Favorite/least favorite quarterbacks to watch

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Gator Dad

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Who are your favorite and least favorite QBs of all time to watch? I'm talking purely excitement and entertainment value, not who's statistically the best/worst or personally most/least likeable.

For me, favorite - Brett Favre. The epitome of the gunslinger. Never afraid to make risky throws and has the INTs to prove it, but his strengths far outweighed his flaws. More than that he was just always fun to watch. Whether he won or lost you knew he would give you an entertaining game.

Least favorite - Teddy Bridgewater. The king of dink and dunk. Always afraid to make the big throw, and just plain boring, probably the dullest QB ever to play in the NFL.
 
It has to be Tommy for me. All those memories of him throwing to Welker, Edelman, Almendola, Hogan, Gronk and the Superbowl wins that resulted from those throws put a smile on my face.

Least favorite- Mahommes
 
Favorites:
Joe Montana
Ben Roethlisberger
Brett Favre
Peyton Manning
Doug Flutie
Andrew Luck
Kurt Warner
Tom Brady
Dan Marino
Jim Kelly
 
Well, I know you said not to put my favorite, but that's difficult to not put my favorite as I still like watching him in old highlights as much as when I watched him as a kid. Of course it would be Roger Staubach, but I won't put him first. I still have him ranked in my top all-time top 5. Maybe top 3 behind Brady and Montana. Anyone here who hasn't researched Staubach, it would be worth it to go and look him up. Not just for his highlights, but his biography as well.

Joe Namath
Roger Staubach
Joe Montana
Steve Young
Jim McMahon
Ken Stabler
Fran Tarkenton
Tom Brady
Bret Favre
Dan Marino
Josh Allen
 
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I loathe the Cowboys but CS is correct about Staubach. I think I read his biography, many, many years ago and it mentioned him actually serving the US Navy upon graduation.
 
Josh Allen is my favorite. No need to explain

Teddy Bridgewater is probably my least favorite, so unbelievably boring, take everything about Josh Allen, and he was the opposite. He was a noodle armed game manager who also lacked football IQ and had little mobility. Short passes all day long but also didn’t throw TDs and threw a lot of picks somehow. Screen passes and 5 yard curls.

I mean is there anything worse than a “game manager” without any of the redeeming qualities of a game manager? That essentially just means you’re not good at anything
 
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wile said:
I loathe the Cowboys but CS is correct about Staubach. I think I read his biography, many, many years ago and it mentioned him actually serving the US Navy upon graduation.
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Right wile. Staubach honored and served his 4 year obligation to The US Navy upon graduation. Losing 4 years of his prime from the NFL. Then he didn't start until age 29 losing another 2 years. Then was injured one year. He played a total of 8 years, went to 4 Super Bowls, won 2 and should've won 3. TE Jackie Smith dropped the game winning TD pass in the end zone costing Staubach his third SB win and quite possibly another MVP.
He was the first NFL player to win The Heisman, The Super Bowl, and The Super Bowl MVP. For the 8 years he played and the run he made, probably makes him at least in the top 5 all-time. When he retired, he held the all-time winning percentage record, 75%, I believe. Tom Brady may hold that record now or is tied with Staubach.
BTW, not sure how old you are, but you would've loved the 70's Cowboys from a Caste perspective. Coach Tom Landry played many white players on offense and defense,
 
At the risk of sounding unoriginal, I will say Jared Goff, who is widely regarded as the best quarterback of all time.

Including past with present, I also really enjoyed watching Peyton Manning, who is generally considered the second-best quarterback of all time. In my mind, he really pioneered the "audible every play" offense.

As a guilty pleasure, I also like to watch Lamar Jackson in the playoffs!
 
Aaron Rodgers when he's on he's game, which is most of the time. Just a surgeon and with a rocket arm.

I also liked watching him refuse to take the clot shot then calmly deal with the media weenies and put them in their place.

Terry Bradshaw when he was winning all those Super Bowls.
 
I loved me some Brady and that offense from 2007 to 2018/19... also i liked Jeff Garcia back in the day.
 
Brady
Brady
Brady
Favre
Rodgers
Staubach
Josh Allen
Steve Young
Aikman
Fouts
Doug Flutie

Least: Montana, because I was a huge Cowboys fan in the 80’s. He was too good.
 
