It’s May. There’s not a lot of football to write about. So, without a lot of current news to dissect this time of year, we’re really reaching into the bag to rank and list things. But, that’s okay – because I have takes. This is what we do here on SoBros Network. It’s our jobs as internet creators to find things, and then rank ’em. Today, I’m going to be ranking my top 25 quarterbacks of the 2000s.
I’m looking all the way back to the year 2000, all the way up to this last season. My reasoning is pretty simple – accomplishments and accolades…MVP titles, other NFL awards…that sort of thing. I also look at the stats and where quarterbacks rank among other quarterbacks of the era. And, I also value longevity – how long was a quarterback really good? I’m not as high on Super Bowl wins, and really team wins as a whole, because so many variables go into winning a championship that it’s hard to assign specific value to the quarterback position. But, I do measure it. There’s certainly something to say for quarterbacks who were instrumental in their team’s success, but it shouldn’t be the basis of your argument as to why a quarterback was good. Would you say Trent Dilfer is better than Philip Rivers? Who had the better career? That’s what we’re getting at here.
Alright – let’s get to the honorable mentions, and then on to the top 25 quarterbacks of the 2000s.
Honorable Mentions
There’s a whole group of young quarterbacks who are playing their way into this conversation. If Deshaun Watson actually hits the field and plays again, he certainly looks like one of the elite quarterbacks in today’s NFL. Kyler Murray, Justin Herbert, and Joe Burrow all have bona fide franchise quarterback potential. It’s just a matter of starting to pad those stat sheets and running down some of those all-time greats in the record books. I’m sure any or all of the guys will be cracking this list with another couple of seasons under their belts.
Then there’s a category of guys from the early 2000s that just didn’t make the cut, but made it difficult on me – Chad Pennington, Jake Delhomme, Marc Bulger, and Daunte Culpepper all had really good runs at the turn of the century.
There’s a class of guys who have quietly snuck up the statistical categories in recent years, but were never really considered among the top of their game. I’d say those guys consist of Derek Carr, Kirk Cousins, Ryan Tannehill, and Jared Goff. Each of those guys brings something unique to the table. Carr and Cousins can post some serious passing yardage. Tannehill has been one of the most efficient passers since assuming the starting role for the Titans in 2019. And, Goff quietly had an excellent 2021 down the stretch for the Lions. Lest we forget, he was in the MVP conversation at one point during that 2018 season that saw the Los Angeles Rams get to the Super Bowl.
Andy Dalton is in that category as well. He’s sitting right there at the cusp of the top 40 in passing yards and passing touchdowns in NFL history. But, he won a lot of games with the Cincinnati Bengals, and went to three Pro Bowls during his tenure there. I always thought he got a bad rap for not being able to take the Bengals to the next step, and consider him one of the more underrated players of the 2010s. I understand that this is going to be ruled a ‘hot take’ by some, and I’m definitely in the minority on my Andy Dalton love.
Y’all slept on Matt Schaub for the entirety of this man’s career. Though he’s spent the bulk of his years as a backup, the man had some stellar seasons as the starter for the Houston Texans, going to two Pro Bowls in 2009 and 2012, and leading the NFL in passing yards in 2009.
Finally, I would also mention Matt Hasselbeck in this class of quarterbacks, too. His stats aren’t exactly going to pop off the page at you, but he was one of the unsung quarterbacks of his era. He played for four teams from 1998-2015, and went to three Pro Bowls (2003, 2005, 2007).
There’s the ‘tweeners – guys like Kerry Collins, Drew Bledsoe, Steve McNair, and Mark Brunell, who would’ve definitely made the list if I had expanded it to 1995. But, their production was largely split between two decades, so I had a hard time putting any of these guys firmly inside the top 25.
Finally, I would also mention Ryan Fitzpatrick here. Has he ever been among the elite in the NFL? Probably not. But, just take a look at how incredible this man’s career has been. I think there’s a good chance he plays a significant chunk of the season, and if he does, he has a chance to crack the top 30 in passing yards and passing touchdowns in NFL history. The man has played for eight different teams and has been bouncing around the league since 2005.
I dare ask….is he approaching potential Hall of Fame contention? Maybe that’s a different hot take for a different day….onto the list.
