Quarterbackery: Round 4, Heat 3

[Rain Man]

Today's matchup pits a bunch of teams against each other that appear to have no commonality.

San Diego

Dan Fouts - 14 seasons
Phillip Rivers - 10 (and current starter)
John Hadl - 7 (led the team for 10 seasons but only 7 since 1966)
Stan Humphries - 6
Drew Brees - 4
Doug Flutie - 1
Ryan Leaf - 1
Jim Harbaugh - 1
Craig Whelihan - 1
John Friesz - 1
Billy Joe Tolliver - 1
Jim McMahon - 1
Mark Malone - 1
James Harris - 1

The Chargers produced 15 pro bowls, led by Dan Fouts with 6.

Indianapolis

Peyton Manning - 13 seasons
Bert Jones - 6
Andrew Luck - 4
Jim Harbaugh - 4
Jeff George - 4
Mike Pagel - 4
Johnny Unitas - 4 (led team for 14 seasons, but only 4 since 1966)
Jack Trudeau - 3
Marty Domres - 2
Earl Morrell - 2
Curtis Painter - 1
Chris Chandler - 1
Greg Landry - 1
Bill Troup - 1

The Colts produced 19 pro bowlers, led by 11 from Peyton Manning.*

Baltimore

Joe Flacco - 8 seasons as quarterback (scales to 20 seasons)
Kyle Boller - 4 (scales to 10 seasons)
Tony Banks - 2 (scales to 5 seasons)
Vinny Testaverde - 2 (scales to 5 seasons)
Steve McNair - 1 (scales to 3 seasons)
Jeff Blake - 1 (scales to 3 seasons)
Elvis Grbac - 1 (scales to 3 seasons)
Jim Harbaugh - 1 (scales to 3 seasons)

The Ravens produced 1 pro bowl from this group - Testaverde in 1996. (Scales to 3 appearances in 50 years)

Minnesota

Fran Tarkenton - 8 (led team for 13 seasons, but only 8 since 1966)
Tommy Kramer - 7
Daunte Culpepper - 5
Brad Johnson - 4
Rich Gannon - 3
Wade Wilson - 3
Joe Kapp - 3
Teddy Bridgewater - 2 (and current starter)
Christian Ponder - 2
Brett Favre - 2
Warren Moon - 2
Gary Cuozzo - 2
Matt Cassel - 1
Gus Frerotte - 1
Tavaris Jackson - 1
Jeff George - 1
Randall Cunningham - 1
Jim McMahon - 1
Steve Dils - 1

The Vikings produced 15 pro bowls, led by Fran Tarkenton with 5.

Cincinnati

Ken Anderson - 13 seasons
Boomer Esiason - 8
Carson Palmer - 6
Andy Dalton - 5 (and current starter)
Jeff Blake - 5
Jon Kitna - 3
Virgil Carter - 2
Ryan Fitzpatrick - 1
Akili Smith - 1
Neil O'Donnell - 1
David Klingler - 1
Greg Cook - 1
John Stofa - 1

The Bengals produced 12 pro bowl seasons in 48 years, led by Ken Anderson's 4.

[Rain Man]

This is a tough one. I feel like Baltimore is clearly the weakest, so I'll knock them out fast, and I'd pick Minnesota fourth.

That leaves San Diego, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati battling for the top.

San Diego has 24 years of top notch QBs, but not much after that other than 4 years of a developing Brees.

Indianapolis has 17 years of cosmic hall of famers in Unitas and Manning, following by 12 years of pretty good play with Bert Jones and Luck and Earl Morrall.

Cincinnati has 13 years of top-notch play by Ken Anderson, followed by 24 more years of pretty good play by Esiason, Palmer, Dalton, and Blake.

So do you go with the shorter but higher peak (Indy), the long period of above average play (Cincy), or the tradeoff between the two (Sandy).

I'm really torn. I want to pick Cincy because they seldom have a bad quarterback, but all in all I think the crew I'd rather have is Indy. I think they're most likely to bring home a Super Bowl or two even though you're going to have some horror-show years mixed in.

[Tombstone RJ]

Didn't Schleister play for the Colts? Did he never start a game or something?

[Rain Man]

Didn't Schleister play for the Colts? Did he never start a game or something?

Schlicter's best year was 1984 when he made 5 starts and had 702 passing yards. Mike Pagel had nine starts and 1,426 yards that year, though.

Schlicter can be safely called a bust regardless of the definition.

[Tombstone RJ]

Schlicter's best year was 1984 when he made 5 starts and had 702 passing yards. Mike Pagel had nine starts and 1,426 yards that year, though.

Schlicter can be safely called a bust regardless of the definition.

Yah, his story is really sad. Super talented but a total gambling addict.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Indy:
Sub par teams with good QB's, beating KC in the playoffs again and again.

Food for thought?

Yes....
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[Rain Man]

I'm curious why people don't put Cincy close to San Diego and Indianapolis.

Ken Anderson was an early West Coast Offense QB and was very highly regarded in his era. He's not in the Hall of Fame, but there have been rumblings for years that he should be. His stats were very good for his era. And then below him you've got decades of other guys who have been solid. Cincy has probably had fewer non-competitive QB years than any team in the league other than maybe Green Bay.