Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Who might be the greatest quarterback of all time despite the coach he played for? This isn’t meant to take anything away from Tom Brady or other greats, but it does seem like good quarterbacks have good coaches. Is there any quarterback that would even be in the conversation for GOAT if he’d played for better coaches? I would suggest Philip Rivers would be in the conversation because of his production despite playing for multiple coaches.

Warren Moon, Steve Bartkowski and Randall Cunningham all could have benefited from better offensive minds around them in my opinion. They all showed skills that were overwhelming at times, but I never quite got the sense that the systems they were in maximized their effectiveness. Moon had the run-and-shoot offense that gave him tons of stats, but in a more conventional offense I think he might have done even better.

Maybe Roman Gabriel too, in his post-George Allen career, I wonder how he could have done in his 30s if he worked with better offensive coaches.

The Elway to Washington unconsummated trade might have made him even better under Gibbs than he was in Denver.

I was going to make some comment about Jeff George, but I can't really even figure out what to say about him. Possibly could have done better in a different system, with different motivations coming from the coach, etc., but the more I think about it, probably not.

Sonny Jurgensen?

Bob Gill wrote:Sonny Jurgensen?

Lombardi loved him, certainly. I don't really know that Lombardi made him better. Lombardi benched Pat Richter so he could play Bob Long, who had pedestrian stats. Lombardi seemed to be losing it a bit in Washington, looking to his past. I don't think he would have won another SB in Washington.

I would have liked to see Fran Tarkenton in the playoffs at his peak. In the late 1960s the best QBs weren't really with the best teams. Tarkenton had outstanding stats in 1969 with no help at all.

Steve McNair had a tremendous career playing the majority of it with Jeff Fisher as his head coach.

I was going to make some comment about Jeff George, but I can't really even figure out what to say about him. Possibly could have done better in a different system, with different motivations coming from the coach, etc., but the more I think about it, probably not.

George did well in 1999 in Minnesota, but they already messed up and took Culpepper over Jevon Kearse. I wonder how George would have done if he could have stayed there a few more years playing with Moss and Carter.

Also, what if George was in Washington in 02 playing in Spurrier's Fun and Gun instead of 2001 playing under Schottenheimer's WCO?

Lynn Dickey wasn't the GOAT, but he did throw for 23,000 yards during his career, with questionable coaching for a good portion of his 12 seasons. He was always in the shadow of Pastorini in Houston, though he did miss a year with a dislocated hip in 1972. He got traded to GB and had Bart Starr and Forrest Gregg as head coaches there. He missed two years under Starr with a broken leg and In the latter case, Gregg's success in Cincy faded once he got back to GB, with five mediocre or lousy years (the first three with Dickey) following.

Sonny Jurgenson
Charley Johnson
Archie Manning
Randall Cunningham
Tony Romo
Matthew Stafford

Just throwing out a few for discussion

JKelly wrote:Sonny Jurgenson
Charley Johnson
Archie Manning
Randall Cunningham
Tony Romo
Matthew Stafford

Just throwing out a few for discussion

It seems to me that Jurgensen is by far the best of this group, so I'd think that immediately eliminates all the others from consideration.

Warren Moon