A statistical analysis of the top-five quarterbacks: 1945–1960

As we get into deciphering the best quarterbacks of all time, we — as intelligent deliberators — must consider what the makeup of professional football was in that player’s era. For example; we can’t sensibly compare a 1950’s signal caller to one from the early 2000’s. They were different times, where vastly different coaching strategies were in place — among other factors — which directly affected play balance.

Throughout this series, I will group these quarterbacks accordingly. Not by any specific decade, but by eras in which the execution of the game was most uniform for each group of greats. When the average rushes, or pass attempts per game throughout a year make a significant jump — or decline — that ‘era’ ends and another begins.

Each quarterback is placed into their respective eras by which they were active the majority of their careers. In our quest to find the best of each era, we’ll consider the following:

Seasons — Using total games started throughout their career, with a season’s consideration being that era’s respective amount of games (14/16) in a season.

RSC% + POC% — Combination of regular, and postseason career completion percentage with appropriate weighting measures.

RSTID + POTID — Combination of regular, and postseason career touchdown/interception differential with appropriate weighting measures.

RSYPA + POYPA — Combination of regular, and postseason career yards per attempt with appropriate weighting measures.

Super Bowl/Championships — Career Super Bowl wins, or league championships depending upon relative time frame.

Super Bowl/Championship Appearances — Self-explanatory, however, weighted leaner than victories.

RSCY + POCY — Combination of regular, and postseason career yards weighted appropriately.

First, we start with quarterbacks from the post WWII era of 1945–1960.

Honorable Mentions:

Bob Waterfield | Score: 30.114

George Ratterman | Score: 31.623

Bobby Layne | Score: 40.806

When attempting to put the crown atop a quarterback from any specific era, every measurable aspect of their game needs to be considered. Whether you like it or not, championships as well as tenure are a large parts of that formula. Within this grouping, both, Ratterman and Waterfield were among the lowest in the compilation of seasons played — and Ratterman was one of only three without a league championship, or Super Bowl victory.

These two were also among the bottom in total amassed career yards, with a significant gap between themselves, and the top of the heap. The difference in their scores and the next quarterback we’re going to mention reflect that as well.

The signal caller who came closest to breaking into the top-five of this era was Bobby Layne. Layne was a bit of a peculiar case as he was tops in seasons played, among the prime in championships as well as career yards. His major downfall was his career touchdown/interception percentages, where he was far and away the worst among the group.

At the time of his retirement, Layne held the records for attempts, completions, yards, touchdowns as well as interceptions and was credited for creating the ‘two-minute drill’. After the research, Layne’s career bares a lot of resemblance to that of Brett Favre if you’re looking for a simple comparison.

Top Five:

5. Norm Van Brocklin | Score: 46.157

Interestingly enough Van Brocklin was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams to be the backup to, No. 8 on this list, Bob Waterfield. Van Brocklin became the successor after splitting snaps with Waterfield until his retirement after the 1952 season. In the end, Van Brocklin nearly doubled Waterfield in career yardage and tenure, while only yielding one statistical category to his former teammate.

Van Brocklin won two championships, led the pack in yards per attempt and was the lone quarterback to take out the Green Bay Packers in a playoff game during the Vince Lombardi era. An interesting similarity to Van Brocklin is shared with Peyton Manning. Both won championships with two different teams, there was a span of nine years between their two titles and Van Brocklin retired after his second which Manning is likely to do as well.

The aspects that kept him from climbing this list any further was his tenure (4th in this group), and his touchdown/interception differential in which he landed in the bottom half of this collection.

4. Sid Luckman | Score: 48.237

Sid Luckman more than made up for his lack of passing yards — in comparison to the rest of the group — and tenure with his ball security, yards per attempt as well as his playoff success and efficiency. Luckman was known for being the most accurate downfield passer of his time, and is credited with laying the foundation for, and revolutionizing modern NFL offenses.

Luckman was less of a volume passer, and more of a dual-threat quarterback within the T-formation offense that allowed him to dominate opposing defenses while taking the least amount of risk. He blows the rest of the field away in touchdown/interception differential — having the only positive formulated results in that category — and sits atop the group in championships as well.

He is second only to Otto Graham in career yards per attempt, which should soften the scowl of those dumping on his lack of attempts, and led the NFL in passing yards thrice. Again, era is a huge component in these figures, and in this time period there were only a few that resembled the quarterbacks of today.

