The All-Time NFL Quarterback Draft (Picks 1-32): Which Great Does Your Franchise Choose?
If there was a quarterback in the 2025 NFL season who really elevated his career status, it was Matthew Stafford, who won his first MVP award and first All-Pro selection at the age of 37 after some feared his back wouldn’t last a full season.
It was the kind of performance that will likely solidify a Hall of Fame case for Stafford down the road. It was the third time in Stafford’s career where he threw more than 40 touchdown passes in a season, the first player in NFL history who can say he’s done that. Stafford also set a record in 2025 with 20 touchdown passes thrown against opponents who won at least 11 games, a remarkable turnaround for a quarterback who was once 0-48 in Detroit when opponents scored more than 24 points against him.
This got me thinking about where Stafford would rank all time on the list of greatest NFL quarterbacks. Recently, I ranked Stafford in the fourth-best tier of the 36 quarterbacks to win a Super Bowl, which would place him around 17th all time. Obviously, you’d still have to consider someone like Dan Marino (no rings) above him as well as some of the legends who played before the Super Bowl era (Sammy Baugh, Otto Graham, etc.).
Some people were saying a month ago that Stafford would be in the top 10 now, which is a crazy take when you remember how many great careers there have been at the quarterback position, and no one was daring to talk about Stafford like this until many legends retired and he joined Sean McVay with the Rams in 2021.
But I also said four weeks ago that this Stafford thing gave me an idea for an offseason topic, and that’s what I’m presenting today as an all-time draft of NFL quarterbacks. Consider this my own version of March Madness, NFL quarterback style.
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The All-Time NFL Quarterback Draft Process Explained
Here’s the plan. We are going to run through a first round (picks 1-32) of an all-time NFL quarterback draft where each team gets to pick from any quarterback in history to lead their franchise. The quarterback would have all the access to modern practice methods and medicine like any other player playing in 2026 would have. But there is an emphasis on how the position is played today where mobility and quick decisions are more important than ever.
The idea is you’d be getting the quarterback at the beginning of their career, and the hope is they develop into the best version of the player we saw them become, or in the case of the active players on the list, the best player they can still become.
How did I decide the draft order by team? I kept it close to how the real NFL draft works, and I used the ascending all-time winning percentage for the current 32 NFL franchises.
That means the franchise with the worst record (Buccaneers) gets the No. 1 pick and the team with the best regular-season record (Packers) gets the No. 32 pick. It wasn’t until I was finished where I realized that page was including AAFC games from 1946-49, but that really only affects the Cleveland Browns, who should be picking a few spots higher than they are. Even when Cleveland wins, they lose. Unbelievable and yet so fitting.
But there is a lot of strategy involved here as I definitely factored in each team’s personal relationships with these quarterbacks in their decision making. Do you re-draft the most successful quarterback in your franchise’s history in a hope to relive those glory days, or do you take a chance on someone different who you think can take you to a higher level?
Spoiler: Nine teams ended up taking a quarterback who did play for them at one point in real life, including seven players who were best known for playing with that team in their careers.
Finally, I’ll say that this is not my personal ranking of the 32 best quarterbacks in NFL history. Though, it is at least in the ballpark of what that list would look like. This is a fun thought experiment for March (during a dark time around the world) before free agency starts next week, and it’s my way of combining my quarterback research with what I think NFL teams would do if they were put in this position of an all-time quarterback draft.
Enjoy.
1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Patrick Mahomes
It’s about time the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can say losing their first 26 NFL games in 1976-77 really paid off as it’s gifted them the No. 1 pick in our draft. They take little time to turn in the card on one Patrick Mahomes, the No. 10 pick by the Chiefs in the 2017 draft.
I’ve already explained how Mahomes is hands down the best quarterback under the age of 30 in NFL history as no one can say they matched his start. He only needed six seasons, including a rookie year spent on the bench, to win multiple MVPs and multiple Super Bowls, easily the fastest to do so.
He’s really done everything you could ask for from the position except for doing it as long as some of these other players have. But he’s already arguably done it better than they have as he manages to consistently excel in situations that are supposed to be tougher (third downs, close fourth quarters, down 10+ points, road games, the playoffs, etc.).
