Originally Posted by JD10367
I see an Elway debate sprang up here.
I think it's hard to compare great quarterbacks, really. So much had to do with the team around them, the type of league it was at the time, the things that QB could do that were unique to the NFL at that time, etc.,. I mean, Dan Marino was a great QB, but never won a ring. I think it's easier to talk about groups of QBs.
The top group, IMO, would have in it: Marino, Montana, Elway, Brady, Peyton Manning, Unitas, Tittle, possibly Aikman and Favre (as much as I detest him) or even Bradshaw (say what you want about him, the guy knew how to win and was tough as nails).
The second-tier would be guys like Warren Moon, Steve Young, Dan Fouts, maybe Stabler and Plunkett, Jim Kelly, guys like that.
A tough guy to place, right now, is Roethlisberger. He doesn't always do it pretty, sometimes resembling Favre, but he manages to get it done and has won the SB twice now. Depending upon how the rest of his career goes will tell whether he's top tier or second-tier.
When it comes to the top-tier guys, I think any of them in their prime make a great case for "best ever". The ones who don't have the obvious natural talent, seem to have the intangibles of leadership and decision-making and level-headedness (i.e. comparing, say, a Marino or Elway to a Brady or Montana).
As for Orton, Cassel, and Cutler... let's wait a bit before we decide to carve any busts for Canton.
As for where the Broncos rank in QB grouping, I think it's too low. I despise them, but their QB grouping isn't worst in the league.
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