Top QBs of the 70's...

[Historian]

I watched this one on NFLN last night, and was pretty disgusted that Ferguson wasn't even mentioned.

Here was the list:

1. Staubach
2. Tarkenton
3. Bradshaw
4. Griese
5. Stabler
6. Hart
7. Kilmer
8. Anderson
9. Jones
10. Manning

The top five, I don't have an issue with, other than maybe their order.

It's the bottom five that I think is a joke....No Fouts, No Fergy, no Jaworski.

Kilmer, Hart and Manning shouldn't even be discussed, IMO.

My list would look like this:

1. Bradshaw
2. Staubach
3. Griese
4. Stabler
5. Tarkenton
6. Anderson
7. Fouts
8. Jaworski
9. Ferguson
10. Jones

[Night Train]

Staubach was uber clutch. How many times did he deliver, with the game on the line ? The moment never seemed to phase him.

That list is based on stats and years of service to good teams. No real issues with it.

Bert Jones of the Colts had his career cut short due to bad knees. All things being equal, he had more natural talent than anyone on that list. The guy had an absolute cannon for an arm, fantastic mobility and was dead accurate. Ted Marchibroda was his coach and the guy was a bonifide star. Watching him in his prime was amazing. I can still see those 50 yard lazers right in the hands of Roger Carr, Glenn Doughty and Raymond Chester. Lots of swing passes to Lydell Mitchell.

Colts were in our division then and I couldn't wait to see him each year. Elway was a slightly bigger version of him. He would make throws others could only dream of completing. He was a star at LSU and had a good 6-7 year run in the pro's. Will never forget him.

[gebobs]

Manning LOL...yeah, no way should he be there. But you think Ferguson was much better? Definitely Fouts though. You nailed that one. And I agree that Kilmer doesn't belong either.

[Historian]

Fergy only threw for about 975 yards as a rookie, because all he had to do was hand off to OJ that year.

In 74 he turned into a very efficient passer, making the Bills offense that much more dangerous. He used to be in the guiness book for the least percentage of INTs at one point in his career.

Had the back injury in 76, but also had great years in 78, 79, and beyond. It wasn't his fault he was on a crap team most of his career.

Had he played in Miami, or any other contender, he may have won a ring.

He and Anderson always reminded me of each other, and they were just fawning over Anderson in the program.

[swiper]

Agree with Night Train about Bert Jones. My favorite two QBs growing up then were Staubach and Ferguson. People foreget the Joe Ferguson was widely looked at as nothing more than OJ's hand-off guy. He had an arm though - and a good one. He was just mired on bad teams because the owner sucked. And still does suck.

And didn't Fouts hit his highs in the early 1980s? I'd have to go look that up.

Archie Manning was a decent QB on a bad team. There were other guys that were pretty good - Bartkowski, Lynn Dickey, Steve Grogan. Like that.

[gebobs]

It wasn't his fault he was on a crap team most of his career.
Not at all? I disagree. I think he shoulders some blame for why the Bills sucked and never went far in the playoffs the few times they made them.

My persevering image of Fergie is him standing on the field, hands on hips, shoulders slumped, head down following an interception. He didn't have a the kind of competitive spirit that would allow him to shake off bad plays and turn it around. More often than not, he wilted under pressure.

[gebobs]

And didn't Fouts hit his highs in the early 1980s? I'd have to go look that up.Yeah, he led the league in passing from '79 through '82


Steve Grogan
Had a neck like Audrey Hepburn.

[TedMock]

Fouts didn't really come into his own until 1978 or 1979. He was over 3,000 yards five times from 1980 to 1987 (his last season). I would categorize him more as a QB from the 80's than the 70's. He became the Dan Fouts we know once Coryell took over. Under Prother Fouts did not add up to much for a few years.

[Generalissimus Gibby]

Roger Staubach, the original Captain Comeback back when the Cowboys were America's team

Terry Bradshaw, won the most rings

Fran Tarkenton, had the best stats

Bob Griese, the only undefeated season in NFL history and he is one of the leaders of a team that tormented us 20 straight times

Kenny Snake Stabler, The Raiders have more superbowls if only they didn't have to play the Pittsburgh Steelers

Craig Morton, led two teams to superbowls in the seventies and put up some fairly decent numbers. Unfortunately in Big D he is overshadowed by Staubach, and in Denver by that other guy to wear 7

Bert Jones, The Colts have always had great talent at QB. He was actually a pretty decent player

Jim Hart, I give him the nod over Fouts because I associate Fouts more with the early 80s. Also Hart was the first qb to fly extensively on Air Coryell

Kenny Anderson, a long and successful career with good numbers

Ron Jaworski

[pmoon6]

These list shows on NFLN are just filler and it gives *******s like Damon Amendolara and that jagoff from Pittsburgh (He does wrestling and radio) the chance to argue.

