The QB GOAT Series: 20-18

Two of the best pure passers ever, and perhaps the greatest playoff quarterback

I wrote up the methodology for how I measure quarterback career value and highlighted a few honorable mentions in a post last week.

I don’t agree 100% with all the rankings, but the beauty of stats-based analysis is that we can take representative data from nearly one million quarterback dropbacks over a century of the modern NFL to rank-order quarterbacks by value. Good luck watching, grading and comparing every quarterback snap from 1947 to 2022 and then forming your own film-watcher list.

I’m going to take this list in smallish chucks, going three-at-a-time until I get to the final two, who you might be able to guess, though the ordering may remain a mystery.

Links to past posts:

• 50-48, 47-45, 44-42, 41-39, 38-36, 35-33, 32-30, 29-27, 26-24, 23-21

No. 20: SONNY JURGENSEN

Regular: 15th, Peak: 21st, Playoffs: 86th

Jurgensen was a pure gunslinger, possibly sacrificing overall efficiency for risk-taking and interceptions, but always giving his largely mediocre teams a chance to win. We add the context to Jurgensen’s biggest negative right at the top: he only threw a pass in one postseason game, and that didn’t go so well (6-12, 78 yards, 3 INTs, 0 TDs) at the age of 40 in his final season.

Jurgensen’s 1961 Eagles team at 10-4 wasn’t good enough to make the NFL Championship in the old one-team-per-conference system (the Giants were 10-3-1). Outside of that, Jurgensen’s teams when he was the primary starter weren’t good enough even have a winning record in any season but one (7-5-2, 1969), and even then not good enough to make the playoffs.

Looking across the NFL and AFL, Jurgensen was a top-10 efficiency passer all but one of the 10 seasons he threw at least 250 passes, top-5 in five of those years. Jurgensen wasn’t just efficient, he was a high-volume passer who truly led his offenses in an era of rushing dominance, leading the NFL in attempts three times, and yards five times. Jurgensen set and broke his own record for passing yards (3,723 in 1961 and 3,747 in 1967), and set the record for completions and attempts (288 and 508 in 1967).

Jurgensen never won MVP, but was the First-Team All-Pro quarterback in 1961, and Second-Team All-Pro in 1967 and 1969. He was another victim of #QBWINZ, with no better illustration than the 1967 season. Jurgensen led the NFL in passing efficiency, while breaking the records for completions, attempts and yards, led the NFL in touchdowns (31) and had the league’s lowest interception rate. He even scored two of the his team’s 13 rushing touchdowns. Despite a near-perfect case for being the league’s best quarterback, he was second in All-Pro voting to Johnny Unitas of the 11-1-2 Colts (Jurgensen’s Redskins went 5-6-3).

Jurgensen wasn’t totally without recognition as a Hall of Fame selection in 1983, but he wasn’t selected to the 20 finalists for the NFL100 team, while there’s a strong argument the QB GOAT methodology underrates him at 20th due to the lack of playoff opportunity that was largely out of his control. In terms of recognition from players and coaches who saw him during his era, Jurgensen is right there with Unitas, maybe even more well regarded.

Vince Lombardi, who coaches Jurgensen for two starting seasons in 1969 and 1970, told his old front office mate Pat Peppler that, "If we would have had Sonny Jurgensen in Green Bay, we’d never have lost a game.” Lombardi, who earlier coached Bart Starr and coached against Unitas said of Jurgensen, “He may be the best the league has ever seen. He is the best I have seen.” Even Unitas said, “If I threw as much as Jurgensen, my arm would fall off. And if I could throw as well, my head would swell up too big to get into a helmet.”

Jurgensen was also well known for his love of off-the-field fun, which produced a physique that resembled those at the local pub more than the gridiron. Jurgensen famously told teammates that his belly was his handicap, to help make things even for opponents.

Jurgensen was never a big rusher in the NFL, but he was an excellent mover at quarterback, often buying time manipulating the pocket or rolling out, displaying the traits that made him an excellent defensive back as a sophomore in college. Those athletic traits are all over the embedded highlights below, and likely a big part of his perception as the greatest pure passer ever. Jurgensen is documented to have completed multiple passes with his left hand, and a behind-the-back pass in a game.

Jurgensen’s reputation wasn’t a matter of arm strength (which he did have) as much as touch, a lightening quick release and the ability to face and evade pressure, making throws from whatever body positioning and plant foot he happened to find himself in. Jurgensen was relatively good at sack avoidance, despite playing with one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL. That makes even more remarkable his passing efficiency, considering the degree of difficultly of many of his throws.

No. 19: TERRY BRADSHAW

Regular: 50th, Peak: 46th, Playoffs: 2nd