Coming up with all-time lists is fun, but it’s definitely not easy … or uncontroversial. I’ve got a feeling that’s going to hold true with this one.
The Denver Broncos have won three Super Bowls, they’ve been to five more and they’ve been the class of the NFL for half a century, and yet coming up with five quarterbacks is a lot harder than I thought.
Sure, you’ve got Peyton Manning and John Elway, but what do you do after that? Frank Tripucka? That’s a name we all know, but he went 13-25-1 as a Denver Bronco. Is that top-five material?
What about Tebow? Yeah, that sounds crazy, but Tim Tebow is the ONLY quarterback drafted by the Denver Broncos — John Elway was drafted by the Colts — to start a playoff game, let alone win one. Is that worthy of a top-five ranking?
The truth is that one and two are essentially etched in stone, but after that, take your pick.
I took mine, and here you go:
(To check out the rest of our rankings, click here)
5. Brian Griese
Record: 27-24
Career stats in Denver: 11,763 yards; 71 touchdowns; 53 interceptions
Playoff Record: None
This was the toughest decision of the bunch. I was pretty set on the first four guys on this list, but I shuffled through several in this No. 5 spot.
Essentially, I reserved this final position for the best quarterback ever drafted by the Denver Broncos franchise, and that leaves some pretty slim pickings. After some deep thought and discussion, it came down to Brian Griese, Jay Cutler and, yep, Tim Tebow.
The first person I took out was Cutler, because I don’t like Cutler and I don’t think he deserves to be on this list — fair? After that I spent a long time debating whether I could possibly argue that Tim Tebow is the fifth best quarterback in this franchise’s history. I eventually said no, but it was close, much closer than I would have thought.
And no, I’m not a Tebow maniac — far from it — but as I said before, he’s the only Broncos-drafted quarterback to ever start a playoff game for the team, let alone win one.
Still, 11 career starts is just impossible to look past.
In the end, the boring answer was the correct one. Griese is fourth in franchise history in both wins (despite never earning a playoff birth) and passing yards. It only makes sense that he sneaks into the top five.
4. Craig Morton
Record: 41-23
Career stats in Denver: 11,895 yards; 74 touchdowns; 65 interceptions
Playoff Record: 2-3 record; 605 yards; 5 touchdowns; 6 interceptions
Craig Morton was the first great quarterback in Broncos history, and there’s simply no way he can be left off this list.
After spending a decade in Dallas, Morton came to Denver in 1977 and gave the Broncos their first AFC West championship, their first playoff birth and their first Super Bowl appearance.
Floyd Little is often, and rightfully, credited with saving the franchise, but it was Morton who helped turn the Denver Broncos into one of the most well-respected organizations in sports.
From that point forward, the Broncos would go on to have 22 playoff appearances in the next 38 years.
3. Jake Plummer
Record: 39-15
Career stats in Denver: 11,631 yards; 71 touchdowns; 47 interceptions
Playoff Record: 1-3 record; 885 yards; 5 touchdowns; 6 interceptions
I’m in my early 20s, which means I was six years old when John Elway retired. That also means that my childhood quarterback was Jake Plummer.
Now, I’ll admit, maybe that has some affect on my judgement, but I’ll take the criticism. In my eyes, Plummer is absolutely the third best quarterback in franchise history — and his benching for Jay Cutler is still one of the worst moments of my sports fandom.
There are only two quarterbacks in Broncos history who have a winning percentage over .700, and their names are Peyton Manning (.789) and Jake “The Snake” Plummer (.722).
After Elway left, there was a void at quarterback (sorry Griese), and while some say it was never filled until No. 18 stepped into town, I’d argue that the Broncos had their man all the way back in 2003, when Plummer went 9-2 and earned Denver their first playoff birth since 2000.
He’d take them to the playoffs again in 2004 and 2005, getting to the AFC Championship in that final year, before being unceremoniously ousted the next season by Mike Shanahan and Jay “Crybaby” Cutler.
At the age of 32, Plummer would never play another game again, and the Broncos are left asking, “What if?”
2. Peyton Manning
Record: 45-12
Career stats in Denver: 17,112 yards; 140 touchdowns; 53 interceptions
Playoff Record: 5-3 record; 1,950 yards; 11 touchdowns; 6 interceptions
Peyton F’n Manning.
I’m not sure if this is an unpopular opinion or not, but there’s no question in my mind that Peyton Manning was the best pound-for-pound quarterback in Broncos history.
Take it for what it’s worth, but in his 16-year career with the Denver Broncos, John Elway had one NFL MVP, zero AP First-Team All Pros and nine Pro Bowls. In is four years with the Denver Broncos, Peyton Manning had one NFL MVP, two AP First-Team All Pros and three Pro Bowls. That’s quite the four-year stretch.
You can make the case — and the Associated Press did — that Elway was never the best quarterback in the NFL at any point in his career, while Manning was twice in his short stint with the Broncos. Now, I and every other Bronco fan would strongly disagree with that, but it’s a fair point.
Nonetheless, even with the two Super Bowl appearances and one championship, you can’t even begin to compare Manning to Elway when Manning spent a quarter of the time with the Broncos franchise.
1. John Elway
Record: 148-82-1
Career stats in Denver: 51,475 yards; 300 touchdowns; 226 interceptions
Playoff Record: 14-7 record; 4,964 yards; 27 touchdowns; 21 interceptions
Has there ever been a better face of the franchise than John Elway? Not with the Broncos, but in all of sports? This is a guy who represented the Denver Broncos for almost two decades, and even when Manning revived the team’s championship aspirations, Elway was still there, representing the franchise at every turn.
But let’s not get into management … That’s a whole other discussions.
In terms of quarterbacking, you couldn’t have asked for more from John Elway. He took this franchise to five Super Bowls and won two. He orchestrated the most famous drive in football history — they literally call it “The Drive.” He’s, well, John Elway.
The numbers may not stack up with the kind of stats these quarterbacks are throwing up today, but that doesn’t matter. If you watched John Elway, there’s no debate: He’s one of the best to ever do it.