Greatest quarterbacks of all time

Tom Brady▲ Rising

A sixth-round afterthought who took over for an injured Drew Bledsoe and never let go of the job, Brady won seven Super Bowls with two different franchises, a number so absurd it will likely stand forever as the sport's ultimate tiebreaker. From the tuck-rule game to the 28-3 comeback against Atlanta to a Tampa Bay title at 43, he turned championship pedigree into the entire argument, making 'rings' the blunt instrument by which every other quarterback gets measured against him.

Super Bowls: 7MVPs: 3Passing yards: 89,214TD passes: 649

added by IJRin 10 rankings

Joe Montana▲ Rising

Montana went 4-0 in Super Bowls and never threw a postseason pick in any of them, engineering 'The Catch' and a joyously surgical 92-yard drive against Cincinnati that remains the sport's gold standard for fourth-quarter cool. He was the living proof-of-concept for Bill Walsh's West Coast offense, and his perfect big-game résumé is the reason 'clutch' became a quarterback prerequisite rather than a bonus trait.

Super Bowls: 4MVPs: 2Passing yards: 40,551TD passes: 273

added by IJRin 3 rankingsJoe Montana

Patrick Mahomes▲ Rising

Mahomes turned the no-huddle sandlot chaos of backyard football into a championship system, no-look throws and all, dragging the Chiefs back from 10-point deficits in three separate Super Bowls to complete a threepeat bid that no team had managed in the modern era. Still in his 20s with three rings and three Super Bowl MVPs, he's compressed a Hall of Fame résumé into half the time it took his predecessors, forcing the conversation about the greatest ever to include an active player.

Super Bowls: 3MVPs: 3Passing yards: 32,352TD passes: 245

added by IJRin 5 rankingsPatrick Mahomes

Peyton Manning▲ Rising

Manning rewrote what pre-snap mastery could look like, turning a football field into a chessboard with the 'Omaha' cadence and audibles that dissected defenses before the ball was even snapped, and he capped a career of two MVP-laden dynasties with titles for two different franchises, including a Broncos defense-carried ring that proved he could win even when his arm was fading. Five MVPs and a record-setting 2013 season (55 TDs) make the case that no one ever prepared better or understood the position more completely.

Super Bowls: 2MVPs: 5Passing yards: 71,940TD passes: 539

added by IJRin 4 rankingsPeyton Manning

John Elway

Elway spent a decade as the game's most spectacular loser, dragging outmatched Broncos rosters to three Super Bowls he couldn't win, 'The Drive' against Cleveland becoming legend precisely because the ultimate payoff kept eluding him — until 1997 and 1998, when he finally closed it out back-to-back, the second title a Super Bowl MVP victory lap in his final game. He's the patron saint of quarterbacks who single-handedly kept bad teams competitive, redeemed by finishing exactly when it mattered most.

Super Bowls: 2MVPs: 1Passing yards: 51,475TD passes: 300

added by IJRin 3 rankingsJohn Elway

Aaron Rodgers▼ Falling

Rodgers waited three years behind Brett Favre before unleashing a combination of arm talent and improvisational escape artistry that produced the gutsy 2010 Super Bowl run through Atlanta, Chicago, and Pittsburgh, then years of highlight-reel sidearm darts and four MVPs that made him the game's most purely talented passer. The ring count stalls at one, and that gap between talent and title hauls is exactly why he sits just below the sport's true championship royalty.

Super Bowls: 1MVPs: 4Passing yards: 62,900TD passes: 503

added by IJRin 3 rankingsAaron Rodgers

Drew Brees▼ Falling

Brees rebuilt his career and, in the process, an entire city, throwing for over 5,000 yards in a season five times and leading the Saints to a Super Bowl title in 2010 that felt like it healed Katrina-scarred New Orleans as much as it won a trophy. He retired as the NFL's all-time passing yards leader, the model of surgical accuracy and year-in, year-out efficiency, even if his championship count keeps him a tier below the multi-ring legends.

Super Bowls: 1MVPs: 0Passing yards: 80,358TD passes: 571

added by IJRin 2 rankingsDrew Brees

Dan Marino▼ Falling

Marino threw for 5,084 yards and 48 touchdowns in 1984 — numbers so far ahead of his era they looked like typos — and dragged the Dolphins to a Super Bowl as a second-year phenom, yet that appearance was the only one he'd ever get in a 17-year career. He's the cautionary tale and the counterargument in one: proof that even the purest arm talent and gaudiest stats can't overcome a résumé with zero rings when this list is being drawn up.

Super Bowls: 0MVPs: 1Passing yards: 61,361TD passes: 420

added by IJRin 3 rankingsDan Marino