The quarterback often gets the most exposure and the highest level of fame as far as football players go. They are leaders of their team, or at least as far as the team’s offense goes. However, that can lead to some people finding the quarterback to be better than they actually not. This is a list of the top 25 most overrated quarterbacks to have ever played in the NFL. Now, that isn’t to say that any of these players are bad, just that they’re not quite as good as people seem to think they are.
47. Philip Rivers
Fun fact, Philip Rivers didn’t miss a single start as quarterback in his last 15 seasons (he played 17). However, he never really elevated his team when he was on the field. Not a terrible player by any stretch, and his dedication is admirable. It’s just that his stats aren’t exactly the best for how often he was on the field.
46. Colin Kaepernick
Colin Kaepernick’s time in the NFL was only six seasons, from 2011 to 2016. And the longer he’s out of the league, the more people think he was great. His 2012 divisional playoffs game against the Green Bay Packers bewildered them and allowed the 49ers to pull off a victory. But he really just seems like a one trick pony.
45. Troy Aikman
Troy Aikman isn’t so much overrated, as much as he was underused. He passed for as many as 20 touchdowns in a single season, but was also skilled in run-oriented offenses. He probably could have scored more if they ran more plays.
44. Warren Moon
While Warren Moon spent his first six seasons wasted, when he finally got to play he did put in crazy numbers in the run-and-shoot offense. But he also had a high number of interceptions and sacks. And his postseason record isn’t that great either.
43. Jeff George
Jeff George was a bit older than most other football players by the time he retired at 34. He’s still got a good arm now, even though he’s in his 50s, but he just has too many fumbles to his professional career. In league history, he has the 70th most fumbles and 12th in pick sixes.
42. John Elway
John Elway’s made plenty of comebacks in the fourth quarter, 31 of them in fact. However, if he’s really so good, how has he constantly found himself in this position? He played 16 seasons with the Broncos from 1983 to 1998 and his fans still praise him despite his shortcomings.
41. Jim McMahon
Jim McMahon seemed to be an intolerable player. He was compared to a sawed-off Bill Walton in spikes. It didn’t help that he seemed to have brittle bones. He was just a major distraction and a pain to work with. Even his former teammate, Dan Hampton, said he was glad when McMahon left the Bears.
40. Joe Theismann
Joe Theismann only won the Super Bowl once and was a two-time Pro Bowler. He was an insufferable self-promoter with many critics wishing he’d suffer an injury and get thrown out. And then Lawrence Taylor made their wishes a reality.
39. Drew Bledsoe
Drew Bledsoe was the No. 1 pick of the 1993 draft. And he helped get the Patriots to their second Super Bowl appearance ever. However, his most notable contribution to the team is getting benched from a brutal injury, which allowed Tom Brady’s career to kick off. He wasn’t bad, but he fell short of expectations.
38. Bob Griese
Bob Griese played for 14 seasons with the Dolphins from 1967 to 1980. Playing all those years on one team normally means they were good enough the team couldn’t afford to get rid of them. He was a cerebral game manager and elevated the hand-off to new levels. And he played behind all-time offensive lines and with all-time head coaches. However, Bart Starr did the same thing and won three more league titles than Griese.
37. Ken Stabler
Ken Stabler played for 15 seasons between 1970 and 1984. He was a real wild child, but might have had a better record if he became a starter while still in his early twenties. The amount of alcohol he drank probably didn’t help either. He wasn’t the clear-cut best quarterback in the Bay Area, with John Brodie actually having a Super Bowl ring while Stabler didn’t.
36. Vinny Testavarde
Vinny Testavarde played for a whomping 21 seasons in the NFL, from 1987 to 2007, playing with seven different teams. He was a top draft pick, but went from one of the best college teams of the time to one of the worst pro teams. That probably didn’t help him in terms of living up to the hype.
35. Don Meredith
The Cowboys as a team always seems to be incredibly overrated. Well, that might come from Don Meredith in the 1960s. He played for nine seasons, and came close to league championships two years in a row. However, he fumbled the ball (figuratively speaking) both times.
34. Brian Sipe
Fans of the Browns often speak highly of the 1980 Kardiac Kids. It’s easy to think they actually set records, or at least played in the Super Bowl. Well, they didn’t. Brian Sipe threw a lame interception in the final minute of the AFC Championship Game. He played ten seasons and none of them were particularly great.
