Being an NFL quarterback can be both rewarding and cruel. If your team wins, you get the credit and attention more often than not. If you lose, the blame almost always falls on you.
Some big-named NFL quarterbacks — past and present — have been the beneficiaries of getting more hype, credit, and love than deserved. But a deeper dive shows that these quarterbacks are, to put it simply, overrated.
Here are 12 NFL quarterbacks who aren’t as good as they seem to think they are or were.
Which NFL quarterbacks were deemed overhyped?
Terry Bradshaw
Bradshaw was instrumental in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ dynastic run in the ‘70s. He also gets more credit than he deserves. Both can be true.
The No. 1 pick of the 1970 NFL Draft helped the Steelers to four Super Bowl championships during his Hall of Fame career. And because he was a quarterback, Bradshaw was prone to getting all the attention and more credit than deserved.
Consider this: Bradshaw was only named to three Pro Bowls in his career. He led the NFL in passing touchdowns twice, but never once in passing yards. He was a First-team all-pro once, in the 1978 season.
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Yes, he’ll always have those four Super Bowl rings, two Super Bowl MVPs, and 1978 league MVP honors. But let’s take a moment and remember the other Hall of Famers he got to play with: Lynn Swann, Franco Harris, Mike Webster, John Stallworth, Jack Lambert, Mean Joe Greene, Mel Blount, and Donnie Shell.
Bradshaw also completed just 51.9 percent of his career pass attempts and threw 212 touchdowns against 210 interceptions.
If he weren’t on a star-studded Steelers team that won all those Super Bowls, the “Blond Bomber” wouldn’t have gotten into Canton. Just saying!
Joe Namath
“Broadway Joe” is a living legend in New York, having delivered the Jets their lone Super Bowl championship nearly six decades ago. But take the career-defining game — made famous by Namath’s “guarantee” that his Jets would upset the heavily-favored Baltimore Colts — and you aren’t talking about a Hall of Famer.
Consider this: Namath never completed more than 52.9 percent of his pass attempts in a single season. He threw 173 touchdowns against 220 interceptions, for crying out loud. Posting such numbers would get you benched in today’s NFL, within a few games.
You’ll look at his Pro Bowl and four AFL All-Star selections. We remind you that there weren’t that many “great” quarterbacks in those days. Namath’s larger-than-life personality and nationwide popularity made him look like a bigger NFL star than he was.
Full marks to Namath for winning the biggest game of his career in Super Bowl 3 to cement his legacy in Jets lore. But by no means was he as great a quarterback as the media and NFL historians want you to think.
Eli Manning
The guess here is that Manning will one day get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Such is life when you win two Super Bowl rings and a pair of Super Bowl MVP awards, with both victories coming against Tom Brady’s mighty New England Patriots.
Truth be told, Peyton Manning’s younger brother probably cemented the Hall of Fame case when he led the New York Giants to that stunning upset over the previously undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl 42.
And when you’re the starting quarterback of a big-market NFL team like the Giants, you’re going to get more love and attention than deserved. Now, imagine if Manning played for the Jacksonville Jaguars or the Tennessee Titans. Say he put up the same stats we saw with the Giants, but take away his two Super Bowl rings.
Hall of Famer? I don’t think so.
Manning was really the epitome of a mediocre regular-season QB: A 117-117-0 record as a starter. A lackluster 60.3 completion percentage. 57,023 passing yards, 366 touchdowns, and 244 interceptions.
Another fun fact: His career 84.1 passer rating isn’t even top-60 all-time.
Make no mistake, Manning was Captain Clutch when it came to big-game moments. He’s impossible to hate with his hilarious social media presence and outgoing personality with Peyton on the ‘ManningCast’. But he’s also among the most overrated quarterbacks to ever live.
Dak Prescott
Folks didn’t pay much attention when the Dallas Cowboys drafted Prescott in round four at No. 135 overall in 2016. But when Tony Romo suffered a compression fracture in a preseason game, the Cowboys had no choice but to turn to the rookie.
Like Romo, Prescott took advantage of the unexpected opportunity and never looked back. He’s bound to retire as the Cowboys’ all-time leader in every major passing category, no small feat considering the franchise’s rich history of quarterbacks.
But getting all this money and publicity as the face of America’s Team has painted an image of Dak as an elite quarterback…when he’s not. A 2-and-5 QB record, despite playing on so many star-studded teams, is too hard to ignore.
Also, his numbers aren’t as “great” as you might think. Through his first nine years, Prescott exceeded the 30-touchdown and 4,500-passing yards mark twice. So, even though he’s not as great a regular-season player as Cowboys Nation makes him out to be.
Jim McMahon
McMahon’s rebellious persona and the fortune of being the QB on a star-studded and big-market Chicago Bears team have made him a special sports figure in the Windy City.
McMahon made headlines when he was seen drinking a beer in his first public event with the Bears after they drafted him fifth overall in 1982. He was fined by Commissioner Pete Rozelle for breaking the league’s rules about wearing an Adidas headband on the sidelines. In response, he wore a headband that read “Rozelle”, leading to another fine.
Funny and all, sure. And yes, he was the Bears’ starting quarterback when they won Super Bowl 20 in the 1985 NFL season. But if we’re being real, any QB would have won a Super Bowl with the ‘85 squad loaded with Hall of Famers.
McMahon never topped 15 touchdown passes in a season. He had 100 touchdowns against 90 interceptions in 15 NFL seasons. …or an average of about seven TD passes a season.
Kyler Murray
As a two-way athlete who excelled in both baseball and football, Murray was already a giant media darling before the Arizona Cardinals took him first overall in 2019.
