We are 13 weeks from the start of the NFL season which seemed like as good of time as any to bring back Fifth Down. Over the next few weeks I’ll be doing a top 10 position by position. I am doing of my life time, so basically 1980 on. So greats like Unitas, Starr, and Stabauch won’t be on the list. It’s not that they aren’t deserving, I just don’t think I can properly judge them since I never saw them play. I’m basing my list on the following criteria, stats, winning, opinion of other players and the always important eye test. Let’s dive in to the list.

On the right track but not in the conversation yet: Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, and Jalen Hurts

Honorable Mention: Ben Roethlisberger, Troy Aikman, Jim Kelly, Dan Fouts and Warren Moon

10. Steve Young

Young had to wait his turn sitting behind Montana, but once he took over he was named a Pro Bowler 7 times and was 91-33 for the 49ers. He led the league in completion percentage 5 times including 4 years in a row. He led the league in tds 4 times, won MVP twice and a Super Bowl. The real knock on Young is that he only really started 8 years in the league and was throwing to Jerry Rice most of the time. But if you saw him play you know he was legit and was a dual threat guy before it was cool. Plus I had to get a fellow Lefty on here somewhere.

9. Brett Favre

Brett currently has some issues/challenges off the field but on the field he was a bad dude. He was an 11 time pro bowler and won MVP 3 times in a row! He’s a super bowl champ and came close to winning back to back. After leaving Green Bay he struggled a bit with the Jets but then had a great year with the Vikings coming so close to the Super Bowl. The knock on Favre is simple…too many interceptions. In fact so many that he has the record for most in a career.

8. Drew Brees

There is an argument for Brees to be higher. After all, he threw for over 5,000 yards an insane 4 times. He led the league in passing 7 times. And this is during peak Manning and Brady time. He’s a 13 time pro bowler as well. There’s not much to dislike about Brees either, as he seems like a genuinely nice guy. But he is just 9-9 in the playoffs with 1 super bowl appearance and win. It’s the same reason I’m not as high on Sean Payton as other people are. If you get there that many times, you got have a little more hardware to show for it. He also has no MVPs which is a voting game so I don’t knock him for that as much as others. But pretty much everyone else on the list has at least 1.

7. Aaron Rodgers

Rodgers hasn’t done himself any favors the last few years as he has either not played due to injury or not played that well. He’s also just drama and kind of annoying. But the dude has over 500 touchdowns and only 116 interceptions. His Int % is the lowest in history. He’s a 4 time MVP and a super bowl champion. Much like Brees, he has come up a bit short when it matters most. But when you hear players talk about who the best quarterbacks of all time are or the best they played against, Rodgers name always comes up. That gives him the slight edge ahead of Brees.

6. John Elway

It pains me to even put John on this list as he is on my top 5 list of most hated players of my lifetime. But to show that I am only slightly biased, here he is on the list. There is a strong argument to put him at #5 but I just couldn’t stomach that. But to be fair to John he was awesome and clutch. He was the guy you wanted with the ball if it was close at the end. He tortured me as a kid breaking the hearts of Chiefs fans everywhere over and over again. He went to 5 super bowls including winning back to back championships. He also went to 3 out of 4 in the late 80s, getting blown out in pretty much all 3. The reason I am comfortable having him at #6 is that his stats where good but rarely led the league in anything. He has just 1 MVP. He is here because he was clutch in close games and went to 5 Super Bowls. And winning back to back is a rarity.

5. Dan Marino

When you ask defensive players from the 80s and early 90s who the best quarterback was, most of them say Marino without hesitation. He threw for over 5,000 yards in his second year in the league in 1984 when it was unheard of to throw for that many. He was the one guy to beat arguably the greatest defense of all time in the 85 Bears. He led the league in passing 5 times and threw for over 40 tds twice. That doesn’t seem like much now but back then that was a real accomplishment. He’s a 9 time pro bowler and went to one Super Bowl. The problem was they just could never seem to put a good team around him together. A lot of the time it felt like he was dragging the team into the playoffs. But as a kid watching him play, you could tell he was different. With the rules the way they are now, I have no doubt Marino could throw for 6 to 7,000 yards.

4. Peyton Manning

Manning is arguably the greatest regular season quarterback of all time. He won 12 or more games a ridiculous 10 out of 11 years as a starter from 2003 to 2014. He was the MVP an amazing 5 times. He had probably the greatest season ever in 2013 when he threw for nearly 5,500 yards and a ridiculous 55 touchdowns. He has some blemishes including throwing 28 picks as a rookie. And he is just 14-13 in the playoffs. He made it to 4 super bowls with 2 wins, although the defense did most of the heavy lifting in the second victory. And he got blown out in one of the Super Bowls. But he is one of the smartest players to ever play the position. And again, when players are asked who is the best to play the position, his name always comes up.

3. Patrick Mahomes

I bet a lot of you thought I’d be a homer and have Mahomes at number 1. But here he is way back at number 3. It is harder to judge someone who is still in the middle of their career. That’s how good Mahomes has been that just 8 years in, he is not only on the list but number 3. Mahomes has 2 MVPs and 5 Super Bowl appearances. He is a ridiculous 17-4 in the playoffs and has never not made the conference championship as a starter. He has never lost an AFC playoff game in regulation. He’s thrown for over 5,000 yards twice in 7 years. His 17 game average of yards is 4,911 and 37 tds. The guy has just been ridiculously good. He’s been bad in 2 and half football games. Unfortunately for Pat and Chiefs fans, those came in two super bowls and in the second half of the AFC championship game in 2021. But it is hard to hold that against him too much since he is just in year 7 as a starter and pretty much everyone on this list was getting their butts kicked in divisional round games at some point instead of super bowls. Also, Pat has made 5 out of the last 6 super bowls and even though they got their butts kicked, he was the first QB to win back to back super bowls and then make the super bowl in the 3rd year. He still has the ability to move up or down the list as his career continues but putting him lower than 3rd doesn’t make sense as of now.

2. Joe Montana

Joe Cool is the epitome of the quarterback position. He is a perfect 4-0 in super bowls and never even threw a pick in the big game. He’s a two time MVP with 3 Super Bowl MVPs and arguably should of had a 4th. And he won back to back Super Bowls and almost made it to a 3rd in a row before getting crushed by the Giants defense. He won two of those Super Bowls without Jerry Rice. If he hadn’t gotten hurt, he likely would have won more Super Bowls. And he even almost got the then cursed Chiefs to the big game throwing to the likes of Willie Davis and JJ Burden. He’s ahead of Mahomes due to his unblemished Super Bowl record and having one more championship than him. Also, I just love the story where they are in the huddle in the super bowl getting ready to go on the winning drive against the Bengals and he looks in to the crowd and says, “Hey, that’s John Candy.” He also once used the sideline phone to call his wife which is hilarious. His calm and cool composure just oozes greatness.

1. Tom Brady

Look, you don’t have to like Tom. But 10 Super Bowl appearances with 7 victories is all you have to say here. Tom also is the career leader in pretty much every passing category known to man. He led his team to the most victories in a row without a loss in a season with 18. He’s a 3 time regular season MVP and a 5 time Super Bowl MVP. And again…7 championships. In 2007 he threw for 50 tds and just 8 interceptions. In 2021 he threw for 5,316 yards…at age 44! I threw my back out bending over to pick something up off the ground at 44. Mahomes is the only one with any sort of chance to catch him and he has a very, very long way to go.

Let me know what you think of the list? Who’d I miss? Who shouldn’t be on there? Who should be higher or lower?

Tune in next week as I present the top 10 running backs of my lifetime.