His biggest “weakness” that has shown up in some of the biggest losses of his career was trying to survive a fierce pass rush behind an offensive line that was compromised at multiple positions. Not much of a weakness.
Mahomes can dominate in the quick game like a Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, but he runs far better than they ever could as one of the most effective scramblers in history. He also has the killer instinct in crunch time and playoff success that we didn’t necessarily get as much from the likes of mobile passers like Steve Young and Aaron Rodgers.
Mahomes is the closest we’ve seen to a perfect quarterback, and we just hope he returns healthy from the torn ACL and gets to play another decade. He’ll also be happy to go to Tampa and not be asked to run for nearly 500 yards behind the line of scrimmage to avoid sacks like he did in Super Bowl 55.
2. Arizona Cardinals – Aaron Rodgers
It was a tough call at No. 2, but I think people forget how much Aaron Rodgers was respected as a physical specimen for years in his prime with the big arm and the ability to run before some of his off-field personality aliened some of his fanbase in later years.
Even at 42 years old with the Steelers last year, that arm still looked mighty strong even if the legs aren’t what they used to be. A 4-time MVP, Rodgers also gave the Cardinals hell in their building twice in overtime playoff games the Packers didn’t go on to win like when he dropped 45 points in his playoff debut, or when he threw for 101 yards on two miracle completions to Jeff Janis in the 2015 NFC Divisional. The Hail Mary king.
Even though he only has that one Super Bowl (the second appearance went off of Brandon Bostick’s hands in the 2014 NFC Championship Game at Seattle), Rodgers is the kind of quarterback that every NFL team will always believe they could have won more with because his A-game and his prime (2009-14) was just so dominant that it’s hard to believe he didn’t play in more Super Bowls than he did.
3. Jacksonville Jaguars – Peyton Manning
If you want to see perfect quarterback play, watch Peyton Manning on the road against the Jaguars on two Thursday night games in December in the 2008 and 2009 seasons. You could say he wrapped up two of his record five MVP awards with those performances, just carrying the Colts to victory with great decisions and razor-sharp accuracy all night.
Manning was the ultimate field general and coach on the field. He got to four Super Bowls with four different head coaches and two different franchises. He won five MVP awards and was first-team All-Pro seven times (should have been eight), both records. The fact he reset the touchdown pass record in Denver nearly a decade after he did it in Indy and after four neck surgeries is an all-time feat.
You were never out of a game with Manning whether it was the 21-point comeback in the last 5:00 in Tampa Bay in 2003, or the 18-point comeback in the 2006 AFC Championship Game to get over the hump against New England. His lack of mobility was made up for by his quick release that made him among the hardest to sack and pressure, and he could play with any offensive line combo for that reason.
The Jaguars get incredible value at No. 3 as Manning is quite arguably the most valuable difference maker in NFL history at quarterback.
4. New York Jets – Tom Brady
You know, this very well could have happened in 2000 if Bill Belichick kept the Jets job for more than a day and still ended up drafting Tom Brady in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. That’s why the Jets have always been as responsible for the New England dynasty as anyone as Belichick took the New England job instead, drafted Brady, then it was the Jets who injured Drew Bledsoe in 2001, elevating Brady to a starting role he never gave up for two decades.
The rest is history, including seven Super Bowl wins, three MVPs, a 50-touchdown season that came up a drive short of going 19-0, and Brady played 23 years to amass the passing volume records that may never be broken if anyone doesn’t feel like playing until they’re 45 like the manically competitive Brady did.
But the Jets aren’t getting it wrong this time. They turn the card in immediately to land Brady and bring him back to the AFC East that he dominated for two decades.
5. Atlanta Falcons – Joe Montana
Once upon a time, the Atlanta Falcons were in the NFC West when the 49ers were a dynasty in the 1980s, and Joe Montana would just torch their defense. They’d try sending blitzes at him and he’d eat it up for huge games with Jerry Rice and company.
Sitting at No. 5, the Falcons can’t believe their luck with a 4-time Super Bowl winner available and one of the best playoff quarterbacks and comeback artists of all time. He’d also enjoy playing indoors like he did in his final Super Bowl win when he threw five touchdown passes against Denver.