33. Daryle Lamonica
People Daryle Lamonica The Mad Bomber. He did have a pretty good arm when it came to throwing deep. However, his postseason records always seem to be disappointing. He played for ten seasons, but he always seemed to deteriorate in skill at the end of each season.
32. Trent Dilfer
Trent Dilfer played for 13 seasons and has fairly good statistics. But it mostly seems as though he was at the right place at the right time. The number of games he won seemed to have mostly been won by his team’s defense.
31. Sam Bradford
Over eight seasons, Sam Bradford only won 34 games. And he was paid $130 million for it. His rookie contract of $78 million for six years was already ridiculous. It actually led to the adoption of a wage scale.
30. Kevin Kolb
Kevin Kolb was a second-round draft pick. Considering what he actually contributed to his six seasons, that isn’t too surprising when he was picked. However, he was still paid way too much for what he brought to the table. He was paid $29 million to start 21 games in the regular season.
29. Drew Stanton
Drew Stanton’s stats might seem good to some, but that’s just because he’s a second-strong quarterback. He doesn’t get to play that often and still has made $32 million from his career. He “played” for seven seasons even.
28. Brock Osweiler
The Texans really thought that Brock Osweiler was a slam dunk, giving him $72 million for a four-year contract. Although, after 16 games, they decided to just cut their losses. Since then, he went to play for the Broncos and Dolphins before retiring in 2018 after seven seasons.
27. Josh McCown
Josh McCown played in 16 seasons since 2002. Although he skipped 2010 and 2012, that’s left nine different teams annoyed at how little he actually provided for how much he was paid. The Cardinals, Lions, Raiders, Panthers, Bears, Buccaneers, Browns, Jets, and Eagles all want their money back. He finally left the field in 2019.
26. JaMarcus Russell
JaMarcus Russell might not even be overrated. After all, his records aren’t even that good. He only played for three years, being with the Raiders for all of them. He was a No. 1 draft pick in 2007, but he turned out to be a real bust and a waste of $39.4 million. They should’ve just gotten the wideout Calvin Johnson instead.
25. Norman Esiason
Esiason, also known by the nickname “Boomer”, did have some impressive personal accolades. He made it to four Pro Bowls and captured the 1988 MVP award. However, he was also wildly inconsistent. In his entire career he threw 184 interceptions to 187 NFL games. He almost averaged one interception a game.
24. Daunte Culpepper
Culpepper was a fun to watch player, but not much more than that. He had three good years in his career followed by eight bad ones. He never got to have a winning season.
23. Matthew Stafford
Matthew Stafford isn’t an untalented player, but considering his showings he’s getting paid too much. When Stafford signed a five-year contract extension in 2017, the price of $135,000,000 was a league record. Again, he isn’t bad, but his stats don’t really show that he should be making that much money, or that he’s even that important as a quarterback.
22. Jim Kelly
Jim Kelly does deserve to be in the Hall of Fame, he led his team to the Super Bowl four consecutive years, after all. However, he isn’t particularly good on his own. Many of his seasons were plagued with high interception totals. He was lucky enough that he had an incredibly offense, with players such as Andre Reed and Thurman Thomas.
21. Carson Palmer
Palmer had a good arm and a few good seasons, but he never seemed to win when it mattered most. His number of interceptions was also pretty bad, throwing for over 20 of them in a few seasons. There was just never a sense he was truly an elite player.
20. Dak Prescott
Prescott receives a lot of press, being called a star mostly due to his affiliation with the Cowboys. He isn’t particularly more well-rounded as a quarterback than anyone else. He actually rarely throws downfield, which serves to restrict his team’s advance.
19. Trent Green
Trent Green has had a number of exceptional years, as well as just as many bad ones. In 2001 he passed 24 interceptions to 17 touchdowns. Despite having several all-pro teammates, his team lost horribly in the playoffs.
18. Joe Flacco
It seems as though Joe Flacco coasted through the rest of his time with the Ravens off of a single Super Bowl victory in 2013. He would rarely attempt to throw more than 20 yards at a time, despite his arm actually being above average. It’s not much of a reason why he’s with the Eagles now, and it seems as though Jalen Hurts is the starting quarterback for them as well.
17. Peyton Manning
Peyton Manning was one of the most prolific football quarterbacks when he still played. He had an expansive trophy collection, having won four MVP’s, went to 14 Pro Bowls, being named First-Team All-Pro seven times, and otherwise breaking several records. However, Manning is really bad when it comes to the post-season. Whenever it would start, all of his stats would drop considerably.
