Weary wrote:
Manning has amazing skills and knowledge of the game, but there are some situations in which he just cannot thrive...certainly not like Joe Montana did, or John Unitas or even Roger Staubach or Steve Young.
Bart Starr had a terrific winning record and there's no doubt he was one of the greats, but - and please correct me if anyone recalls otherwise - he had such an amazing offensive line that I don't even recall him being under pressure all that much.
Bart Starr had one of the greatest lines ever, but so did all of the other great quarterbacks, and running backs for that matter. The one glaring exception is Barry Sanders, who amassed ridiculous yards playing behind some of the worst linemen imaginable. That's why I think he's the greatest player in the history of the league. Marino had a shitty line for many years but with that quick release and short routes it didn't matter.
Montana wasn't that great early in his career. Roger Craig really helped him thrive.
Unitas was a more amazing talent than Starr, and is one of the few QBs from that era with the physical skills to play today. Starr was just a damn good football player.
Don't forget, Unitas and Starr called most of their own plays, and Starr was 15-1 calling and executing plays. Although you can't really penalize today's players for not calling plays, you have to figure that in to Starr's greatness.
Unitas and Starr would tie for my top QB. Montana second. Everyone else mentioned would be a distant third