If the Falcons have Montana, they’re not the team blowing a 28-3 lead in the Super Bowl. They might be the team coming back from 28-3 instead.
6. Houston Texans – Steve Young
There might be something poetic in Steve Young following in the footsteps of Joe Montana, but he’s the next quarterback off the board at No. 6 to the Houston Texans, who have never really had a dominant passer outside of early flashes from Deshaun Watson before he ruined his career off the field.
Young was a precursor for Aaron Rodgers but was even more of a mad scrambler as his famous touchdown run against the Vikings showed. But he was also a deadly passer and had incredible numbers in the 1990s at a time where most passing numbers were down around the NFL.
Young had an unusual path to greatness as he bombed in Tampa Bay when it was one of the worst organizations to play for, he was a star in the USFL, then he had to sit behind a legend like Joe Montana before finally getting his shot in 1991 at the age of 30. By 1994, he won his second MVP with an all-time great season that he capped off with six touchdown passes in the Super Bowl against San Diego.
One of the most talented quarterbacks in NFL history and the best southpaw to ever do it, Young is a great pick for Houston.
7. Carolina Panthers – John Elway
John Elway remains one of the highest-praised college prospects in history, and the fact he went No. 1 in a loaded 1983 NFL draft class backs that up. But Elway’s career took longer than any Super Bowl-winning quarterback to finally win a ring in Year 15. Still, he was the first quarterback to start five Super Bowls.
It would only make sense that a Carolina team that has Cam Newton as its all-time franchise quarterback would want to get the original version of a capable, but not always consistent passer who could scramble and break defenses down in ways most couldn’t.
This probably wouldn’t be my personal pick for Carolina, but there’s no way NFL executives are going to let Elway wait long in an all-time quarterback draft.
8. Cincinnati Bengals – Dan Marino
It makes sense that the franchise that’s never won a Super Bowl would go for the best quarterback to never win a championship in Dan Marino. The Bengals have had some MVP seasons at quarterback and three Super Bowl appearances from their three best players, but Marino is a whole other tier with his quick release and instant dominance he showed in the 1980s.
People love to say Marino would throw for 6,000 yards and 60 touchdowns in today’s NFL. That’s pushing it a bit, but he undoubtedly would be a leading passer on an annual basis, and he’d cut down on the sacks that Joe Burrow takes.
Let’s just hope the Bengals’ ownership doesn’t remain cheap and stiffs Marino from ever having a running game and/or defense like Miami often did to him. It’s a fantasy draft, so maybe in this alternate reality the Bengals have competent ownership.
Drafting Marino at No. 8 would be a great first move.
9. Detroit Lions – Brett Favre
The original king of the NFC Central/North played for the Packers and Vikings, so it’s not a surprise that Detroit would swoop in to draft an all-time ironman who could run the West Coast offense with just about any receiving corps you give him.
Young Favre was also more of a mobile playmaker than his senile days when the interceptions got uglier and uglier the later it got in the season. But he is a 3-time MVP and held the passing records at one point.
Just don’t let him text female team employees or inquire about the allocation of Detroit welfare funds. In fact, don’t even give him a flip phone.
10. New Orleans Saints – Drew Brees
It took 10 picks but we finally have a team who said let’s run it back to the most successful era in team history with Drew Brees leading a historic offense for 15 years. Maybe he’ll even have a defense this time, or at least one that doesn’t give up memorable touchdown drives in the playoffs to Alex Smith, the Beastquake touchdown, Stefon Diggs’ Minnesota Mircle, Kirk Cousins in overtime, etc.
But Brees was a gamer, accurate from all levels of the field, more clutch than he’s ever given credit for, and he’s frankly a steal at No. 10 as he could have been the Hypothetical GOAT if more things broke his way.
Brees in the Superdome in prime time was pure magic, so it’s no surprise the Saints would sign up for more of that.
11. Tennessee Titans – Johnny Unitas
The Jaguars already took Peyton Manning away from the Colts, so the Tennessee Titans are going to do the same by getting the original Colts legend in Johnny Unitas, who practically invented the two-minute drill and was the original field general legend in the post-1950 NFL era.
Unitas led the league in yards and touchdown passes four times each and was a 3-time MVP and 5-time All-Pro. I think of all the quarterbacks who debuted before the 1970 merger, he’d have the best career today as he called all his own plays and was a high-volume, high-efficiency passer in his prime in an era where few could do that.
