NFL: Top 5 NFC East QBs of all time
Over the years, the four franchise teams in operation in the NFC East have gifted the NFL Universe with some of the very best quarterbacks to ever lace up the cleats: the likes of Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles (Philadelphia Eagles); resilient Super Bowl-winning QB Phil Simms (New York Giants); versatile signal-caller Billy Kilmer (Washington), and perhaps even members of the current crop of talent, such as Dak Prescott (Dallas Cowboys) to name but a minuscule few.
The list goes on. But who are the top 5 quarterbacks to ever play in the NFC East?
Let's take a look:
(in descending order)
Top 5 NFC East Quarterbacks in NFL History
5. Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys
Despite never having taken the Dallas Cowboys to an NFC Championship game, Tony Romo has to make the list at number 5.
The undrafted Eastern Illinois University graduate played 127 games for the Cowboys, winning 78. Romo threw for 30+ TDs in four different seasons. His YPA average of 7.9 is also the highest on this list.
My personal favorite stat from Tony Romo's storied career is that - until the emergence of Seahawks' Russell Wilson - he had the best 4th quarter passer rating of any QB in history, averaging over 95.0. Romo actually led the Cowboys back from the brink of defeat on no fewer than 23 occasions during the fourth quarter, which is just... unbelievable.
Sure, he might not have won a Super Bowl or even a Conference championship, but glory can be fleeting; class is permanent, and, whether it's out on the turf or up in the booth, Tony Romo is all class.
4. Eli Manning, New York Giants
Eli Manning was probably guilty of playing on a few too many years past his prime and, because of that, NFL fans have a tainted view of his career. However, with 2 Super Bowl wins against the GOAT-Tom Brady under his belt, it's hard to ignore what the University of Mississippi graduate achieved at his peak. Between the years of 2007-2012, Manning was fantastic and even led the NFL in comeback wins during the Giants' 2011 Super Bowl-winning campaign.
Eli Manning makes the list ahead of Romo purely because of the fact that he got it done in the playoffs - Manning's regular-season stats (50% win ratio) don't come close to the Dallas legend's, and Romo was by far the more exciting QB to watch, but it takes a special talent to beat a prime Tom Brady twice in a Super Bowl final -- just ask Patrick Mahomes!
3. Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia Eagles
Donovan McNabb may never have won a Super Bowl ring, but he really was a phenomenal talent behind the line: a genuine threat both when running and passing the dingus and, in many ways, a kind of early prototype of today's modern NFL QBs, many of whom (Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, etc.) boast similar traits and similarly extend plays (see below).
McNabb played eleven seasons for the Eagles and reached the conference championship five times. I personally feel that had McNabb had more offensive firepower around him, the Eagles would have broken their Super Bowl drought many years before Carson Wentz/Nick Foles finally got the job done in 2018.
2. Troy Aikman, Dallas Cowboys
Troy Aikman was the man under center during the greatest period of the Dallas Cowboys' football history: the early 90s when the franchise won 3 Super Bowl titles in 4 years, dominating the NFL.
Sure, the Cowboys had Emmitt Smith, perhaps the best running back in the history of football, in the backfield for Aikman to hand the ball off to for easy yards, but make no mistake about it, during that period of early 90s Cowboys' gun-toting supremacy, Aikman made the Pro Bowl every year and was a huge reason for all that success.
The former Oklahoma Sooner is remembered as being one of the most accurate QBs in football (81.62 career passer rating) and as a guy that got the job done when the pressure was on: Aikman boasts an 11-4 record in the playoffs -- you don't do that without being one of the best.
1.Roger Staubach, Dallas Cowboys
After missing out on the start of his own NFL career in favor of completing his service in the US Royal Navy (respect), Roger Staubach actually began his Dallas tenure by spending two years as a backup to Craig Morton.
Dallas promoted the US Naval Academy graduate to the first team in 1971 (his third year in the league) and under Staubach's guidance, the team immediately went 10-0 and managed to win its first title.
Staubach suffered a season-ending shoulder injury during the 1972 season but returned better than ever. During the late 1970s, he was undoubtedly the best QB in the league, leading the NFL in passer rating on four separate occasions.
With Staubach under center, Dallas made it to four Super Bowls, winning two of them, and, thanks to the mass sales of color TVs around the world (and let's not forget those legendary 1970s Cowboys cheerleaders!) the NFL team became not just an American, but a global sensation in the process.
By the end of the 1970s, the entire world knew who Roger Staubach was (my British grandfather used to talk about him), and deservedly so: he was immense, and deservedly places number one on the list of the best NFL QBs to ever play in the NFC East.