Carolina Speed said:
Right wile. Staubach honored and served his 4 year obligation to The US Navy upon graduation. Losing 4 years of his prime from the NFL. Then he didn't start until age 29 losing another 2 years. Then was injured one year. He played a total of 8 years, went to 4 Super Bowls, won 2 and should've won 3. TE Jackie Smith dropped the game winning TD pass in the end zone costing Staubach his third SB win and quite possibly another MVP.
He was the first NFL player to win The Heisman, The Super Bowl, and The Super Bowl MVP. For the 8 years he played and the run he made, probably makes him at least in the top 5 all-time. When he retired, he held the all-time winning percentage record, 75%, I believe. Tom Brady may hold that record now or is tied with Staubach.
BTW, not sure how old you are, but you would've loved the 70's Cowboys from a Caste perspective. Coach Tom Landry played many white players on offense and defense,
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Well I would have remembered them but for some reason of my local the NFC games were Bears games. Secondly my cousins were bandwagon hoppers and I had an instant dislike for the 'Boys because they hopped on that wagon while taunting me as all good cousins do in life. I could watch AFC games where I did see some memorable games such as Simpson's record breaking run in the slop and Immaculate Reception and the Stabler fumble it forward game,. Anyway it is good to mention Staubach as these youngins here should be reminded on occasion of the past. FTR I too caught a TD pass in Texas Stadium, school tour I went on an out route in the end zone and caught my basically only pass in my career. And give credit to the men that played on that turf, basically outdoor carpet stretched over concrete, uggh
 
wile said:
Well I would have remembered them but for some reason of my local the NFC games were Bears games. Secondly my cousins were bandwagon hoppers and I had an instant dislike for the 'Boys because they hopped on that wagon while taunting me as all good cousins do in life. I could watch AFC games where I did see some memorable games such as Simpson's record breaking run in the slop and Immaculate Reception and the Stabler fumble it forward game,. Anyway it is good to mention Staubach as these youngins here should be reminded on occasion of the past. FTR I too caught a TD pass in Texas Stadium, school tour I went on an out route in the end zone and caught my basically only pass in my career. And give credit to the men that played on that turf, basically outdoor carpet stretched over concrete, uggh
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Yeah, down here way before the Panthers it was the Redskins or Falcons always on TV. My brother became a Redskin fan, so I naturally went in the opposite direction becoming a Cowboy fan. Plus, my father and uncle lived in Texas for a short time, so heard stories about Texas.
Sorry guys, not trying to get too far off track going down memory lane.
 
To steer it back as a kid I thought the Raiders were kind of cool, memory is hazy but Stabler (a Favre fav) was part of that allure.
 
Fran Tarkington. Real scrambler. Great at making something happen while getting out of trouble. He listed at 6 feet but I don't think he was. Post football he became a financial wheeler dealer.

Elie Manning. No. Just something about him. Often unreliable IMO. Then he made that laughing comment about never or hardly ever completing a pass to a white man. Yet somehow he has two rings.
 
My absolute favorite is John Elway. Arguably the most talented player in NFL history. Fast, strong, and smart. Played his best football in the 4th quarter and in playoff games. Aged better than any QB not named Tom Brady. A genetically gifted athlete who excelled at every skill in football; he could run, throw, kick, and even catch. The most impressive thing about him is that he played his entire football career without an ACL in his left knee. Any man who can achieve what he achieved with a knee like that is a one in a billion talent. How could you not love watching him shrug off a linebacker and throw a frozen rope 40 yards down the field? He was football personified.

Some of my other favorites:

Brett Favre: Had one of the strongest arms, if not the strongest, in NFL history. Laser accurate too. He was physically and mentally tougher than nails. He played through every injury you can think of and played one of the greatest games in his career just a day after his father passed away. In addition to his throwing prowess he had really underrated mobility. Not much of a forward runner but he could scramble behind the line of scrimmage at a high level. His name will forever be synonymous with the words "football", "quarterback", and "gunslinger".