The Titans have rarely had a quarterback you could trust to throw for a ton of yards outside of early AFL George Blanda or Warren Moon. But Unitas would be their best quarterback for sure.
12. Buffalo Bills – Josh Allen
Maybe the first eyebrow raiser of the draft, the Buffalo Bills become the first team to stick with the quarterback currently leading their team in real life today in Josh Allen. After all, the Josh Allen Kool-Aid is strong in the mainstream media and among Bills fans who feverishly want to argue he’s the best quarterback in the game today. Some media members have taken it a big step further than that:
But based on performance, Allen has already played his way into top 30 all-time discussions in eight seasons as an all-time successful dual-threat quarterback.
There are nine seasons in NFL history where a quarterback won at least 11 games while throwing for at least 3,600 yards, 25 touchdowns, and rushing for at least 400 yards and six touchdowns. Allen has six of those nine seasons, including all four where a quarterback threw for 4,200+ yards while having rushing value too. Allen has also made the playoffs seven times in a row which only a select few quarterbacks have done.
Allen has already proven to be a better quarterback than Jim Kelly was, but Kelly had better teammates around him in 1990-93 when the Bills lost four straight Super Bowls. He also didn’t have the rival of a Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs to deal with at that time.
But the question remains can Allen get the Bills over the hump to a Super Bowl and actually win one this time for the franchise? That’s still the question in this alternate universe as well.
13. Washington Commanders – Sammy Baugh
Maybe it was watching the Saints and Bills stick with Drew Brees and Josh Allen that got the Washington Football Team thinking about its own history and the greatest quarterback to ever play for the franchise. Despite the three Super Bowl wins in the Joe Gibbs era, none of those quarterbacks are ever going to the Hall of Fame.
That’s why the best quarterback in franchise history remains Sammy Baugh, who was also the best quarterback in football before 1950. It’s not entirely clear how he’d adjust to the modern game, but in an era where few could throw the ball efficiently, Baugh threw for 335 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 1937 NFL Championship Game when he was just a rookie.
I think he’d adjust. Baugh was 6’2” and also a world-class punter, leading the league in yards per punt five times. He even played defensive back and intercepted a league-high 11 passes in the 1943 season. That was two years before he completed 70.3% of his passes in a 1945 season where the league-wide completion rate was 45.6%.
It’s a fascinating pick and the kind of awkward move you’ve come to expect from the Washington franchise. But I think it has as much boom-or-bust potential as any pick in this draft as Baugh is exactly the kind of player that makes the idea of an all-time draft so interesting.
14. Philadelphia Eagles – Lamar Jackson
Throughout their history, the Eagles have leaned towards quarterbacks who could put together a great highlight reel, including the likes of Randall Cunningham, Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick, Jalen Hurts, and even Carson Wentz in 2017. But consistent passing may not have always been part of their game.
That’s why I think they would jump at the chance to draft Lamar Jackson, who has already surpassed all of those quarterbacks. He’s a 3-time All-Pro, 2-time MVP, and he’s completed mid-60% of his passes every year since his second season where he set the single-season rushing record for a quarterback while still throwing 36 touchdown passes.
He’s steadily improved as a passer and can manipulate defenses with the best of them. He’s also consistently won (76-31 as a regular-season starter) and is another quarterback like Allen who has been limited by the Kansas City dynasty and Mahomes.
People will bring up durability and the playoffs, but when we’re looking at the No. 14 pick and who’s left, you’ll have a hard time finding someone with a better mixture of talent, high floor, high ceiling and proven success as Jackson has.
15. Los Angeles Chargers – Kurt Warner
It’s always a kick in the gut to remember the only Chargers team to play in a Super Bowl was the 1994 team with Stan Humphries and Natrone Means in the backfield. Not the teams with Dan Fouts leading the Air Coryell passing offense. Not the 2000s teams that had Drew Brees and Philip Rivers getting the ball to LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates. Not yet any playoff wins with Justin Herbert either.
