Quote:
Originally Posted by skinsfan69
I think the word great is thrown around way too much. Right now I would say the NFL has two great QB's. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. And then the 2nd tier is McNabb, Palmer, Brees and possibly Bulger. But all those 2nd tier guys have the chance to be great.
You are probably just too young to remember but in the 70's and early 80's the NFL had plenty of really good QB's. Dan Fouts and Ken Stabler were two of my old time favorites. And no one threw as nicer looking ball than Warren Moon in his prime. Do you realize that Warren Moon would hold almost every single passing record if the NFL didn't pass him over? But alot of the the stats don't match up w/ today's Qb's becasue the passing game and the rules have changed so much. In the old days DB's could just kill wr's. Now they can't touch them. It's the Mel Blount rule.
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Duely noted and I think its a great point. But I also think that Brunell in his hey day was very comprable to those 2nd tier guys you named. So if that gave him a chance to be great, then he's guilty as charged.
Fouts, Stabler, and Moon were great QBs. You can run their era-adjusted numbers, or just watch the old NFL-films highlight reels, and you arrive at that conclusion. But then again, those guys are all hall of famers, so I don't think you are exactly going out on a limb here.
Throw Ken Anderson on that list too. This guy is easily one of the 15 best QBs ever to play.
But back then, the emphasis in the college game was not on the passing game. Thus, less kids became quarterbacks, and even fewer became NFL QBs. There just werent enough good QBs to go around 20-30 years ago because an NFL caliber talent came out once every 2-3 years.
Now, 3-4 QBs each year have NFL caliber skill with a ton more catching on as backups. With a certain percentage of these players becoming great, it isnt surprising that there are so many more HOF worthy QBs playing today when compared with yesteryear.