When he’s on his game, few quarterbacks are more entertaining. Murray’s dual-threat style, rocket arm — see the “Hail Murray” — and ability to extend the plays with his legs make him a nightmare for opposing defenses to cover.
Well, sometimes.
The problem is that Murray lacks consistency. Since his rookie year, Murray has had a bad habit of playing great in the first half of the season, only to unravel in the second half. OH yeah, maybe the whole “Call of Duty” conspiracy theory is real.
No playoff wins through six seasons. He’s never hit 4,000 passing yards or 30 touchdowns in a season, either, so even his stats aren’t that impressive. May we stop hyping him as a superstar-level QB unless team success ever follows?
Tony Romo
Romo retired as the Cowboys’ all-time passing yards and passing touchdowns leader, though Dak Prescott is set to surpass him in the not-so-distant future.
Romo deserves credit for exceeding expectations as an undrafted product out of Eastern Illinois, one who sat on the bench for three years before unexpectedly emerging as the Cowboys’ starting QB in 2006.
You kids will look at Romo’s resume and see four Pro Bowl nods, four playoff appearances, and all those fancy stats in Dallas. But if you didn’t grow up watching Romo, we really can’t emphasize how overhyped the guy was.
For crying out loud, this guy got to play behind an elite offensive line his entire career. And with Hall of Famers Jason Witten and Terrell Owens, to say nothing of Dez Bryant, Miles Austin, and an always-dangerous ground game headlined by 2014 rushing champion DeMarco Murray.
Romo crumbled time and time again in big-game moments. He went 2-and-4 in the postseason, but also lost win-or-go-home Week 17 games in 2008, 2011, and 2012. If you wanna call those playoff games, he was 2-and-7 in “do or die” games.
No doubt, he provided some great moments and gave Dallas nearly a decade of QB stability during his career. But being the quarterback of America’s NFL Team for a lengthy period allowed Romo to receive more publicity and credit than he deserved.
Daunte Culpepper
Prime Daunte Culpepper — from 2000 to 2004 — was a lot of fun to watch, no doubt. He and Randy Moss were an electrifying QB-receiver tandem and made the Minnesota Vikings must-watch TV on a weekly basis.
But as much love as Culpepper gets all these years later, people seem to forget he had a terrible habit of throwing interceptions. A LOT of them. As in, a hefty career 3.3 pass INT percentage.
He threw 11 or more interceptions in each of his six seasons as the primary starting QB, including 23 alone in the 2002 season. With 149 interceptions against 106 picks, it’s not hard to make the comparison to Jameis Winston.
Oh yeah, and Culpepper’s state was helped by Randy Moss’s presence. Throw the deep ball up to the Hall of Famer, and he would do the rest. There really wasn’t a whole lot special in Culpepper’s individual game.
Kirk Cousins
It’s pretty amazing how much money a good-but-not-great quarterback can get in the NFL these days. Remember in 2018, when the Minnesota Vikings gave him a fully guaranteed $84 million contract over three years?
Followed by a $66 million extension? And then a one-year, $35 million extension? And then a $180 million deal with the Atlanta Falcons in 2024 free agency?
Maybe teams shouldn’t pay so much money for a guy with a similar career as Dak Prescott: Good regular season stats, multiple Pro Bowl nods, but no individual awards and zero playoff success to speak of.
And for those who think Cousins puts up great numbers? Well, like Prescott, he’s eclipsed the 30-TD mark twice in 13 years. Don’t let generous payments from Minnesota and Atlanta fool you into thinking that he’s an elite quarterback.
Joe Flacco
The NFL world laughed in 2012 when Flacco said, “I think I’m the best quarterback in the NFL.”He backed it up by leading the Baltimore Ravens to a Super Bowl 47 championship the following season, but still, nobody has ever considered Flacco an elite QB.
Like Eli Manning, he was frustratingly inconsistent in the regular season but always turned his game on in the postseason. Great, but did you know this is a quarterback with ZERO Pro Bowl nods and one season of 4,000 passing yards? And whose career-high in passing TDs is a lackluster 27? Woof.
And though Flacco is inside the top-20 in career passing yards and just outside the top-20 in passing touchdowns, that’s due to longevity. And let’s not act like he was the main reason those Ravens won Super Bowl 47 in the 2012 season. Maybe the defense led by Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, and Terrell Suggs had something to do with it?
Vinny Testaverde
The numbers show that Testaverde threw for 46,233 yards and 275 touchdowns, both top-20 career marks. So the two-time Pro Bowler and No. 1 pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1987 must have been a superstar, right?
Well, not exactly. The reason Testaverde has good career numbers is because of longevity: He played 21 years up until his age-44 season with the Carolina Panthers.
Despite playing that long, however, he only won two playoff games and hit 30 TDs in a season once. Oh, and he had 275 touchdowns against 267 interceptions. That’s basically being 2019 Jameis Winston over a 21-year career.
Michael Vick
Vick’s many jaw-dropping plays, especially the ones where he used his legs, have made him a highlight reel and YouTube sensation all these years after his playing career. And let’s all agree on this: “Madden 2004” Michael Vick remains the best Madden video game athlete of all time.
But Vick’s lackluster passing stats, coupled with the fact that his prime was relatively short, make him one of the most overrated athletes of the 21st century. Just being real, folks.
The guy completed just 56.2 percent of his career pass attempts for 133 touchdowns and 88 interceptions. And as much as we gush over his running game, Vick exceeded 800 yards rushing twice in a season. Lamar Jackson has already done that four times, while putting up MVP-level passing numbers, too.