But while Dan Fouts was a prolific Hall of Fame passer for the Chargers, I think Kurt Warner is the better passer who did more to elevate teams that were doing nothing for a decade before he took over in the Rams and Cardinals. Every time he started 16 games in a season, he was 3-for-3 at leading his team to the Super Bowl, and he won two MVP awards.
If anyone could break the curse of the Chargers, it might be Warner, who had a breakout story in 1999 so good that they made a movie out of it.
16. Cleveland Browns – Otto Graham
Like I said in the introduction, those wins in the AAFC, including four straight championships in 1946-49, are beefing up their overall winning percentage, or else they should probably be picking 14th here.
But it all works out in the end as the Browns hurry up to turn in the card for Otto Graham, their legendary quarterback who led them to 10 straight championship games in 1946-55 for Paul Brown’s historic teams. Now, it should be noted that Graham had by far the best support of any Cleveland quarterback ever with HOFers on both sides of the ball, and he also lost as many NFL championship games (three) as he won.
But he was the model for a dominant field general right before the era of Unitas started in the NFL. He was 6’1” with a little mobility, so I think he could work in the modern game, but it is another risky pick for that reason.
Still, we’re talking about the Browns. What do they have to lose that they haven’t already lost before?
17. Las Vegas Raiders – Roger Staubach
The Raiders see what’s going on with this run on teams taking their best quarterback, and they certainly could have followed that trend by taking someone like Ken Stabler, who led them during the 1970s in the toughest decade of competition as so many teams could have been the dynasty team before Pittsburgh wrapped it up at the end.
Instead, the Raiders are going with the actual best quarterback of the 1970s in Roger Staubach. He protected the ball better than Terry Bradshaw, he was a better playoff performer than Fran Tarkenton, and he could run the ball and lead comebacks even better than Snake Stabler did.
Staubach at No. 17 is great value as due to his Navy commitments and head coach Tom Landry not giving him the job outright until he was 29, Staubach got a late start. But he was a clutch performer and a winner in the toughest era of defenses.
18. Los Angeles Rams – Fran Tarkenton
Even if they’ve never really had a top 10 all-time guy, it feels like the Rams always have good quarterbacks even going back to the days of Bob Waterfield, Norm Van Brocklin, and Roman Gabriel.
Kurt Warner is off the board. Matthew Stafford is still there, and we know that’d probably be Sean McVay’s personal pick here. But the run on nostalgia continues as the Rams take Fran Tarkenton, the first mad scrambler in NFL history who also was the first quarterback to throw for 300 touchdown passes in a long, durable career where he unfortunately went 0-3 in the Super Bowl for the Vikings.
But before Dan Marino became the best quarterback to never win a Super Bowl, Tarkenton was that player. He was MVP in 1975 and lost his first playoff game at home after a controversial Hail Mary/push-off finish by Dallas to deny him another shot at a ring.
The right coach like McVay could really do wonders with teaching Tarkenton how to run a modern, quick passing game while still letting him do his thing out of structure with the best of them.
19. New York Giants – Ben Roethlisberger
Let the great debate begin inside the Rooney-Mara families who as owners have a fondness for both the Giants and Steelers. Do they run it back with Eli Manning, who upset the Patriots twice in Super Bowls but never won a single playoff game in his other 14 seasons, or do they go with the actual best quarterback of the 2004 draft in Ben Roethlisberger?
While I respect Eli for those playoff runs, he never had neither Ben nor his brother’s consistent accuracy and play. His Super Bowl highlights outmatch those of Roethlisberger, but there’s a reason the Helmet Catch is such a jaw-dropping play, and it’s because that feels like the only time in his career that Manning broke out of a sack to make a big completion.
That was kind of Big Ben’s thing for much of his career, and he started in historic fashion with 14 straight wins as a starter, including a shootout win over Eli in 2004. Roethlisberger also has two prominent highlights during his two Super Bowl runs with the tackle of Nick Harper in Indianapolis after Jerome Bettis fumbled to save that ring as a No. 6 seed, and the brilliant touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes to cap off the game-winning touchdown drive against Arizona in Super Bowl 43.
Roethlisberger will always get overlooked because he played in the shadows of Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, and Drew Brees in the toughest era to stand out as a quarterback. But he still delivered a ton of moments, wins, yards, and points as you’d expect a true franchise quarterback to do.