I'm like a lot here. I'd take Kilmer and Manning off. Manning was put on so they could pimp his sons, although he didn't have much to work with in NO. Joe Ferguson and Dan Pastorini could have been mentioned as "Best Of the Rest" but they both had great RB's and threw a lot of picks. Bartkowski was a transition guy like Fouts and Jim Zorn. Had a few good years at the end of the decade, but were really '80's QBs. Roman Gabriel was a really good QB, but his career was waning by '75.

Jim Ray Hart belongs here, so if you replace Kilmer and Manning who was better? Not Joe Ferguson. You could put Craig Morton on, certainly deserving, but then you have two Cowboy QB's, even though he also played for the Giants and the Broncos.

I don't mind the list, you have a couple that the commentators can argue, which a big part of the show. George Atkinson has a cow when one of his Raider buddies is ranked too low.

There is no way you put Bradshaw ahead of Staubach or Tarkenton. He got the bling because of Swann, Stallworth and a great defense. The Cowboys could have beat the Steelers in both their meetings without the heroics of the WR. In '75 Pittsburgh was the most penalized team in the league, but not one flag was thrown against them even after Lambert body slammed Cliff Harris after a play was over.

All in all, making a pure '70's ranking is kinda dumb because you have so many players that don't fit into a specific decade.

[sukie]

Where's Morton?

[Generalissimus Gibby]

Where's Morton?

I have him ranked number six. :D

[swiper]

These list shows on NFLN are just filler and it gives *******s like Damon Amendolara and that jagoff from Pittsburgh (He does wrestling and radio) the chance to argue.

I'm like a lot here. I'd take Kilmer and Manning off. Manning was put on so they could pimp his sons, although he didn't have much to work with in NO. Joe Ferguson and Dan Pastorini could have been mentioned as "Best Of the Rest" but they both had great RB's and threw a lot of picks. Bartkowski was a transition guy like Fouts and Jim Zorn. Had a few good years at the end of the decade, but were really '80's QBs. Roman Gabriel was a really good QB, but his career was waning by '75.

Jim Ray Hart belongs here, so if you replace Kilmer and Manning who was better? Not Joe Ferguson. You could put Craig Morton on, certainly deserving, but then you have two Cowboy QB's, even though he also played for the Giants and the Broncos.

I don't mind the list, you have a couple that the commentators can argue, which a big part of the show. George Atkinson has a cow when one of his Raider buddies is ranked too low.

There is no way you put Bradshaw ahead of Staubach or Tarkenton. He got the bling because of Swann, Stallworth and a great defense. The Cowboys could have beat the Steelers in both their meetings without the heroics of the WR. In '75 Pittsburgh was the most penalized team in the league, but not one flag was thrown against them even after Lambert body slammed Cliff Harris after a play was over.

All in all, making a pure '70's ranking is kinda dumb because you have so many players that don't fit into a specific decade.

Good post. There were older guys like Morton, Blanda, Gabriel transitioning out. Fouts only hitting his stride as the decade ended. All-in-all we (I) didn't realize exactly how great those QBs (as a group) were. I thought it would always be that way.

I remember loving seeing games between the Steelers/Raiders, Steelers/Cowboys, Cowboys/Redskins, Vikings/Rams. In 1973 the Raiders QBs were Ken Stabler, Daryle Lamonica and George Blanda (their starting kicker). Each one had something to bring. Then they got Jim Plunkett later on.

[JoeMama]

I'm going Kenny Anderson just because of his sweet 70's stache.

[Homegrown]

special shout-out to James Harris (1969 -1981) ...

[buftex]

I am a big Joe Feruson fan..but his most productive years, as a passer, really came in the 1980's, when Joe Cribbs was part of the offense. Not saying he doesn't derserve mention, at least, amongst the best of the 70's (I thought he was shown briefly during that episode, but maybe I am mistaken), but, true or not, the little success the Bills had in the decade of the 70's came when OJ was in his prime, and passing was sort of an afterthought for the Bills. We know Ferguson was a pretty good QB, but the lack of playoff appearences and (lets' face it) the fact that he played on a small market team were all working against Fergy. I also remember, Ferguson had his fair number of harsh critics amongst the Buffalo faithful as well...disappointed, but not surprised, he didn't make the list. He, Jerry Butler and Steve Freeman are probably my all-time favorite Bills. Just a little too young to remember the AFL Championship teams (born in 1965), but those Chuck Knox era teams were a blast to watch...if only...ah, nevermind...

[pmoon6]

I'm with Gebobs on Ferguson. He had that hangdog look and slumped his shoulders if he made a mistake. He was a decent QB, but saying he was top 10 in the '70's just isn't right. No way he's top 10 in the '80's.

[Generalissimus Gibby]

From what I've seen of Ferguson, he was good when he had good coaches, but sucked with bad coaching. As such, he wasn't really a game changer.

[CoolBreeze]

Suprised not see Steve Bartkowksi on the list. 1st overall pick in 1975, Rookie of the year, one of 9 qb's to have consecutive 30+ touchdowns.
Dan Pastorini was ok too. Jim Plunkett was there in the 70's but his most productive years were in the 80's. Manning is there because of his sons. One could argue he
was productive "Making" QB's rather than playing QB.