The Top 25 Quarterbacks of the 2000s (So Far)
25. Josh Allen – Maybe I’m going to raise some eyebrows by putting Allen here this early. But, to me, he is currently the most promising quarterback in the game. He has been sniffing the MVP conversation for two years now, despite only having one Pro Bowl and one second team All-Pro vote to his name. He does own the NFL record for the highest passer rating in a single postseason, though. This guy is going to start skyrocketing up the stat lists within the next few seasons.
24. Joe Flacco – Flacco made his name off of that one really good postseason after the 2012 season that culminated in a Super Bowl MVP award. Other than that, January Joe was the definition of good-but-not-great.
23. Jay Cutler – Cutler’s attitude seems to always be the center of the conversation about him, but let’s be real here. Cutler, bad attitude or not, was still a damn good quarterback for a long time for the Chicago Bears. The team went to the NFC Championship with him at the helm. Even though he only went to one Pro Bowl in his 12 seasons, he’s just outside the top 30 in passing yards and passing touchdowns in NFL history.
22. Brett Favre – Hey, I’m limiting this strictly to the 2000s, alright? All three of his MVP honors came in the 1990s. Still, a string of Pro Bowls in the 2000s and his run with the Vikings in ’09 is worth ranking him on this list. Unlike the other ‘tweeners listed in the honorable mentions, Favre was playing at a high level well into the first decade of the 2000s.
21. Dak Prescott – Prescott deserves his due. As far as accolades go, he’s had a relatively quiet career since entering the league (and winning Rookie of the Year) in 2016 – just two Pro Bowls. But, his presence when healthy makes the Cowboys a Super Bowl contender. I expect him to start sniffing around the top 50 mark in NFL history in passing yards and passing touchdowns this season (assuming he can stay healthy).
20. Lamar Jackson – Jackson has quickly become one of the most prolific and electric play-makers in the league. In 2019, the Ravens quarterback was named the league’s MVP, and earned first team All-Pro honors. It was just his second season. As of the end of the 2021 season, Jackson already has two Pro Bowls under his belt. Like Allen, he’s nowhere near sniffing the NFL record books just yet, but he has the potential to get there in a few more years.
19. Carson Palmer – Palmer had some really good years early on with the Cincinnati Bengals, and had a bit of a career resurgence with the Arizona Cardinals (after a two-year stint with the Oakland Raiders), earning second-team All-Pro honors in 2015. In addition to three Pro Bowl appearances, he’s quietly 14th in NFL history with 294 touchdowns, and 15th in passing yards with 46,247.
18. Andrew Luck – Luck had a really good few years in Indianapolis, and looked like he was poised to become one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, before his health ultimately guided him towards an early retirement. He went to four Pro Bowls in his career.
17. Alex Smith – To have been through the ringer like Alex Smith has been, he’s had a stellar career. I don’t know that his talent will ever truly be recognized. Smith has 34,068 passing yards and 193 passing touchdowns. He was the catalyst for some really good offenses in San Francisco and Kansas City in the 2010s, and went to three Pro Bowls.
16. Cam Newton – Newton was once referred to as the ‘LeBron James of the NFL.’ That 2015 MVP season was something special – whether it was the injuries or not, he hasn’t been quite the same since. If he had continued on that trajectory, he’d easily be top 10 on this list.
15. Patrick Mahomes – Is it crazy for Mahomes to earn a spot this high on this list this early into his career? I mean, a League MVP title in 2018, a Super Bowl MVP award in 2019, and four Pro Bowls already would say otherwise. That’s more than some of the other quarterbacks on this list.
14. Donovan McNabb – McNabb led the Eagles to five NFC East titles, and five NFC Championship games, but he never broke through and won the big one. He’s currently sitting at 25th in passing yards with 37,276 and 31st in passing touchdowns with 234.
13. Tony Romo – Listen, I like Tony Romo a lot. I mean…what an impressive story, right?! But, some of y’all need to check yourselves when you’re putting him in the top five of this very topic. His stats are great and all, but he’s nowhere near the top five. His 248 touchdowns are 24th in league history. He’s 36th in passing yards. And, he never really won any big games – even worse, he has that fumble against Seattle that’ll forever be apart of his highlight reel.