20. Indianapolis Colts – Matthew Stafford
Leave it up to the Colts to draft a prolific passer who was a No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft. Does this answer my question of where Stafford ranks all time? Not necessarily as this is a different thought exercise than that, but I think it’s pretty close to being the same thing, so this would confirm that Stafford has played his way into the top 20 quarterbacks all time, and he’s not done yet.
There is another quarterback the Colts could have decided to try again here, but riding high on his best overall season that absolutely could have ended with a second ring if his defense and special teams weren’t so lousy under pressure in 2025, Stafford is the pick for the Colts. Just his 5-year run in LA alone is pretty accomplished with two seasons of 41 touchdown passes, a Super Bowl, a first-team All-Pro, and an MVP. Most quarterbacks don’t achieve all of those things in their career let alone in five years.
But Stafford will remain a posterboy for how changing a quarterback’s situation can really change his fortune as he never reaches these highs if he stays in Detroit. In fact, that’s probably going to be the most common argument used against him to not rank him in the top 10 or top 15 or whatever. He didn’t turn Detroit into a consistent winner.
21. Seattle Seahawks – Bart Starr
When you think of the Seattle Seahawks in their Super Bowl seasons, the quarterback play was always solid but not necessarily spectacular when you’re talking about Matt Hasselbeck (2005), young Russell Wilson (2013-14), and Sam Darnold (2025).
They really just need a deluxe game manager to steer the ship to safety, and I’m not sure there’s a better answer for that than Bart Starr, a five-time champion who someone like Mike Macdonald, a defensive coach, would probably be totally content with in the modern era.
Starr played with great talent on Vince Lombardi’s Packers, but he also had insane playoff stats, winning his last nine games to get the five championships. Starr had a 104.8 passer rating in the playoffs with 15 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, and he averaged 8.2 yards per pass despite often playing in freezing cold weather outdoors against a lot of tough defenses.
He also won an MVP (1966) and led the NFL in major efficiency stats (completion percentage, YPA, passer rating) several times each, so he wasn’t some bus driver.
If Seattle fans like their chances to repeat with Sam Darnold, they should feel even better about landing Bart Starr with the No. 21 pick.
22. Denver Broncos – Andrew Luck
John Elway and Sean Payton can hardly contain their excitement before turning in the card for Andrew Luck, the No. 1 pick of the 2012 draft who was up there with Elway and Peyton Manning when it comes to all-time draft prospects. Luck was drafted by the Colts out of Stanford just like Elway too. He’s exactly the kind of big quarterback Elway loves.
Going to the Colts was a blessing and a curse at the same time for Luck. He was immediately thrusted into the savior role after the team had a 2-14 season, and he delivered with seven game-winning drives as a rookie. But he played closer to Roethlisberger than Peyton with his ability to take hits and make plays happen behind that offensive line.
Luck was never quite as efficient as Colts fans wanted him to be, but he was a gamer, he was clutch, and he had big passing volume and some great wins against playoff teams. Unfortunately, injuries in 2015 and 2017 (missed entire season) slowed him down, and after a great return season in 2018, Luck surprised everyone in August 2019 when he retired just weeks shy of his 30th birthday.
This all-time draft was built for someone like Luck, who will go down as one of the all-time “what if?” quarterbacks in NFL history. He should still be part of the AFC today for the Colts, but things didn’t work out and he decided his health and family were more important.
Now, the Broncos will hope to keep him upright for much longer and get to explore one of the true enigmas at the position.
23. Pittsburgh Steelers – Terry Bradshaw
With Ben Roethlisberger off the board, the Steelers trip on their face rushing in the card to take Terry Bradshaw, their 4-time Super Bowl winner from their heyday in the 1970s. For a team that loves tradition and nostalgic moves, this one is a no-brainer.
Speaking of no brains, if you’re curious about the picture for Bradshaw (my personal favorite of the 32), it’s a reference to the time where Dallas’ Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson said going into Super Bowl 13 that Bradshaw couldn’t spell “cat” if you spotted him two of the letters.
In that Super Bowl, Bradshaw ended up passing for 318 yards and 4 touchdowns to win MVP honors on top of his regular-season MVP award in 1978. For as much as the Blonde Bomber comes off as dumb on FOX where he’s still hanging on as an old man, in his prime, he was a top quarterback who always played big in the Super Bowls, and he did call his own plays.