16. Dan Fouts
Fouts more so gets props from the Chargers for being an adequate quarterback during a period they only had bad ones. Since players such as Drew Brees and Philip Rivers have since given the Chargers more prestige in that category, Fouts is left looking even more mediocre than before.
15. Phil Simms
The Giants look fondly on Simms’ time as a quarterback, taking them to the Super Bowl twice. However, his stats are less than stellar. He has a completion percentage of only 55.4 and a touchdown to interception rate of 22 to 20.
14. Bernie Kosar
Bernie Kosar is recognized as a better player than he is because of the poor skill of so many of the other quarterbacks to play for the Browns. Kosar’s basic competence basically made him look like an elite player in comparison. Even so, he still had a losing record as a starter.
13. Brett Favre
Favre was a popular and skilled player. However, he was also well-known as a risk-taker. Because of his many risks, he was rather prone to fumbling the ball and throwing interceptions. He has one of the highest career interception numbers at 336.
12. Tony Romo
If Romo played anywhere else, he would’ve just been your ordinary quarterback. He wasn’t particularly unskilled, just average. The Cowboys being such a popular and televised team in the league simply put him on everyone’s mind and made him seem better than actually was. Considering his origin as an undrafted rookie probably made him even more popular to the masses as an underdog.
11. Ron Jaworski
People from Philadelphia often consider Jaworski to have been their best quarterback ever. However, this is quite strange, as he was outperformed by Donovan McNabb. Jaworski actually had mediocre to bad seasons. He only made one Pro Bowl during his career and a career completion percentage of 53.1.
10. Steve McNair
McNair was an excellent football player, but that didn’t mean he was particularly skilled. In his 13-year career he made three Pro-Bowls, but no All-Pro teams. In 2003 he ended up sharing the MVP award with Peyton Manning, but Manning still outclassed him in every statistic category.
9. Doug Flutie
Flutie was more well-known as a collegiate player than an NFL one. He had a good season with the Patriots before sitting out of football for 10 seasons. He came back briefly to play with the Bills, but other than that, he’s done nothing really worthy of merit.
8. Mark Brunell
Brunell always seemed to play second fiddle to Brett Favre, but finally got to show himself off when he ended up the quarterback of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He played a 4,300 yard season in his second year with the Jaguars and led them to the playoffs in four consecutive seasons. However, Brunell failed to get the Jaguars one winning season in his last four years with the team. He was traded to D.C. and faded into obscurity.
7. Donovan McNabb
McNabb had one outlier year where he played phenomenally. But after that, he was more so average. He never threw more than 4,000 yards in a season and he never threw more than 25 touchdowns either. His completion percentage was only 59 too.
6. Michael Vick
Michael Vick certainly had the athleticism to be an elite quarterback. He was rather popular up until his scandal involving dogs. However, his stats were only average at best. His completion percentage was only 56.2. And he only won ten more games than he lost.
5. Bart Starr
Bart Starr was the quarterback of the Packers when they won the first two Super Bowls. During his 16 year long career, he won seven championships. His accomplishments can’t be ignored, but his stats shouldn’t really be either. His completion percentage was 57.
4. Eli Manning
Eli Manning is a two-time Super Bowl champion. The Giants were a rather meager team while he was quarterback, and it was Manning himself that helped bring them up that extra level to get them those two victories. However, outside of those historic seasons, Manning’s painfully average at best. He doesn’t play anywhere near an elite level and that had cost the Giants more games than they had won.
3. Terry Bradshaw
Bradshaw is considered one of the most successful quarterbacks in history. Bradshaw helped the Steelers win four Super Bowls in a six year span. This sounds impressive on paper, but Bradshaw wasn’t the only person on the team. The Steelers’ had a rather stacked team, both on offense and defense. Bradshaw himself was painfully average on his own. His touchdown to interception ratio was almost one to one.
2. Joe Namath
During Namath’s seven-year career, his biggest claim to fame is predicting the Jets’ victory over the Colts at the third Super Bowl. Not to mention, due to injuries, he rarely ever played a full season. In seven of the seasons he did play, he threw more interceptions than touchdowns. His career was really marked with mediocrity.
1. Archie Manning
Archie Manning is a two-time Pro Bowler and has entered the New Orlean Saints’ Hall of Fame. However, if you look at his stats, you begin to wonder why. During his career he threw for 125 touchdowns, but also 173 interceptions. His completion rate was 55.2%. Not to mention, he lost a considerable number of games as a starter. He actually has the lowest winning percentage of any starting quarterback in league history.