Dan Marino: Your favorite quarterback's favorite quarterback. The greatest throwing arm in NFL history. His receivers would be blinded by the Florida sun and unable to catch his passes but the ball would still hit them squarely in the numbers anyway. He had balls of steel and that combined with his golden arm meant he would regularly complete passes that most of his contemporaries wouldn't even attempt. Not a runner due to knee injuries but he had extremely quick feet which gave him the ability to make defenders miss in the pocket. His right arm put more stress on opposing defenses than some teams' entire offenses could.

Steve Young: Obscenely athletic. Ran a 4.55 40 as timed by Gil Brandt but rumor has it he was timed at 4.3 by San Francisco and was purportedly the fastest player on the team his first year there. Laser accurate arm. He didn't have the top end arm strength of these other guys but if you asked him to hit a specific molecule on the field within 40 yards, he could do it blindfolded. Oh yeah and he tackled Deion Sanders once. How's that for being fun to watch?

Ben Roethlisberger: An oak tree with legs. Underrated athleticism in his prime. He was most fun to watch early on when he was in his athletic prime and when he led more vertical offenses under the tutelage of OCs Ken Whisenhunt and Bruce Arians. Became less fun to watch when his athleticism diminished and he started treating the ball like a hot potato in the early 2010s under OC Todd Haley. His sack totals went down but the amount of Elway-like explosive plays did too. Became more of a YAC beneficiary in the "Killer Bs" era, akin to a high level game manager.

Peyton Manning: The least physically gifted of all these guys but he still pushed the ball downfield and always threatened defenses with his inclination to throw deep. I'll always remember his devastating play action fakes and the equally destructive downfield passes that followed them. One of the few QBs without elite arm strength to regularly lead vertical offenses. His Indy era was the real greatest show on turf.

Tony Romo: A true escape artist and gunslinger, you never knew what was going to happen on any given play with him under center. He didn't have blistering straight-line speed but he did have unusual agility which made him very elusive as a scrambler behind the line of scrimmage. Could throw off any platform with accuracy.

Now for some of my least favorites:

Joe Montana: Good athlete but couldn't throw the ball more than about 45 yards downfield with accuracy. He executed Bill Walsh's system perfectly but couldn't do the things that Young could do physically which is why Walsh was so eager to replace him. More of a high-level game manager than a true game changer.

Drew Brees: Ruthlessly efficient passer but when his legs and arm strength went away he was really only capable of shining within the confines of Sean Payton's script. Relied heavily on YAC in the back half of his career.

Tom Brady: A taller version of Drew Brees. Underrated arm strength in terms of distance but he couldn't consistently put velocity on deep passes from season to season. Not much of a downfield passer outside of 2007 and 2020.

Philip Rivers: Practically immobile. He led vertical offenses in his physical prime but as the talent on his teams dried up he turned into a YAC devotee and threw more to his running backs than his receivers at times. Treated the ball like a hot potato after 2012.

Rich Gannon: Highly athletic even in his 30s. Unfortunately, his arm didn't age as well as his legs and the WCO he led would be best described as plodding. They were centered around the playmakers and he was just the ball distributor.

Chad Pennington: Another one of those early 00s WCO guys who couldn't throw deep but could accurately distribute the ball to his playmakers. Throw Matt Hasselbeck, Jake Plummer, and Jeff Garcia in this category.
 
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jacque said:
Josh Allen is my favorite. No need to explain

Teddy Bridgewater is probably my least favorite, so unbelievably boring, take everything about Josh Allen, and he was the opposite. He was a noodle armed game manager who also lacked football IQ and had little mobility. Short passes all day long but also didn’t throw TDs and threw a lot of picks somehow. Screen passes and 5 yard curls.

I mean is there anything worse than a “game manager” without any of the redeeming qualities of a game manager? That essentially just means you’re not good at anything
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Teddy Bridgewater is now coaching at some ghetto high school here in Miami (Miami Northwestern) as someone who somewhat follows South Florida high school football, I’m rooting heavily against them.
 
Johnny Unitas was my all-time favorite QB. He just looked like a football player should look when he played.
James Harris for the Bills was my least favorite for I knew even in 1969, the door had been open and would lead to more black QBs. Then Joe Gilliam starting at QB. I knew it might be slow, but football was headed down the rabbit hole.
 
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