect? If there were a bunch of them, they wouldn't be great, they would be average. The class of '83 was a freak thing, not the norm.

Also, you can't compare the stars of the past to the unproven of today such as chad pennington. Would I rather have Phil Simms or Tom Brady to a late score? Tom Brady. The NFL of yesterday had its fair share of mediocre QB's.
 
i don't think McNabb is overrated. his stats don't lie. taking the team to the NFC championship 3 times is no lie either.

I think people have a tendency to naturally expect the QB to be white to be "one of the greats", but with boundaries coming down, we will see a lot more black star QBs in the HOF soon.

I think another fact of the HOF QBs that we miss is the ideology that they were with one team their whole career. Nowadays you have many good QBs that put up similar stats that are journeymen, or have been on several teams.

Hasselbeck is one, IMO. He may not have the end-all presence that Marino had, but his stats are more than admirable, and he hasn't been a seahawk his whole career.

McNabb - definitely
Culpepper - definitely
Brady - will be there one day
Peyton - for sure
Vick - no (this guy is overrated). he is not a passer, just a manager. He is like a more athletic fiedler. If he ever gets a leg injury i think he would never be much. His defense and running game make him look a lot better than he really is.
Bulger - if he has a couple more good years, i think so.
Warner - no, but only for an honorable mention of his '99 season, which IMO was the single most-impressive year for a QB since marino's 84 season. The greatest show on turf, indeed!
Jake Plummer - i may get flamed for this one, but his stats - the only thing that is wrong with them is the high INTs.... but 4,000 yards? not many QBs put up those #'s. Now in a good system in Denver and with a running game, he has the chance to excel.
McNair - he's on the decline, but he had many great years.... if he can put together one more injury-free year of great #'s, this former NFL MVP can do it.

and thats about it at the moment... but most of these guys haven't spent their careers on ONE team... some have, but most haven't.
 
My list of active QB's that will go down in the books as great would include...

Manning- for obvious reasons

Culpepper- he's and incredible athlete AND he can make all of the throws. i think he gets less alot credit than he deserves because people just think he hucks it up there for his receivers to make a play. he's a great qb and a playmaker as well. i would take him easily over the boomer's of that generation of qb.

McNabb- he may be "overrated" and a product of the system, but the guy has a ton of talent. great arm, plus he bides time in the pocket and creates something out of nothing on a regular basis. i've seen him do too many amazing things to consider him just good. his numbers back it up and his leadership is top notch. and think, before last year, he never played w/ a decent wr.

Favre- on past accomplishments. he's had a great career.

Brady- not my favorite, nor the most talented, but a very good qb who will be considered great due to his team's success. aikman wasn't a great qb either, but he got the recognition based on team success. brady is a great leader and at least as good a player as aikman was.
 
I thought about making a topic like this awhile ago.

But you are right.

McNabb, Culpepper, McNair are all vastly overrated.
Manning as much as I dont like the guy I think I have to concede to the fact he is that good. Same goes for Tom Brady.

Once Farve retires they better hope that Eli and Big Ben step up to take his place.

But after Farve and Manning, maybe Tom Brady there is nothing.

I do think that there was a real push on the african american QB to be a star. They overhype McNabb, Culpepper and even McNair up until now. These guys are what the NFL labels stars but in reality they are just good players. Not Stars. Unreal athletic ability but as we all know skill doesnt always make the QB (ie Joe Montana).

Another thing to think about though is the stats. When you look at Aikmens stats as an example you will see very average numbers. But he was a perennial pro bowler. Even Gus was a pro bowler with some gaudy stats. So have the QBs actually got better now and we just dont realize it thinking back to the "Glory Days." Or has the game changed that much and thus the major difference in stats. Not too long ago 77 QB rtg was above average. Now that is backup material. Either way I am not sure. I jsut thought I would point this out.
 
texasPHINSfan said:
i don't think McNabb is overrated. his stats don't lie. taking the team to the NFC championship 3 times is no lie either.

I think people have a tendency to naturally expect the QB to be white to be "one of the greats", but with boundaries coming down, we will see a lot more black star QBs in the HOF soon.

I think another fact of the HOF QBs that we miss is the ideology that they were with one team their whole career. Nowadays you have many good QBs that put up similar stats that are journeymen, or have been on several teams.

Hasselbeck is one, IMO. He may not have the end-all presence that Marino had, but his stats are more than admirable, and he hasn't been a seahawk his whole career.

McNabb - definitely
Culpepper - definitely
Brady - will be there one day
Peyton - for sure
Vick - no (this guy is overrated). he is not a passer, just a manager. He is like a more athletic fiedler. If he ever gets a leg injury i think he would never be much. His defense and running game make him look a lot better than he really is.
Bulger - if he has a couple more good years, i think so.
Warner - no, but only for an honorable mention of his '99 season, which IMO was the single most-impressive year for a QB since marino's 84 season. The greatest show on turf, indeed!
Jake Plummer - i may get flamed for this one, but his stats - the only thing that is wrong with them is the high INTs.... but 4,000 yards? not many QBs put up those #'s. Now in a good system in Denver and with a running game, he has the chance to excel.
McNair - he's on the decline, but he had many great years.... if he can put together one more injury-free year of great #'s, this former NFL MVP can do it.

and thats about it at the moment... but most of these guys haven't spent their careers on ONE team... some have, but most haven't.
Click to expand...

There's no way you could have McNabb as definitely great and have Tom Brady as someday great and then justify McNabb's selection by saying he got his team to three championships when brady won three super bowls. My only gripe with McNabb is his accuracy. He misses too many throws to be considered great in my estimation but everyone has different criteria
 
it has nothing to do with the color of his skin in my eyes...I think he is good....not great. just my opinion.

Brady - perhaps, 3 years of good decision making surrounded by talent and great coaching..is still a long way to go to a 10-15 year career

the rest....I'm not speculating on who might do what when where or why, lol. I'm just looking at who I would classify at being a "great" QB now.....Peyton and Farve
 
PhinsPhan said:
IAnother thing to think about though is the stats. When you look at Aikmens stats as an example you will see very average numbers. But he was a perennial pro bowler. Even Gus was a pro bowler with some gaudy stats. So have the QBs actually got better now and we just dont realize it thinking back to the "Glory Days." Or has the game changed that much and thus the major difference in stats. Not too long ago 77 QB rtg was above average. Now that is backup material. Either way I am not sure. I jsut thought I would point this out.
Click to expand...
great point. i was going to say something along those lines but didn't feel like pointing it out.

i don't think the "great QB's of lore" were really that great.... statistically most of them don't compare to some of today's QBs... but it was more of how they made us feel about our teams. today it is too much about each individual player. back then it was the Qb, the leader of the team. These guys carried franchises with their names alone. You ask any teenager about these guys and those teams - everyone knows Marino, Elway, Montana.... but how many of those teens can name ONE other player on those teams?

therein lies the difference.

It isn't that the great QBs are gone. It is the nostalgia that we love.
 
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