The Steelers will love this pick more than anyone else will.
24. San Francisco 49ers – Troy Aikman
If you can’t beat him, acquire him? Troy Aikman’s run with Dallas in the 1990s is really the only example in NFL history where one dynasty (Cowboys) replaced another (49ers) by beating them directly in a couple of NFC Championship Games in 1992-93.
Aikman was never a high-volume passer and he didn’t have the longevity or durability of other quarterbacks on this list. But that’s why he’s available at No. 24, and for a franchise like the 49ers who have built some really excellent teams around the likes of Alex Smith, Colin Kaepernick, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Brock Purdy while still going without a Super Bowl ring since the 1994 season, Aikman would be a great fit here in San Francisco.
In his prime, he was very accurate and could manage well in an offense that largely featured one wideout in Michael Irvin similar to how the Seahawks just won with Jaxon Smith-Njigba running the show with the support of a strong defense. That’s the Aikman plan too.
Aikman is still proud of the 1994 NFC Championship Game loss in San Francisco where the Cowboys fought hard after falling into a quick 21-0 hole. He rarely trailed like that in his prime, but he is the type of talented quarterback, another former No. 1 overall pick, who would get a boost in today’s relaxed passing rules that he hates so much as a broadcaster.
25. Minnesota Vikings – Warren Moon
By the time Warren Moon got to the Minnesota Vikings in 1994, he was already 38 years old. That didn’t stop him from throwing for over 4,200 yards in consecutive seasons as one of the most prolific passers of his era.
But Moon is probably the greatest example of prejudice against black quarterbacks in the NFL in the 1970s and 1980s. He wasn’t drafted, so he had to go to the CFL in Canada to shine before finally playing for the Houston Oilers at age 28 in the 1984 season. It was in Houston where he became the master of the run-and-shoot offense in the NFL, and he led the Oilers to seven straight playoff appearances where he was on the unlucky side year after year.
Moon was a naturally-gifted pocket passer who would do very well in today’s game.
26. Miami Dolphins – Jim Kelly
This was originally going to be Matt Ryan to make up for the 2008 draft where the Dolphins used the No. 1 pick on offensive tackle Jake Long while Ryan went No. 3 to the Falcons. But after some tweaks, it ended up being Jim Kelly, who has Miami roots with the Hurricanes as his college.
Kelly also was the winning quarterback on the road in the 1992 AFC Championship Game at Miami, the last time the Dolphins were in that round. Kelly lost four straight Super Bowls with the Bills in 1990-93, though he wins the first one in Tampa (Florida is a great place for him) if his kicker makes a field goal at the end against the Giants.
His stats aren’t going to stand out much in 2026, but Kelly was great at running the K-Gun no-huddle offense, and he’d be a big hit of 1990s nostalgia for the Dolphins, who’d like to forget the 21st century.
27. Kansas City Chiefs – Len Dawson
With Patrick Mahomes long off the board at No. 1, the Chiefs reach back to their roots and the best quarterback in the AFL in Len Dawson, who won the 1962 AFL Championship and also started the first Super Bowl before winning Super Bowl 4.
Dawson didn’t have the flash of Joe Namath with the big arm, but he led the league in completion percentage eight times, led the AFL in touchdown passes four times, and led it six times in passer rating too.
Original Chiefs owner, the late Lamar Hunt, would love this pick.
28. Chicago Bears – Sid Luckman
The Chicago Bears are hoping they could say Caleb Williams here someday, but we’re a long ways off from that. So, since they’ve been trying to replace Sid Luckman for 75 years, why not just go with Luckman, their 4-time championship quarterback from the 1940s?
I’d still rank Sammy Baugh ahead of Luckman every time, but he’s at worst the second-best quarterback prior to 1950. He’s not as good of an overall athlete as Baugh was, but at least we know he can handle the Chicago wind.
Again, much like the picks by Washington, Pittsburgh, and the Chiefs, the longtime owner (George Halas) would have loved this one. Sadly, we’ll never know if those picks would actually work out in a modern setting or not.
