35. Dan Fouts
Dan Fouts had difficulties at the beginning of his career, but Don Coryell, the legendary coach, helped make Fouts into a force to be reckoned with. The Chargers during his time with the team became one of the best offenses in the late 70s and early 80s in the NFL. Fouts had an unorthodox playing style, but he had the skills and was a great leader. He’s probably one of the best quarterbacks to have never actually won a Super Bowl.
34. Eli Manning
Eli Manning has ended up being the most “clutch” quarterback in NFL Playoff history. He led the Giants to victory when they needed a great quarterback. Some people think he’s even better than Aaron Rodgers. He just seems to be the most underrated quarterback in NFL history.
33. Drew Bledsoe
It could be argued that everything Dan Fouts did, Drew Bledsoe did as well — plus he won a Super Bowl. The former New England Patriots star is ranked 15th all-time in career passing yards, compiling a massive 44,611 in his 14 seasons in the league. He also passed the 250-touchdown pass milestone, ranking 21st in that category today.
What really made us put the four-time Pro Bowler ahead of Fouts, however, was the large discrepancy between his touchdowns and interceptions. Bledsoe threw 251 touchdowns to only 206 interceptions. If he hadn’t been replaced by Tom Brady, Bledsoe’s standing as an NFL legend would be more popular.
32. Phil Simms
Sports Illustrated once called Phil Simms the most underrated NFL quarterback of all time, and it’s a fair argument. Even with the career of Eli Manning, who has broken nearly all of Simms’ team records, many still consider him the greatest passer in New York Giants history.
Simms led the Giants to two Super Bowl wins but only went to two Pro Bowls and was an All-Pro selection just once. Even if his yearly stats weren’t too astounding — he only topped 4,000 passing yards once and never surpassed 22 touchdowns — his performance in 1987’s Super Bowl XXI is the stuff of legend. He completed 88 percent of his passes (22 of 25) and had a passer rating of 150.9, arguably the best performance by any QB in Super Bowl history.
31. Randall Cunningham
A true revolutionary at the quarterback position, Randall Cunningham could basically do it all.
In terms of passing, his career numbers are right there with some Hall of Famers from the same era in the ’80s and ’90s but it was with his legs that Cunningham separated himself from the pack. He broke virtually every record for rushing at the quarterback position and averaged 30.6 rushing yards per game, which is still second all-time among QBs.
His postseason record is suspect but he also didn’t have the luxury of getting much protection up front, as only two other NFL players were ever sacked more times than Cunningham.
30. Ken Anderson
Before legendary coach Bill Walsh went on to make Joe Montana into an icon with his West Coast Offense in San Francisco, Walsh ran it with quarterback Ken Anderson in Cincinnati.
Anderson spent 16 seasons in the NFL, all with the Bengals, and put up some spectacular numbers along the way, including four seasons where he led the league in passer rating. His accuracy was also never questioned, as he posted a career 59.3 completion percentage and retired in 1986 with the records for single-season completion percentage and single-game completion percentage.
Anderson has largely been overlooked in these discussions because he played in a small market and never won a Super Bowl but he was a successful guinea pig for a system that would launch several star QBs.
29. Tony Romo
It might shock you to know that, among all retired NFL quarterbacks, Tony Romo has the highest career passer rating. It’s also the highest career passer rating for any QB who never played in a Super Bowl, which is the part of Romo’s legacy that may keep him out of the Hall of Fame.
He never had much luck in the playoffs but his career numbers in statistics like yards per pass attempt and completion percentage — he ties Peyton Manning in the latter category — are among the best ever. In roughly the same number of seasons, Romo’s numbers are better than fellow Cowboys great Troy Aikman, but he had the misfortune of playing without the Hall of Famers his predecessor did.
28. Norm Van Brocklin
As one of the biggest stars of the NFL in the 1950s, Norm Van Brocklin led both the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles to championships within a decade. Van Brocklin’s career only lasted for 12 seasons but he made nine Pro Bowls in that time, proving he was easily one of the game’s most respected players. Like Namath, his career numbers pale in comparison to today’s passers but “The Dutchman’s” big arm led to an incredible 8.2 yards per pass attempt for his career, which is the third-best mark in history.
27. Philip Rivers
Playing in the era of Brady, Manning and Brees — and spending his entire career with a team (the Los Angeles Chargers) that gets almost no national coverage — has hurt the visibility of Philip Rivers, but his consistently great numbers put him up there with the all-time icons.
Currently, Rivers sits at sixth all-time in passing yards but will undoubtedly climb that list as his career continues. Rivers has thrown for at least 3,000 yards every season since 2006, and has topped the 4,000-yard mark in 11 of those 12 seasons. His lackluster performances in the playoffs have hurt his overall legacy but the fact that he hasn’t missed a start since 2006 is mind-boggling.
If Rivers finally wins a Super Bowl, he’ll soar even higher on this list.
About The Delite
Somtimes it can feel like the world is full of negative news. Luckily, there is still a lot of good in the world. There are amazing people doing incredible things. Our goal is to help showcase some of these positive, inspiring stories in order to bring a smile to your face.