12. Matthew Stafford – Stafford is largely lost in the shuffle when talking about the great quarterbacks in the NFL. Despite being perennially underrated, he’s quietly crept up to 12th in passing yards and touchdowns in NFL history. He was also the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2011, and now he has a Super Bowl ring to pad the resumé.
11. Michael Vick – Controversy aside, I don’t think anyone can deny that Vick was the most electric quarterback of his era.
10. Russell Wilson – Okay, okay…lower your eyebrows. Is it too soon to put Wilson this high on the list? Maybe. But, I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves for a lot of Seattle’s success this decade. Hell, he’s been in the league for 10 years now and he’s only missed one Pro Bowl. He’s already 15th in NFL history in passing touchdowns with 292. One good season and he’ll start cracking into the all-time top 20 in passing yards. Bet.
9. Matt Ryan – It feels like Ryan has always been on the cusp of becoming one of the all-time greats, but he just hasn’t gotten there conclusively yet. That 2016 was something special, as Ryan was both the MVP and Offensive Player of the Year. And, the Falcons made it to the Super Bowl. But, that and four Pro Bowls aren’t enough to put him higher than #9. Ryan has cracked the top 10 in NFL history in both passing touchdowns and passing yards.
8. Eli Manning – Did y’all realize that Eli Manning is 9th in NFL history in passing yards and 10th in NFL history in passing touchdowns? He also has two Super Bowl MVP honors, and has a couple of all-time NFL highlights from those Super Bowls.
7. Ben Roethlisberger – I’ve always loved the way Big Ben plays the game. And, make no mistake about it – the man can play some clutch football. But, the guy has missed significant time due to injuries. He’s been to six Pro Bowls. He might not have the accolades, but he has been one of the best in the league for a long, long time.
6. Kurt Warner – A Super Bowl MVP and a couple of league MVP titles give Warner quite the body of work. What’s more impressive is his story from bagging groceries to NFL Hall of Famer. In addition to winning with the Rams, Warner damn near brought the Cardinals a Super Bowl title, too.
5. Philip Rivers – That 2004 quarterback class is something else, huh? Rivers has been perennially underrated. Should he have won a Super Bowl by now? Probably. There were some good Chargers teams over the years, but he has the disadvantage of playing during the heyday of the Brady-Manning rivalry in the AFC. He currently sits at 6th in both passing yards and passing touchdowns in NFL history, and has eight Pro Bowls to his name.
4. Aaron Rodgers – Give me the FOUR league MVP awards (including back-to-back MVPs from 2020-21), a Super Bowl MVP trophy, the four first-team All-Pros, and the 10 Pro Bowls. That’s a hell of a resumé, and although Rodgers has his detractors, I think he’s easily one of the four best quarterbacks of the last two decades.
3. Peyton Manning – I’ve been called a Manning hater before, but those struggles in the postseason early on still factor into the conversation when you’re talking about the total body of work from 2000 on. Manning won two Super Bowls, but that second one was all about the Broncos defense, and let’s be real….Rex Grossman wasn’t winning any damn Super Bowl. It sounds like I’m knocking Manning, but the reality is that we’re splitting hairs here between he and Brees. No one can deny that Manning’s numbers and accolades (five NFL MVPs) are good enough to put him in the conversation for the greatest of all time.
2. Drew Brees – This may be controversial, but I take Brees over Manning any day of the week. I just like the way Brees plays in clutch situations more than Manning, and I think he’s a better big-play quarterback than Manning too. It helps his case that he’s second all-time in touchdown passes (571) and passing yards (80,358), but really, it’s about the adversity he overcame early on in his career and helping to bring that Super Bowl to New Orleans.
1. Tom Brady – Forget the 2000s! In my book, Brady is the greatest NFL quarterback of all time. I’m not a big fan of counting Super Bowl wins as a quarterback stat given how many variables go into a team’s success (Brady has seven rings though, for what it’s worth). But, four Super Bowl MVP awards? That’s some good stuff. He’s first all-time in passing yards (first all-time in postseason passing yards) and passing touchdowns. He has three league MVP titles, three first-team All-Pro honors, and was voted to the Pro Bowl 15 times. Quite simply, no one was better when it mattered most.
Disagree with the list? Y’all know the drill – hit the comments.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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