29. New England Patriots – Eli Manning
Do the Patriots go with quarterbacks who could never beat them in meaningful games like Matt Ryan and Philip Rivers, or do they go with the guy who took them down as a big underdog in two Super Bowls in Eli Manning?
Yep, they’re going with Eli, the Super Bowl MVP of both games. He’d hopefully have some better defenses in the regular season to elevate his playoff success like Tom Brady and Drake Maye (for one year at least) got to enjoy in New England.
Manning will continue to be a heated HOF discussion after making the 15 finalists his first two ballots but supposedly getting voted out quickly in the process from there. But he’s likely going in and beating the Patriots twice in Super Bowls is the No. 1 reason for that.
The Patriots will try to squeeze as much Peyton out of this Manning that they can while respecting his durability as he never missed a game due to injury. Bonus points for never having to face him in another Super Bowl.
30. Baltimore Ravens – Randall Cunningham
If the Ravens can’t have Lamar Jackson, who went No. 14 to the Eagles earlier, then they’ll settle for his forefather in Randall Cunningham, who showed NFL teams a quarterback can lead his team in rushing by a healthy amount while still throwing for over 3,000 yards and 20-30 touchdowns.
Cunningham was a human highlight reel in his prime with the Eagles, but a few big injuries slowed him down. This was at a time where the NFL wasn’t quite sure how to make a running quarterback who could still throw (so, not Tim Tebow) work at the pro level. They’re better at that now, so I think Cunningham would be even better today, and I’d still take him over Michael Vick, another prospect with even better legs but I think less reliable as a passer.
Cunningham actually started a couple of wins for the Ravens in his final season at age 38 in the 2001 season. But with this pick, you hope to get him at his physical prime when he could run with the best of them, and you want to develop him to become that great passer he was in the 1998 season in Minnesota when he had Cris Carter and Randy Moss to set the scoring record. That should have been his Super Bowl season too, but a kicker missed the field goal.
At least in Baltimore, he’ll have a better kic—Never mind.
31. Dallas Cowboys – Joe Burrow
If the media (by which I largely mean Dan Orlovsky) isn’t gushing over Josh Allen these days, they’re still high on Joe Burrow too. It’s not just the media as he continues to rank highly in those offseason polls about the best quarterbacks to build a franchise with now.
There’s no way this draft goes 32 picks without someone taking the Joe Burrow bait, and that someone is going to be Dallas owner Jerry Jones. He could have ran it back with Tony Romo here, or opted for a Dan Fouts, Joe Namath, Matt Ryan, Ken Stabler, etc.
But the pick is Burrow as people refuse to let go of that huge season at LSU in 2019, or the Super Bowl run with the Bengals in 2021. The problem is he’s been seriously injured in 3-of-6 NFL seasons, and he hasn’t made the playoffs the last three years.
However, potential remains everything with Burrow, a No. 1 overall pick in a pretty strong quarterback class in 2020, and while it doesn’t look like Ja’Marr Chase is a package deal here, he’ll definitely have Jerry’s support to get him some wide receivers.
They just might trade their best defensive player to make it happen though.
32. Green Bay Packers – Russell Wilson
With the final pick of our experimental all-time quarterback draft, the Green Bay Packers select Russell Wilson, who was a star at Wisconsin before going to the NFL where he had some of his most famous wins against the Pack, including the Fail Mary and the 2014 NFC Championship Game.
It was a tough call as I originally was going to go with Tony Romo, who grew up a Green Bay fan. He at least waited until he retired and started making weird noses in the broadcast booth before public opinion flipped on him. Unfortunately, Wilson’s reputation is in the gutter after the trade from Seattle has led to failed stops in Denver, Pittsburgh, and New York. No quarterback has damaged his HOF case this much since Donovan McNabb was traded from the Eagles to Washington in 2010.
But in the scope of his first decade and his play in his prime, Wilson was a great quarterback in Seattle and well on pace to be a first-ballot HOFer. He still might get in one day too. Great scrambler and deep ball thrower.
Just don’t ask him to throw a 1-yard touchdown to win the Super Bowl. In fact, we’re going straight Tush Push on every 1-yard line call for a quarterback in our little alternate reality of these 32 quarterbacks sharing the league at the same time.
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