3. Sammy Baugh | Score: 49.077

Baugh, who primarily played the tailback position for a good portion of his career, didn’t fully transition into the quarterback role until he was 30 years old. Tailback was somewhat of a hybrid position at the time, however, and still allowed him to primarily be the passing option within his offense which was fairly common in the league.

Baugh, like Luckman, was seen as a revolutionary in the game specifically with the forward pass which — as we now know — is everything in the modern NFL game. As drastically as the game has transitioned in the past several decades, Baugh remained the rookie single-game playoff passing yards record holder of 355 yards, which held strong through 2012. A somewhat middle-of-the-pack career length, by formulation, didn’t hamper him from climbing near the top of this list.

Baugh was tops in the completion percentage rankings, and finished his career with nearly 23,000 yards through the air. Similar to some modern-day quarterbacks, Baugh broke into the league as a weapon on the ground as well as a threat with his arm accounting for nearly 74% of his career rushing yards in his rookie campaign. A true weapon indeed, he also led the league in completions, attempts and yards — he epitomized the dual-threat notoriety.

Baugh was known as one of the best athletes of his era as he was also a punter and a defensive back, once throwing four touchdowns and intercepting the opposing quarterback four times in one game. Baugh was very close to fighting for the top spot, but was edged out by two greats who were closer to the molds of the modern prototypical pocket passers with extensive careers and eye-popping numbers.

2. Y.A Tittle | Score: 52.164

Y.A. Tittle is second only to Layne in formulated career length for this study, yet accumulated zero championships. How’s that for an odd combination for one of the all-time greats? Tittle is still considered to be in the conversation for the Mount Rushmore of quarterbacks, but let’s be fair, that memorial deserves more than four faces.

Tittle was tops in this group in career yards, which truly complemented his overall score, and had he not been forced to share the position for six seasons throughout the meat of his career, the numbers could have been even more remarkable.

Tittle was the first professional football player to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated in the infancy of the popular magazine — it was his first of four through 1965. Tittle also shares the record for throwing 7 touchdown passes in a game along with seven other quarterbacks, but is one of only three to do it without throwing an interception. Tittle’s awkward side-armed release also set him apart from all other passers of his day. He also held the record for touchdown passes in a season for over 20 years, which was subsequently broken by Dan Marino.

Tittle’s lengthy career played a pivotal role in his comprehensive totals just the same, ballooning them a bit and setting himself apart from those beneath him, while notably falling short among his colleagues in championships. For one of the greatest the game has ever seen it’s silly to be critical, rather his comparisons are an explanation to his spot on the list. Simply put, better ball security, yards per attempt and a raising of the trophy would have pushed him to contend for the top spot in this formula.

1. Otto Graham | Score: 56.505

Amazingly enough, Graham is the only signal caller in this group who never started less than nine games in any season throughout his career, which made his formulated season total very uniform (8.14 to 10 actual seasons) — and significantly closer than any other quarterback on this list. He also never attempted fewer than 174 passes in any season, which he did in his rookie season of 1946.

Graham won three championships, was in the post season every year of his ten-year career and led the Cleveland Browns to the second perfect season in professional football in the 1948 season.

Graham also led the league in passing yards five times, finished his career with a 1.24/1 touchdown-to-interception ratio and amassed nearly 27,000 total career yards. Graham was second only to Baugh in the completion formula, and was never worse than fourth in any pertinent category.

Graham, who also ran the T-formation offense, rushed for 50 touchdowns and totaled 240 (1 pick-six, 1 FR/TD) scores throughout his career. Near the end of the 1953 season, Graham was gashed open after taking a forearm to the face. His wound apparently required several stitches, and returned to the game with a clear plastic face mask which reportedly inspired the development of the modern facemask.

Graham was every bit as dominant as his legend suggests. He won championships in his final two seasons as a pro, and accounted for 10 total touchdowns in those respective season finales. Graham still holds the NFL record in yards per attempt (9.0), and completed his storied career with a 16.1 yards per completion average.

Something that put a seal on what must have been a phenomenal career to absorb, was the nickname that he earned from his teammates. A moniker that often followed a top free throw shooter in basketball, Graham was affectionately referred to as “automatic Otto” for his accuracy and toughness. Anyone who can earn an endearment like that in the game of professional football, likely deserves every bit of his achievements.

Be on the lookout for Matt Danely’s subsequent editions of this series which will next feature quarterbacks of the 1961–1980 era.