Top NFL Quarterbacks by Decade

For each decade, name the NFL's top 10 passers by yards gained.

Through 2022

This quiz will be updated every other season

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Last updated: January 9, 2023

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First submitted	October 18, 2016
Times taken	24,747
Average score	48.3%
Rating	4.05

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2020s
14,829	Patrick Mahomes
14,643	Tom Brady
14,089	Justin Herbert
13,234	Josh Allen
13,033	Kirk Cousins
12,429	Derek Carr
12,109	Aaron Rodgers
11,774	Joe Burrow
11,635	Jared Goff
11,606	Matt Ryan

1990s
33,508	Dan Marino
30,894	Brett Favre
30,817	Warren Moon
30,280	John Elway
29,561	Troy Aikman
27,656	Steve Young
26,045	Jeff George
25,966	Drew Bledsoe
25,121	Vinny Testaverde
23,481	Jim Everett

2010s
46,770	Drew Brees
44,830	Matt Ryan
44,320	Philip Rivers
43,727	Tom Brady
38,758	Matthew Stafford
38,379	Eli Manning
38,145	Aaron Rodgers
37,243	Ben Roethlisberger
33,483	Joe Flacco
31,594	Andy Dalton

1980s
30,958	Joe Montana
28,301	Dan Fouts
27,853	Dan Marino
24,492	Phil Simms
22,771	Neil Lomax
21,229	Danny White
21,195	John Elway
20,903	Tommy Kramer
20,858	Dave Krieg
20,132	Ron Jaworski

2000s
42,254	Peyton Manning
38,435	Brett Favre
31,925	Donovan McNabb
30,844	Tom Brady
30,646	Drew Brees
27,952	Kurt Warner
26,792	Kerry Collins
26,537	Matt Hasselbeck
25,034	Trent Green
24,153	Daunte Culpepper

1970s
23,863	Fran Tarkenton
23,026	Jim Hart
22,279	Roger Staubach
20,030	Ken Anderson
19,918	Terry Bradshaw
19,078	Ken Stabler
18,129	Bob Griese
17,623	Craig Morton
16,864	Dan Pastorini
16,568	Archie Manning

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18 Comments

Level 46

Oct 24, 2016

Regarding the quiz, I must admit I had a few bad misses (Young, Montana, and Marino bad), but did manage to beat the average since I was able to pull out names like Jaworksi.

Level 21

Dec 31, 2020

Dont know how i got hart, but i did

Level 66

Nov 27, 2021

You gotta have Hart.

Level 65

Aug 22, 2021

Cool quiz

Level 53

Aug 22, 2021

never would have guessed andy dalton had more passing yards than russell wilson in the 2010s

Level 78

Feb 23, 2022

Dalton had 1 more season than Wilson. Also, don't forget that the Dalton/Green combination was one of the most dangerous in the league in the mid 2010s. Russell Wilson had the benefit of a stellar defense and a strong running game. He didn't HAVE to pass as much.

Level 46

Nov 23, 2021

Russell Wilson > 7/10 QB's in the 2010's

Yards are a stupid stat to base top QB's off of. QB rating, TD's, TD/Int ratio, wins, etc.

That being said, fun quiz! Thank you haha

Level 85

Nov 27, 2021

Meh, I'm not so sure about total TDs being entirely separate from total yards. If a QB is on a bad team that is perpetually behind, he's gonna be chucking it a lot, and frequently in "junk time", possibly against back-ups.

Not a big fan of wins either, similar to pitchers in MLB. Defense can lose games, special teams can lose games, and even coaching can lose games. None of which would be the QB's fault.

I tend to favor TD/Int. ratio, as well as INT %. Russell Wilson is Top 5 all-time in both categories along with Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes (tho with a smaller sample size) and, surprisingly, Derek Carr.

Across decades, though, it's awfully tough to compare QBs since rule changes have made it progressively easier for QBs to succeed. One of the reasons, IMO, Johnny Unitas will always be the first face on the NFL's Mount Rushmore of QBs. He was a QB ahead of his time.

Level 75

Dec 9, 2021

Yeah I was pretty surprised that Flacco and Dalton were above Russ

Level 66

Jan 17, 2023

Russ wasn't a Rook until 2012, so he missed out on a couple seasons that decade. He also ran the ball 8-10 times a game for the first half of his career. Agree gross passing yards are not indicative of overall value, but not at all surprising to see him not on here given parameters.

Level 63

Nov 28, 2021

Just threw out Dalton at random and was surprised to seem him actually on the list.

Level 64

Nov 29, 2021

Somehow missed Bradsahw yet still got Hasselbeck.

Level 66

Jan 25, 2022

Took me a long time to figure out why Hasselback didn't work.

Level 66

Jan 17, 2023

I am certainly no Brady fanboy, but Top 4 across three decades is phenomenal. He'll likely retire for real now or in near future and slide out of the Top 10 for 2020s, but still, very impressive.

Level 24

Mar 19, 2024

zip it up when u done bro

Level 70

Sep 21, 2023

I see how there is some color coding to the top QB of each decade...nice!

Level 52

Mar 5, 2024

how is Prescott not in the 2020's? yea he might be hated and most people wouldn't consider him just because he's on the cowboys but homeboy has never had a losing season. he always puts up incredible stats. he been terrorizing the NFC east with a 30-8 record against NFC east east teams if not mistaken. he should at least be 9 or 10 in the 2020's.

Level 15

Sep 19, 2024

bro no way I missed carr smh