bushy 0 Posted November 18, 2009 Love these discussions, especially the part where paople blindly throw out names from the past, guys they've never seen and whose stats would get them laughed out of most discussions. Been following the NFL closely for 40 years. I didn't see Otto Graham in his prime. His legacy is he was tough as nails and a winner. But a great QB? Not by the standards typically applied here. Graham's career comp % = 55.8% Only twice in his career did he complete more than 60% for a season. TD vs INT = 174-135 QB Rating = 86.6 You cannot compare those eras to today. Back then, the defenders had their way with receivers. Today, you can barely breathe on the receivers. Additionally, most pass plays were designed to go down the field 15+ yards. Today, there are lots of routes between 0-5 yards. This is obviously going to improve completion percentage, and thus improve QB rating. QB rating is a very good tool to compare QBs of the same era, but I'm not sure it works across eras. John Elway (who I rank as one of the best) only had a 79.9% QB rating. One thing you'll notice about all the pre 1990's guys is that their yards/completion is a yard or 2 higher than this current generation of quarterbacks. This tells you they looked to complete longer, lower percentage passes. Today, it's all about bubble screens or short crossing routes. You cannot accurately compare. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
